The Real Meaning Behind Texas Hold 'Em By Beyoncé

You never know what to expect with Beyoncé. She's the queen of surprise music drops, and during the 2024 Super Bowl, she released not one, but two new songs.

The Beyhive was buzzing with excitement after it was rumored that the "Break My Soul" singer would be involved in Verizon's Super Bowl commercial — and they were right. Shortly after Usher's halftime show, Beyoncé's commercial aired. The musician is known for "breaking the internet" and the whole premise of the ad revolved around Bey trying to break Verizon's connection. From pretending to host a Lemonade stand, to performing in outer space, Beyoncé did everything she could to tbreak Verizon's connection, but nothing worked so she had to pull out the big guns. At the end of the commercial, Beyoncé announced she would drop music. Fans were confused and excited, as there was no further detail about the new music. But Beyoncê didn't leave her fans hanging.

The Grammy-winning musician released a clip on Instagram announcing a new album will be released at the end of March 2024, but that's not all she gave the Beyhive. Expect the unexpected with Beyoncé because she released two tracks off the new album: "16 Carriages" and "Texas Hold 'Em." "Texas Hold 'Em" appears to be the new lead single and it has a country music flare to it, but what does the song mean? We're breaking down the details within Beyoncé's latest single, "Texas Hold 'Em."

When Beyoncé released Act I of her three-part music series, she wanted people to feel free. Ahead of the release of "Renaissance," she wrote, "My intention was to create a safe place, a place without judgment, a place to be free of perfectionism and overthinking." It seems like she wants people to be just as free with Act II and specifically with "Texas Hold 'Em."

She starts the song by saying, "This ain't Texas (Woo) / Ain't no hold 'em (Hey) / So lay your cards down, down, down, down." This is a reference to the betting game Texas Hold 'Em, where people are supposed to keep their cards close to their chest. But Beyoncé wants people to be vulnerable, which is why she tells them to lay their cards down. Throughout the song, she makes references to her hometown while still talking about letting go. She sings, "There's a heatwave (There's a heatwave) / Comin' at us (Comin' at us) / Too hot to think straight (Too hot to think straight) / Too cold to panic (Cold to panic) / All of the problems / Just feel dramatic (Just feel dramatic) / And now we're runnin' to the first bar that we find, yeah." Beyoncé sings about how some problems aren't worth the worry and to just be free. She wants people to have fun with her music and the lyrics in "Texas Hold 'Em" show this firsthand.