Before i let go maze release date

Before I Let Go Lyrics

You made me happy
This you can bet
You stood right beside me, yeah

And I really love you
You should know
I wanna make sure I'm right, girl

Now we've had our good time
That's what they say
We've hurtin' each other

I won't be foolish, no, no
I wanna know
I wanna make sure I'm right, girl, oh

You know I think the sun rises and shines on you


Before I let you go...
Ohhh...
I would never, never, never, never, never, never, never

We were so close
I love your charm, ooh
I can't understand it, no

I won't be askin', girl
I've got to know
I gotta make sure I'm right

I wanna know
I wanna know before I let you go, I gotta tell you so)

Writer(s): FRANKIE BEVERLY<br>Lyrics powered by www.musixmatch.com

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Written by Frankie BeverlyLanguageEnglishReleased on

Before I Let Go
Single
August 1981

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• Originals
• Highlights 4
• Versions 5
• Adaptations 1
• Samples 1
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Versions

Before I Let Go written by Frankie Beverly English

Title Performer Release date Info

		Before I Let Go	Maze featuring Frankie Beverly	August 1981	First release Sampled by Keith Murray
		Before I Let Go	Mary J. Blige	2009
		Before I Let Go	Beyoncé	April 17, 2019	Editor's cover song pick Live

Before I Let Go written by Frankie Beverly instrumental

Title Performer Release date Info

	i	Before I Let Go	Lesette Wilson	August 21, 2001
	i	Before I Let Go	Dave Koz and Friends	June 22, 2018

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wesley morris

We are so close to summer.

jenna wortham

My time to shine. I know, I love it.

wesley morris

And the signifiers of summer are already out signified.

jenna wortham

Oh my god, tell me about it. I smelled burgers on somebody’s grill the other day. I see everybody’s hemlines creeping up.

wesley morris

Uh-oh.

jenna wortham

People are busting out their shorts. It’s crop top season already. It’s just upon us. It is upon us.

wesley morris

Every year, Jenna Wortham, you and I, we try to pick the song of the summer. And I’m tired of being wrong. You were always right. And so —

jenna wortham

Not always.

wesley morris

— you have taken it easy on me this year. And we’re not going to pick a song of this summer. We’re going to talk about the song of every summer. And it sounds like this. [MUSIC - MAZE FEAT.

frankie beverly, "before i let go"]

(SINGING) Whoa!

jenna wortham

Yes!

It doesn’t matter if it’s still only 65 degrees in your city. This song means summer is upon us. It is the song of every summer.

wesley morris

Yes! the song that the moment you hear the opening chords, you know it is on.

archived recording (frankie beverly)

(SINGING) You make me happy.

This you can bet.

You stood right beside me, yeah. And I won’t forget.

wesley morris

I have many memories of this song, but the one that comes most immediately to mind for me is hearing it at my friends Joi and Q.B.‘s wedding about — what was it — oh my God, it was 10 years ago. That was 10 years ago. But it was so memorable what happened when this song came on, and how happy everybody — I mean, it’s a wedding, so everybody’s already happy. But we had been fed. And we were ready to dance.

And I remember dancing with my mother, who was delighted. She loved that song. And this was the song that really just sort of made the party. Now this is my memory of it. A lot of questions I have — I mean, I know the song got played, but was it as big a deal as I remember it being?

jenna wortham

Let’s call Joi and just ask?

wesley morris

I would love to talk to Joi. We should call her. [DIAL TONE]

joi

Hello?

wesley morris

Joi?

joi

Hey!

wesley morris

[LAUGHS] What’s going on?

joi

I feel like it’s been a month of Sundays. Nothing out here, and just trying to be a half decent parent and keep this kid alive and not — you know— [LAUGHTER] — and get him through to their school year.

wesley morris

[LAUGHS] You’re going to do it. You’re going to do it.

joi

Just chilling.

wesley morris

So, Joi, the reason that I have summoned you today is that I wanted to talk about a song that you guys played at your wedding.

joi

OK.

wesley morris

Well, first of all, your wedding is one of the highlights of my life for all kinds of reasons.

joi

Thank you.

wesley morris

And the musical highlight for me was the moment when you guys played “Before I Let Go.”

joi

[LAUGHS] Yes. No, I mean, I feel like if you’re from Philly, it’s like a moment, “Before I Let Go.”

wesley morris

Yes, when “Before I Let Go” came on, everybody ran to the dance floor. Is my memory correct?

joi

I believe so. There were several different moments. But I felt like that was the universal song that said if you are of the African-American persuasion and alive and have movement in your body, you need to be up and dancing. And a lot of places, they play that song last. No matter how much of a hip hop club it was, Nicki Minaj and Biggie or reggae night, whatever it is, by the end of the night, before they turn on the lights, they’re going to play that song. And everybody’s going to get up.

wesley morris

Uh-huh, yes.

joi

You get up and you bop. In Philly, we call it bopping. And that’s what I expect people to do. You just got to get up and dance. And it transcends age. It’s like everybody should know and get up and do it.

wesley morris

Joi, thank you for making my heart full and helping us out here with your own memories of this song. I really appreciate it.

joi

No problem. Thank you.

wesley morris

Talk to you later.

joi

All right.

wesley morris

Bye.

joi

Bye.

wesley morris

We could not possibly have had a conversation about this song without talking to a human being whose name is Joi.

jenna wortham

I know, I know. I love that.

wesley morris

So today, on the show, we’re going to be talking about one of the most joyous songs we think has ever been written.

jenna wortham

And it’s not just us talking about it. You all sent us your amazing memories about the song, too.

wesley morris

And the song we’re talking about is “Before I Let Go” by Maze featuring Frankie Beverly.

[music]jenna wortham

I’m Jenna Wortham.

wesley morris

I’m Wesley Morris. We’re two culture writers at The New York Times.

jenna wortham

And this is Still Processing.

[music]listener

OK, y’all touched the very bottom of my Black heart when you asked about “Before I Let Go.”

wesley morris

Oh, yes!

listener

In terms of when I first heard that song, I couldn’t even tell you when specifically. It almost just seems like one of those songs that was always playing in the background of my life.

wesley morris

The same here.

jenna wortham

The same here.

wesley morris

The same here.

listener

I probably heard it for the first time in the womb.

jenna wortham and wesley morris

[LAUGHTER]

listener 1

You probably would get your Black card revoked if you didn’t know it.

listener 2

Every time I hear “Before I Let Go,” it just lights up my olfactory senses. I just smell bacon or catfish. Because that’s when I hear it. I hear it on Saturday mornings, the only day my mom and my dad had time to make us breakfast.

jenna wortham

Aw.

wesley morris

Bacon and catfish!

listener 1

I’m instantly transported to my grandmother’s backyard in the summer in Baltimore, Maryland. And I’m smelling crabs and beer. And I’m hearing laughter. And I’m just seeing jubilation.

listener 2

Oh my God. Of course I know this song, and of course I have to dance.

listener 3

You heard that song, and you knew it was time to put down whatever you were doing and come Electric Slide real quick.

listener 4

People in New Orleans have a special connection or we think we have a special connection to Frankie Beverly and Maze. At the Jazz Festival at Congo Square, when they sing that song, you’ve never seen so many Black people doing the Electric Slide.

jenna wortham

I love that.

listener 1

Growing up in New Orleans, it was an anthem for us. Frankie Beverly was an adopted son of New Orleans. And anything that they did was top of our local radio charts.

listener 2

Sometimes I’ll go out and jog to it. And if the song comes up, I start running faster.

wesley morris

Yes, yeah. [LAUGHTER]

listener 3

It just makes me feel sort of safe and happy and joyous all at the same time.

listener 4

It is almost hymn-like in my life. Even in extreme moments of stress and turbulation and just not really having a good time, I can put that song on. I instantly get a feeling of family and of community and of just joy.

listener 5

About three years ago, I was newly out and seeking some sort of queer community. And I ventured out to these day parties that happened in the summer with queer women of all ages and mostly people of color. And I was kind of a wallflower. And I had a couple drinks. I loosened up. And the DJ put on “Before I Let Go.” And everybody erupted into such joy, immediately doing the Electric Slide, dancing.

And I looked around, just standing there, amazed at what I saw before me. Because it was like, wow, I really, really found my people. Because I spend a lot of my time in white spaces, I don’t get the opportunity to be around people of color a lot, especially queer women. It was just like a giant hug.

archived recording (frankie beverly)

(SINGING) You know I think the sun rises and shines on you.

jenna wortham

Oh my goodness.

wesley morris

I’m going to start crying. I’m crying. I’m crying.

archived recording (frankie beverly)

(SINGING) Nothing, nothing I would not do.

jenna wortham

OK, why do I feel like we were just at a Black family reunion? We hosted it. We summoned it. We just had the big hug. We all had the matching T-shirts that said “Still Processing Black Family Reunion.” I am emotional. I am emotional. That was special.

wesley morris

Thank you, everybody, who submitted. We got so many that we couldn’t possibly have played them all. But we heard from Oklahoma City and New York City and Seattle and North Carolina and a lot of other places, too. And — I don’t know — thank you everybody for loving this song as much as we do or sharing your love for this song with us today. I knew it was a Black culture staple, but to sit here with you and listeners of this show and to really be thankful for it, oh, man, it’s just so wild.

jenna wortham

It’s pretty incredible. And I think, especially in this moment of figuring out what gathering and reuniting is going to look like from a safety perspective, a psychic perspective, just the joy we’re expecting to have, I mean, it’s been a real hellish year of being apart from each other. And this song is a unifying thread. Even just talking about it feels like it invokes all those warm memories of how sacred and special and precious it is together.

wesley morris

Yeah, OK, but I want to talk about it as music for one second.

jenna wortham

Talk about it for as many seconds as you — let’s just talk about it as music.

wesley morris

[LAUGHS] Because I mean, the first thing I should probably mention is just who Maze featuring Frankie Beverly is. First of all, I don’t know anybody who says Maze featuring Frankie Beverly. Nobody says that. Everybody says Frankie Beverly. But it is officially Maze featuring Frankie Beverly. And Maze was the band. Maze was the band. Frankie Beverly was the chief songwriter and lead singer. And basically, their stage show was Frankie Beverly would wear white, white pants. He’d wear a baseball cap and white shirt, white shoes. And the band wears black. And they’re from Philadelphia. Frankie Beverly is from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which is why you’re hearing from all these Philadelphia people today, Jenna — I’m sorry for that.

And I mean, their biggest hit — I don’t know what their biggest hit was — but they had many songs that were staples on Black radio in the 1970s and 1980s. “Southern Girl,” “Joy and Pain.” So there’s two funny things about the song being a hit. Number one is, live, they play eight minute songs. They go for these long improvisational walks when they play. And so it’s really funny to me that the song that has basically defined them in these 40 years is their tightest, most compact pop song.

Also because this wasn’t a huge hit when it came out in 1981. The hits of 1981, at least on what Billboard Magazine — the nation’s chart-making apparatus — when they called it the Black Music Chart, this only peaked at number 13. This was not a huge hit even on Black radio.

jenna wortham

That’s hard to believe. I don’t believe it. The numbers are wrong.

wesley morris

I mean, it was not not a hit. But for some reason, that song has just stood the test of time. And I think it’s entirely to do with the music. The most crucial thing is Frankie Beverly — whoa-whoa, oh.

jenna wortham

Yes.

wesley morris

We are being summoned to gather. Because what happens any time somebody hears this song? What happens, Jenna?

jenna wortham

You get your little booty up. And you look around. And you figure out where the dance floor is. Or you’re just chair dancing. Or you’re on the picnic table, dancing. And frankly, any movement is acceptable. You can be batting your eyelashes. You can be doing a little something with your neck.

wesley morris

Seated, standing, laying down.

jenna wortham

Rolling, whatever.

archived recording (frankie beverly)

(SINGING) I want to make sure I’m right, girl, before I let go.

wesley morris

But you want to find other people. I listen to this song alone — it’s great. But there is nothing — nothing — like hearing it with other people, being around other people when you hear it because you feel like it is bonding you to them, or it is underscoring the bond that you already have. It’s the whoa-whoa is the beginning. And then you get a verse. And the thing that is making this song so pleasurable is it’s entirely melodic, right? And the melody, he’s holding notes, but not in a way that — it’s not intimidating. You can hold those notes, too. But it’s so pleasurable to sing along to it.

jenna wortham

No, it really is easy to sing along to the song. The lyrics are easy to learn. But when you actually listen to the song itself, you realize, it’s a breakup song, even though it is so up-tempo and so exhilarating. But the first line is, “You made me happy,” past tense. There are lines in this song that include, “We were so close,” “Where did we go wrong?”

And so, even though it’s a song about how much love there is and how much the singer loves this other person, it’s this love that comes with the knowledge that they aren’t right for each other. And so, they’re agreeing to let each other go. And I mean, it’s kind of wild, actually. But the whole song is engineered in a way that it’s very accessible. And it is just extremely easy to fall into.

wesley morris

Yeah. The other thing is, somebody said that the first time she heard it was in the womb. And another person said that they don’t remember the first time they heard it. It’s just always been there. And that’s the same for me. I actually don’t remember the first time I heard this song. I just know it was — I know it was outside. I don’t know — I can’t prove it. But I just know it was outside. It’s just kind of always been there.

jenna wortham

It has been. And how? How did this song become just the ambient backdrop to warm weather?

wesley morris

OK, well, some of us can’t remember how the song came into our lives, but there is a person who was there when it happened, and it’s Patty Jackson.

jenna wortham

Yes, yes.

wesley morris

Patty Jackson is a legend in Philadelphia radio. She is officially the voice of WDAS. They play what I would describe as grown and sexy R&B. And she’s just a staple. She’s a legendary figure in Philadelphia, radio and otherwise. And I think we should just talk to her about what this song is. Do you mind?

jenna wortham

No, let’s do it. Let’s dial her up.

wesley morris

OK, let’s call Patty Jackson. I’m going to call Patty Jackson!

wesley morris

Oh my God, Patty Jackson. I can’t even believe it.

patty jackson

It is an honor to talk with you guys from my neck of the woods.

wesley morris

I mean, if I had to rank the five most important Philadelphians, top five.

patty jackson

You’re making me blush. Thank you very much.

wesley morris

It’s true.

patty jackson

I’m just a girl from South Philly doing what she loves to do.

wesley morris

Well, it’s a pleasure.

jenna wortham

Well, one of the reasons we wanted to talk to you today is because Wesley and I are really interested in trying to figure out how “Before I Let Go” became the unofficial Black summer anthem. I mean, I don’t how you would describe it. It has this magic.

patty jackson

It is such an anthem. The year it came out, I was graduating from high school. Maze was always in my life, but it was a radio station like WDAS. We play the throwbacks and things like that. It was always a staple in the format.

wesley morris

But it wasn’t a massive hit, right?

patty jackson

That’s right.

wesley morris

It didn’t crack the hot 100. So how do you account for the fact that it’s this song?

jenna wortham

Hm.

patty jackson

I didn’t realize the impact until we were at the Dell Music Center and the way everybody responded and danced and sang. And you could just tell that they didn’t care about what went up and down the charts. This was the song that you played for your family, that you played for your friends at weddings and gatherings. But you got to experience “Before I Let Go” when you’re at a Maze and Frankie Beverly concert. Frankie Beverly did a fundraiser. It was stuffy. And everybody was hoity toity. And Frankie is just used to everybody —

wesley morris

Getting it.

patty jackson

— dancing and being in it.

jenna wortham

And the vibe.

patty jackson

And the vibe. Well, honey, he started doing “Before I Let Go.” These stuffy women in their tight gowns and high heels —

jenna wortham

Oh my gosh.

patty jackson

— they came out of the shoes and the stuffiness, and they were ready to let their hair down.

wesley morris

I mean, he probably raised some money, too.

patty jackson

Yeah, they did.

jenna wortham

Oh my goodness.

wesley morris

So Patty, have you ever heard this song with a bunch of white people?

patty jackson

I don’t think so. I think there have been white people in the audience, and they got it. And they started swaying along, too. Like, OK, we like this song. So they would get it and immediately come in.

wesley morris

Yeah, I mean, I have to say, I thought the song was a Philadelphia song. And then I got to college. It comes on, and I’m like, you guys know this song, too? This is a national song? OK.

patty jackson

Yeah, mm-hmm. It is. It’s a song for the culture. In my neighborhood, there was a harvest festival, right? And the music was corny. And everybody was just drudging along. They played Maze, everybody just came out and started dancing.

jenna wortham

Aw.

patty jackson

Matter of fact, it made me see that there was a whole lot of African Americans in the community that I had no idea where they are. But they came. That song came on, they were everywhere. It was amazing.

wesley morris

Yeah, that’s a great way to find out who’s Black in your town, if you just moved somewhere new.

patty jackson

Exactly.

wesley morris

You just hold up your phone and just start playing it, and people will just come running.

jenna wortham

And seeing who starts bopping. Yes.

patty jackson

They’ll just start bopping their heads to it and be ready.

jenna wortham

Patty, thank you so much for blessing us on the show and talking with us. What a treat.

wesley morris

Everything Jenna said. Thank you so much for being here. We really —

jenna wortham

So fun.

wesley morris

It means the world to us.

patty jackson

Thank you. Thank you.

[music]jenna wortham

Wesley, I’m low key jealous that you got to grow up listening to Patty all —

wesley morris

You should be.

jenna wortham

— of your life.

wesley morris

You should be jealous.

jenna wortham

Trust me, I am. I also really enjoyed hearing Patty’s story about the harvest festival. And it made me think about one of my favorite times hearing “Before I Let Go” in the wild. And to tell this story, Wesley, I’m going to have to rewind back a few years. So you know what that means. That was when I was —

wesley morris

Uh-oh.

jenna wortham

— @jennydeluxeee with three X’s in full effect.

wesley morris

Uh-oh.

jenna wortham

Your early 30s are different from your late 30s. You heard it here first. OK, so let me walk you back in time to a very drizzly Memorial Day weekend in the year 2018. I’m going to set the scene for you, if I may.

wesley morris

Oh, please, hit me.

jenna wortham

So it’s my good friend Sarah’s birthday. And she wants us to go to this party, thrown by a collective that is a Black and brown crew of masc of center queer folks and trans folks. However, the weather was not cooperating. It was so gray and hazy. And it dared to drizzle! But it’s a scene. You’re going to see folks. You’re going to see people you’ve been seeing on Instagram. You’re going to see people you’ve been collaborating with. You’re going to see past, future, present crushes. Past, future, present exes. It’s the Black L word.

wesley morris

Right.

jenna wortham

So you get there. The vibe is so chill, super wavy, super calm, super cute. And it’s more of like you’re kind of tucking into a corner with a couple of your friends, cozying up, catching up, more than running around the party, trying to flirt and twerk and grind and be cute. So more people start pouring into the party. And the energy starts kind of building, just because it’s exciting and everyone’s coming out of hibernation. And the music starts slowly getting better. It’s in the back of my mind, I’m like, oh, OK, the BPM’s going up. The tempo’s going up.

wesley morris

Somebody’s reading the room.

jenna wortham

And at some point, you hear those three keyboard strikes. And it was literally like someone had set off a firecracker in the middle of the room. We scatter, but in reverse. It was just like gravity coming together. And I remember “Before I Let Go” is simultaneously one of the most embodied songs I listen to, which is, I’m just so fully present. And at the same time, I vacate for the entirety of the song. I don’t know what’s happening. I don’t know what my face is doing.

wesley morris

You’re in your body, and you’re out of your body, yeah.

jenna wortham

Yeah, I don’t know what my ass is doing. Like, I just don’t know, but I am having the best time. But that part when the song’s like, I thank God, and we’re in this group, everybody’s together. And in that moment, everything I had was in material flesh of my friends, just touching people and holding them and just really feeling loved and belonged, which is a sense of belonging.

But — I don’t know — it’s not grammatically right, but it always makes sense to me when I say it. I just felt so belonged in that moment. And let me tell you something. That song ended and the rest of the night was an absolute blur. It’s the song gave everybody a vitamin B shot, an oxygen bar. It just invigorated. And it didn’t matter that the sun wasn’t out. It didn’t matter that it was cold. It just turned everything up. The dial went all the way up to 100. And there was something about the song that initiated a launch sequence for the rest of the season.

archived recording (frankie beverly)

(SINGING) Before I let you go.

phyllis fletcher

I played it in high school, in marching band.

wesley morris

Marching band!

jenna wortham

That’s right.

phyllis fletcher

It was 1986. And our teacher was Clarence Acox Jr. And he’s from New Orleans, and he went to Southern University. So he had us play their arrangement. And I remember he’d call out this song. He’d go, “Before I Let Go“! And his arms would come up. And he would cue the trumpets. And they would come in with the keyboard part, [VOCALIZING]. And everyone would be like, ahh!

And it was on from that point forward.

listener 1

I just grew up in a family where our Black elders had dibs on our music choice at the family cookout. And so, “Before I Let Go” was just a classic.

wesley morris

Yes, that’s also true!

listener 2

My dad used to play Frankie Beverly and Maze all the time. And he would be like, oh, y’all aren’t ready for that yet. One day. Lo and behold, some 20 years later — I’m 32 now — I can say confidently that my dad was absolutely right, that I was not ready for that. There did come a time when I really did start to appreciate Maze and Frankie Beverly, specifically that song. And it feels like it’s almost prophetic to hear my dad say those words or to think about him saying those words. Because he was right. And I wasn’t ready. I hope I’m ready now, though.

wesley morris

You’re ready. You’re ready.

jenna wortham

Sounds like you are.

listener 3

When my beloved youngest brother died we passed out the words to that song, just in case anybody needed them. And we put it on full blast at the repast. And that’s how we sang my little brother out. That song means a lot to us.

jenna wortham

That’s special. Oh my gosh, Wesley, do that for me.

listener 4

I remember as a kid watching my parents’ wedding video and seeing my dad sing the song to my mom as they danced at the reception. And I can just see his face right now, scrunched up, as he’s trying to hit all the high notes.

wesley morris

[LAUGHS] Yes.

listener 5

The unison of everybody at the, (SINGING) oh-oh-oh.

jenna wortham

That’s right.

wesley morris

Yep.

jenna wortham

The bridge.

listener 5

No matter who you are, you are hitting that note, and your finger is in the air to go with it. It is Southern Black, catfish, your’s grandma’s hugs, black castiron, Black.

wesley morris

Oh, yeah, that’s right.

That song is Black. It is, but had I been at these occasions, had I been at that funeral, had I been at that wedding, those would have been things that would have been foreign to me as an onlooker. I’m not in any of these families. But at the same time, I also know what this song is and is capable of.

And it just reminds me of the way in which culture is simultaneously this universal thing, but also this deeply private thing. And I was thinking about the time that I was in Austin, Texas. I’m pretty sure it was Austin, Texas. And I wound up in this bar. And it was a country western bar. And they were playing all kinds of hits, things I didn’t really recognize, things I knew. Pretty mixed crowd for Texas, lots of Latinos and white people, a stray Black person here or there. And there was this enormous dance floor. And then all of a sudden, a song came on, and the entire dance floor just unified. They didn’t lose their minds the way we do when “Before I Let Go” comes on, but this song was a signal that everybody was going to start doing a line dance.

jenna wortham

Hm, cool.

wesley morris

And they did this amazing complicated line dance to this song and then the song after that. But that song, whatever it was, was the song. And I stood there. And I was just like, it was so beautiful.

jenna wortham

It’s amazing.

wesley morris

I don’t want to be a part of it. I didn’t have that experience and think, I have to go and copy that. Or I have to run out and make some money off of this. I have to find a way to steal it and bring it back to my people and do it. I was just so grateful to have it shared with me or to be witness to it. I was so moved. And I thought, I am so grateful to know that in my culture, I also have a thing that is like this and is just ours.

And it’s OK if you don’t understand it. This is just what happens when this song comes on. You just watch a bunch of Black people lose their minds and just explode, turn into exploding flowers for the five minutes and seven seconds this song is on. And I just feel so lucky to have been able to witness that happiness.

[music]listener 1

I just love that song so much, but I also want to tell you, I love Beyoncé‘s version, too.

archived recording (beyoncé)

(SINGING) I want to make sure I’m right, boy, before I let go.

listener 2

It was just a part of the canon for the backyard barbecues and cookouts of my youth. So I think of it in that way — or at least I did — until Beyoncé did it. And I am a 33-year-old Black woman. So I loved every minute of it. I feel transported to this secret galaxy where it’s just Black girls dancing. And thank you, Beyoncé. We stan.

jenna wortham

Yes.

listener 3

I tried to like Beyoncé‘s version, and I know this is maybe unpopular opinion, but I couldn’t get into it. I only ever want to hear the Frankie Beverly and Maze version of “Before I Let Go.”

jenna wortham

Fair. That’s fair.

listener 4

She is very Black, very Southern and wants you to know that her ‘Bama ass loves some Frankie Beverly. And I just — it warms my heart because I can just see Beyoncé with her own plate of catfish, with her own little wine cooler, swaying her hips around her grandmas and her aunties and her uncles and the babies rolling around. We all the same. We all the same.

jenna wortham

I love that.

wesley morris

That’s right. Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter did indeed cover the song. And Jenna, can you just talk about how it functions in homecoming?

jenna wortham

Sure.

wesley morris

“Homecoming,” of course, being one of the great live events to have taken place in at least the last 20 years. Beyoncé headlines Coachella in 2018.

jenna wortham

In some ways, Beyoncé‘s being so deliberate about taking over Coachella, which, prior to her performance, had not had a Black woman headliner. So she’s making history once again, but doing it in this way that only Beyoncé can do it.

wesley morris

Ain’t that ‘bout a [EXPLETIVE], she says.

jenna wortham

Ain’t that ‘bout a [EXPLETIVE], right? So she’s also performing this act of protest, in some ways. But the way she chose to use homecoming and even the name, right? A homecoming is a traditional Black fall college event, but it has a special significance. We also talk about homegoings, which are when people transition to become ancestors.

So there is this summoning that she’s doing anyway on the stage. And what better way to pay tribute to Black culture than to perform a song that everyone knows? And think about when you saw that footage, the people who are in the front row at that show were not entirely Black. She knew it was going to be a performance that a lot of us were going to see at home and be playing at barbecues itself. So there’s already that to it. She’s doing so much.

archived recording (beyoncé)

(SINGING) Before I let you go.

jenna wortham

But I would say her version comes at the end of the performance. It is a send-off. And I love her approach to it, which she doesn’t even try to one-up the song. She actually takes it down to its most basic elements. So it leaves you actually wanting the original. And oftentimes, that’s how they’re played. In public, you hear Beyoncé‘s version and then they play the full version. One is not meant to replace the other. It’s actually meant to be a love letter to the other. What’s also really incredible about Beyoncé‘s version is, in the song, she includes instructions for a dance to her version “Before I Let Go,” right?

archived recording (beyoncé)

(SINGING) Drop, pop. Cross your legs, turn around and clap. Shuffle to the left. Let’s glide now.

jenna wortham

So in that, she’s continuing this culture of Black line dancing and giving us a reason and a thing to do and to participate with. And honestly, I love it. I mean, I know we talk a lot about how dance culture and dance move culture, which is kind of also TikTok culture, but flattens music and our experience of music. But I actually think it extends the lifespan. And it makes it so interactive. And it makes it so fun.

And I remember Instagram being flooded during that time with people trying to learn the dance moves and do the dance challenge. And again, it’s just this way of bringing people together and giving us a shared language and shared vernacular and just ways to play and have fun when we gather. And we love it. It’s just the best.

wesley morris

OK, so I’m going to admit something here. One of the callers actually called in to say, I don’t know. I prefer Frankie Beverly’s version more. And I also, the first couple of times I heard it, I was like, I was definitely with that listener. Because honestly, I’m one of those people. Why mess with perfection? But you’ve changed my mind on it. But not only that, you talking to me about this song has opened my ears to it. And she doesn’t try to out-sing Frankie Beverly, which she could. She can compete with him, to say the least. The other thing that’s amazing is that when she gets to the bridge, the sound falls out, but a new bass line comes in that is similar to “Before I Let Go’s,” but different.

archived recording (beyoncé)

(SINGING) Dirty Diana, singing and dancing all in the rain.

wesley morris

It’s the bass line from “Candy” by Cameo. What it says to me is that this cover is a sense memory, right? This is a person remembering something, not a person riding a coattail. But it’s also about how music memory is, it’s pastiche, sounds combining all the time. And what this cover does is it makes it real in a way that feels very personal.

jenna wortham

Also, Beyoncé changes the lyrics to, “I think God’s sun rises and shines on you.” So she is also —

wesley morris

She’s responsible for that, yes.

jenna wortham

— updating — well, she’s integrating what we all already think it says, which I think is, there’s something about this song that feels very kid-like to me because it’s a little bit sped up. It reminds me of jump roping or double dutching. It has that energy to it. But there’s something to me that’s very Crayola scribble over the song in such an elegant way. But it’s almost like we all think it says this anyway. So that’s Beyoncé acknowledging to this collective memory of the song that I think really works.

And I’ve been thinking a lot about this quote by the Korean-American video artist Nam June Paik that says: The culture that’s going to survive in the future is the culture that you carry around in your head. And this is a song that fits that description perfectly. It’s something that exists in your memory. It’s passed down. It’s this immaterial culture that is also so inherent, I think, to the Black-American experience because so much of the culture we have arrived in our heads, right?

It’s what we carried with us. It’s the recipes, dances. It’s not necessarily going to be a building or a land, right? Because we were disenfranchised from all that. It’s going to be these other talismans. And in a way, “Before I Let Go” feels like an extension of that because it is just something that we share in communally.

wesley morris

Yes, but to the point you made earlier, Jenna, this is also really a breakup song.

jenna wortham

Yeah, yeah.

wesley morris

And we talked about this a little bit earlier, but I was thinking about what kind of breakup song it is. And in its buoyancy, it kind of deceives you into thinking it’s a let’s-stay-together song.

jenna wortham

Ooh.

wesley morris

But it’s not just any kind of breakup song, really. It’s a song about being dumped, right? And about how one person isn’t ready to do that. But as part of the ritual of separation, is really re-evaluating all of the things that were good about this relationship for him. Right? The opening line is, “You make me happy.”

jenna wortham

(SINGING) You make me happy.

wesley morris

Yes! And I feel like there are a few reasons for this song’s longevity, right? I mean, and part of the recipe that you’re talking about, the thing that’s sticking to our ribs, the thing that we want to keep ingesting is that it’s so pleasurable. But there’s something about the tenacity of this guy to acknowledge how much the relationship means to him that feels really profound to me without ever burdening you with its profundity.

And in that sense, to me, the reason this song is so powerful to Black people is that it’s somewhat like a song about living in this country. And you can do whatever you want to do to us. And there have been many times when we’ve had so many reasons to sever this relationship, but we believe in it. We believe in it. And you might have wanted to exterminate us, subjugate us, take our voting rights away, but we won’t let go. Because we thought about it, but before we do that, let’s just take a second to evaluate what our relationship with this place is and how it makes us feel. And, I don’t know, there’s just such a joy in being able to bask in that power. We could let go at any minute, but this is ours, too.

jenna wortham

Wow, Wesley. I find that to be really profound and deep, especially right now, when every day feels like an existential threat on our existence. I mean, it really is treacherous and tough times. And at the very least, the song, to me, definitely feels like a protective bubble. And it allows for that five minutes to just exist in this space of joy and optimism.

wesley morris

Yeah, I always just — do you feel like you’re floating when this song is on?

jenna wortham

Yeah, it’s a protective bubble. It’s like one of those giant bubbles you see at Burning Man or at Coachella that people are inside of. That song is that for us. And I think that’s why we run towards it literally and psychically when we hear it because it’s just like, safety! It feels like safety. It feels like a safe place to come home to.

wesley morris

It’s home. It’s home.

jenna wortham

It is home.

[music]wesley morris

That’s our show! Thanks to everyone who sent in their memories of “Before I Let Go.” We heard from Ashley, Marvin, Robyn, Brandon, Lindsay, Sharon and Brittney.

jenna wortham

And Davina, Elon, Kalam, Jon, Erin and Renae.

wesley morris

And then from New Orleans, there was Maurice and Sheryl and Anthony.

jenna wortham

Thank you all. Thank you all.

wesley morris

Thank you.

jenna wortham

We are blessed. And now we’re craving catfish because so many people talked about catfish. So thank you for that as well. Still Processing is produced at The New York Times by Elyssa Dudley.

wesley morris

Our editors are Sara Sarasohn and Sasha Weiss and Phyllis Fletcher.

jenna wortham

Marion Lozano mixes the show.

wesley morris

Digital production by Mahima Chablani, Des Ibekwe and Julia Simon.

jenna wortham

Special thank you to Lisa Tobin and Wendy Dorr. Our theme music is by Kindness. It is called “World Restart” from the album, “Otherness.”

wesley morris

And look, y’all, we left “Before I Let Go” for last because we got to do a little letting go ourselves for a minute.

jenna wortham

Yeah.

wesley morris

We’re going to take a little break.

jenna wortham

Stay tuned to the feed for updates on when Still Processing returns. But in the meantime, have an amazing summer! Don’t forget to wear your sunscreen, stay safe and we will see you soon.

We have to get some catfish, Wesley.

wesley morris

We gotta get some catfish. [LAUGHS]

jenna wortham

It’s been said so many times now, I’m like, all right, we need to get some catfish. I know exactly where we’re going to go to.

wesley morris

Oh.

When was before I let go released?

Who originally made before I let go?

How old is Frankie Beverly?

Who did the original version of I can't let go?