Food for Thought: Symbols and Scenes from Lemonade
by Aubrey Spicola
If you’re getting hungry after watching Beyoncé’s Lemonade, you might not be alone. After all, one could argue that the culmination of the visual album is this moment where a lot of badass women prepare a feast for themselves and dine together. And the best way to wash this meal down? A nice, tall, cold glass of lemonade.
The mentions of food and the imagery in the visual album aren’t limited to this moment at the end, however. There are mentions of collard greens before we get here and there is, of course, Beyoncé’s mention “I’ve got hot sauce in my bag (swag)” in “Formation” to tie everything together.
Speaking of hot sauce, the bat we see at the start of the album is also named Hot Sauce.
When we reach the final stretch of the visual album, in “Hope”, we see a lot of women preparing food for themselves and getting ready for a feast. They’re dressed in beautiful white dresses. A lot of the visual album takes place around the dinner table, but the place-settings are empty; the tables are vacant and in one scene, a Mardis Gras Indian circles an empty table with a tambourine.
Whether the food is about bringing everyone together for a sendoff like we see in Daughters of the Dust or is another symbol of making something out of nothing (i.e. lemonade from lemons) is up to interpretation.
One thing’s for sure: the visual album highlights badass women throughout and at this feast, nobody is on their own anymore. These women have wisdom to pass down and to pass along to help each other through tough times.
All of the poetry highlighted in this visual album is by Warsan Shire. One of Shire’s poems, “The Kitchen”, superimposes food with a cheating husband:
And while this poem isn’t featured in Lemonade, I find the similarities intriguing. We have all of these luxurious foods mentioned alongside a discussion of an unfaithful man. The food that is prepared at the end of Lemonade is so carefully put together, much like the foods mentioned in “The Kitchen”.
The food in this poem is bringing the couple together but in a way that differs from the function of the food in Lemonade. Both scenes are about bringing people back together, but the woman is alone in her thoughts in “The Kitchen”. The women in Lemonade might resemble more of a team. They support each other.
Right around the time we see this feast, we hear Beyoncé’s grandmother’s recipe for lemonade. The process is careful and deliberate, just like healing a relationship or making something positive come from a difficult situation. Even if you’re dealt a bad hand, you can triumph and come out victorious.
Healing comes from within, but it’s best to draw from your ancestors and the wisdom from the people around you to improve your situation.
The food and drink in Lemonade could be interpreted in so many ways, but I see it as a realization that we can’t do this life thing alone. We have to communicate within our relationships and seek guidance to find ourselves.
In Lemonade, we go from empty rooms and tables to an occupied table that extends far off into the distance. We are reminded that Beyoncé carries her roots and her strength in “Formation”. She’s made it through this rough patch and she’s ready for whatever else might come her way.
There’s one thing for certain: Lemonade is food for thought.
