Rebirth
How does Beyonce use water in this stunning visual album to show her version of rebirth as a black female?
It seems in this world that there is not much opportunity to redefine yourself with the presence of social media. Beyonce takes control throughout Lemonade and redefines her rebirth as her very own story.
Now let’s talk about water. Water is powerful, it is one of the greatest elements on this Earth. It is beautiful and smooth, but hard to navigate your way through. It is Earthly and grounded, but fast flowing. Sort of like life, huh?
Beyonce uses water throughout several different scenes in Lemonade. It is used in stark contrast with fire, another essential element of this Earth. I think Beyonce might be getting at something here. We are just passing by on this Earth, surrounded by powerful elements that are simply out of our personal control.
Some of my favorite moments in “Lemonade” center around the very thing: water.
The picture above takes place after Beyonce falls from a rooftop, and is caught by this water. It is smooth, but bubbling and loud, in the video. This is the first moment we see the symbolism of baptism in Lemonade. She says, “ I sat alone and begged and bent at the waist for God.” These images of this baptism reveal her new beginning of recovery and coming to terms with her fight to find life and beauty in the darkness. To find the flowing sensation amongst the heaviness of water.
My favorite moment of Lemonade is seen above. The power and beauty of the emergence of water, the rush of strength that it brings to the viewer are empowering. Beyonce opens the doors of a cathedral and a rush of water explodes out and falls down a runway of stairs. She proceeds to walk down them and strut the streets of New Orleans while singing “Hold Up”. This rebirth is symbolic of her new beginning (https://www.spin.com/2016/04/beyonce-lemonade-hbo-album-film-analysis/). This resurrection and rebirth remind me of a passage in Beloved. It reads, “A fully dressed woman walked out of the water (Beloved, Pg. 50). I can’t help but think Beyonce’s team for Lemonade was inspired by this passage.
While it may seem simple, let’s give the idea of actual lemonade some thought. Beyonce’s grandmother gives a speech near the end of the visual album that states, “Take one pint of water, add a half pound of sugar, the juice of eight lemons, the zest of half lemon. Pour the water into one, then to another several times. Strain through a clean napkin.” Beyonce speaks, “Grandmother. The Alchemist. You spun gold out of this hard life. Conjured beauty from the things left behind. Found healing where it did not live. Discovered the antidote in your own kitchen. Broke the curse with your own two hands. You passed these instructions down to your daughter, who then passed them down to her daughter” (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/news/beyoncs-new-album-why-is-it-called-lemonade-plus-everything-else/). Beyonce makes a point to continue out oral tradition, as also seen in Beloved, even with something as simple as her grandmother’s recipe for Lemonade. She values her roots as an empowered woman of color and proudly shows them throughout her visual album.
Beyonce is forced to break boundaries in order for people to look at her with a certain level of respect. She is a leader striving for justice and forgiveness, all shown in respective ways throughout the visual album, Lemonade. Through expression of family tradition and religious rebirth, Beyonce proves Lemonade to be an empowering statement on womanhood.
