Beyonce”s “4” isn”t out for another four weeks, but we”re hearing another track today. That”s three and counting.
“Best Thing I Never Had” is the best of the three tunes we”ve heard so far and much more radio friendly than either “Run The World (Girls)” or “1 + 1,” which she nailed during a performance on “American Idol” last week. “Best Thing” counts as the official second single after “Run,” which flamed out at radio immediately.
“Best Thing I Never Had” is a classic heartbreak song that Beyonce delivers with total conviction. Though she wants desperately to be over this guy, she doth protest too much, and the pieces of her broken heart stab her at every turn. It’s a tale of false bravado that rings true.
Unfortunately–and, for me, this is a big sticking point-the glaring, train wreck line of “It sucks to be you right now,” repeated throughout, threatens to ruin the song. That”s some lazy, horrible songwriting right there. (Beyonce told JustJared that the brilliant Babyface wrote the song. He knows ways better than that.) It takes an emotional song about pretending you”re over someone when you’re hurt and your resentment bleeds through every line and brings it to a complete stop and reduces it to a total, of-the-moment, cliche. Maybe Beyonce can wear an “I”m with stupid” t-shirt in the video and close the shoot looking into the camera, saying “See ya. Wouldn”t want to be ya,” before declaring that she is all that “and a bag of chips.”
“4” streets on June 28.
What do you think of “Best Thing I Never Had?”