Blue Ivy’s surprise cameo on the Everything Is Love bonus track will give you life
Beyoncé and Jay-Z made our weekend (our month, our year…our lives?) by releasing their new joint album, Everything is Love, yesterday, June 16th. We’re slowing digging into each song and finding ourselves loving each one even more than the last. This sentiment also goes for the bonus track, “Salud!”, which might just be one of our favorites from the whole album.
“Salud!” means cheers (also health) in Spanish, and with its upbeat vibe, the song embodies the word. In the track, Bey and Jay celebrate their success and look back on all of the obstacles they’ve overcome to get to where they are today. It even features Blue Ivy making a precious shout-out to her twin siblings.
The very last line of the song is simply Blue Ivy saying, "Shout-out to Rumi and Sir, love Blue." Our hearts!
It’s also notable that Bey and Jay acknowledge the hardships of their marriage in the past tense on this song (and throughout the album), unlike in Beyoncé’s Lemonade, which definitely made it seem as though they were still working things out. We also get several political references on the track (“Your president tweeting about Hov like he knows us, my road to the top was to take what you owe us”), religious metaphors (“Sosa the Elohim intervene like boy you the truth”), and our culture’s problematic relationship with celebrities (“when your name is a verb and these comments absurd and they swear they know you better than you know yourself”).
Beyoncé and Jay-Z aren’t mincing their words on this one.
“Salud!” also leaves us with a few questions. Like, why is it a bonus track and not part of the actual album? Who is Jay referring to when he says, “Don’t die (don’t die, don’t die), angels on both sides”? And what about, “The wind comes and I’m just a flute”? Please explain!
Check out the “Salud!” lyrics below, from Genius:
[Intro: JAY-Z]
Yeah, uh, yeah, yeah-yeah, yeah-yeah
Uh, uh, uh[Chorus: Beyoncé & Dre]
Put it on ice, celebrate that we made it
I put it on Christ (that’s on God, yeah)
Lord knows it takes hella patience
When your name is a verb and these comments absurd
And they swear they know you better than you know yourself
Cause you control yourself, just me and you, salud!
Baby look me in my eye, take a cheers to you and I, cheers to you
Baby look me in my eye, make a cheers to you and I, salud!
[Verse 1: JAY-Z & Beyoncé]
Mazel tov, gold bottle talk, wife got a model walk
(wife got a model walk)
House all glass, slide the doors you ain’t gotta walk (gotta walk)
And to top it off (top it off), got another one in Montauk
(Montauk, Montauk, Montauk)
Trifecta down in Tribeca (Tribeca, Tribeca), bonjour (bonjour)
French crib in the french quarters (yeah)
Champagne in the glass, toast to the importers (yeah)
Spill some out for the past[Chorus: Beyoncé & Dre]
Put it on ice, celebrate that we made it
I put it on Christ (that’s on God, yeah)
Lord knows it takes hella patience
When your name is a verb and these comments absurd
And they swear they know you better than you know yourself
Cause you control yourself, just me and you, salud!
Baby look me in my eye, take a cheers to you and I, cheers to you
Baby look me in my eye, take a cheers to you and I, salud!
[Verse 2: JAY-Z & Beyoncé]
Hola (hola), thank the most high for the coca
Salud! (salud, salud, salud, salud)
God protect babies and fools, I was both (both)
It’s not just a popular trope (both)
The wind comes and I’m just a flute (oh)
The winds come and I’m not a fluke (oh)
I’m convinced I’m really that, I’m truly the GOAT (oh my god)
Sosa, the Elohim intervene like boy you the truth
Don’t die (don’t die, don’t die)
Angels on both sides, toast with mimosas (both sides, both sides)
Your president tweeting about Hov like he knows us
My road to the top was to take what you owe us
I give a fuck what that man find vulgar
Just look in my eyes when you toast us
[Chorus: Beyoncé & Dre]
Put it on ice, celebrate that we made it
I put it on Christ (that’s on God, yeah)
Lord knows it takes hella patience
When your name is a verb and these comments absurd
And they swear they know you better than you know yourself
Cause you control yourself, just me and you, salud!
Baby look me in my eye, take a cheers to you and I, cheers to you
Baby look me in my eye, take a cheers to you and I, salud!
[Outro: Beyoncé & Blue Ivy Carter]
Mazel tov, put up your glass, put up your last, put up yo bag
Throw up a light, show that we bright, blow money fast
This for my kinfolk
Left out the window
Let them all know
This what we ball for, yo
Shout out to Rumi and Sir, love Blue
Congratulations on your amazing album, Beyoncé and Jay-Z! We couldn’t love it more.