"Rather Die Young" is a song recorded by American singer

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

for her fourth studio album, '' 4'' (2011). Composed by Beyoncé,

Jeff Bhasker Jeff Bhasker (born March 4, 1974) is an American record producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist based in Los Angeles. He was awarded the Grammy Award for Producer of the Year in 2016 and nominated in 2013. An accomplished producer, he ...

, Luke Steele, the song's development was motivated by the fact that Beyoncé wanted a song that would help people through both their painful and happy moments. "Rather Die Young" is an R&B-

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

power ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner.J. M. C ...

that is instrumentally complete with

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

s, a

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

, a

strum In music, strumming is a way of playing a stringed instrument such as a guitar, ukulele, or mandolin. A strum or stroke is a sweeping action where a finger or plectrum brushes over several strings to generate sound. On most stringed instrument ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

, and heavy

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

s, which were inspired by the work of the American band

Earth, Wind & Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (EW&F or EWF) is an American band whose music spans the genres of jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, big band, Latin, and Afro pop. They are among the best-selling bands of all time, with sales of over 90 million re ...

. Lyrically, the song talks about the inability to fight what the heart wants. The female protagonist sings to an indifferent

love interest ''Gli Innamorati'' (, meaning "The Lovers") were stock characters within the theatre style known as commedia dell'arte, who appeared in 16th century Italy. In the plays, everything revolved around the Lovers in some regard. These dramatic and pos ...

, whom she likens to American actor

James Dean James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931September 30, 1955) was an American actor. He is remembered as a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment and social estrangement, as expressed in the title of his most celebrated film, ''Rebel Without a Cause' ...

and tells him that she prefers to die rather than live without him. "Rather Die Young" was generally well received by contemporary

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

who described it as a dark, yet enchanting ballad. They highlighted Beyoncé's vocal power and the song's melody. Critics also noted that the ballad was heavily influenced by the 1980s R&B and soul music, adding that it has a

Philadelphia soul Philadelphia soul, sometimes called Philly soul, the Philadelphia sound, Phillysound, or The Sound of Philadelphia TSOP, is a genre of late 1960s–1970s soul music characterized by funk influences and lush instrumental arrangements, often feat ...

vibe. However, some of them commented that it was barely distinguishable among the other songs on ''4'', criticizing its chorus which, according to them, forms the major part of the song. Following the release of ''4'', "Rather Die Young" charted at number 37 on the South Korea Gaon International Singles Chart, based on downloads alone. The song was part of Beyoncé's

set list A set list, or setlist, is typically a handwritten or printed document created as an ordered list of songs, jokes, stories and other elements an artist intends to present during a specific performance. A setlist can be made of nearly any materi ...

for her '' 4 Intimate Nights with Beyoncé'' shows, held at the

Roseland Ballroom The Roseland Ballroom was a multipurpose hall, in a converted ice skating rink, with a colorful ballroom dancing pedigree, in New York City's theater district, on West 52nd Street in Manhattan. The venue, according to its website, accommodated ...

in New York City.

Background and recording

"Rather Die Young" was written and produced by

, and Luke Steele at Enormous Studios, in Los Angeles, in 2011. Cole Kamen-Green, Alex Asher and Josiah Woodson played the

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

s while Nick Videen and Drew Sayers were on the

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

and

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...

s. The

horn Horn most often refers to: *Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound ** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...

were arranged by Shea Taylor. Jordan Young then recorded Beyoncé's vocals at the

MSR Studios Sound on Sound Studios, formerly known as MSR Studios (Manhattan Sound Recordings) is a photography and movie producing company Recording studio, recording facility in Montclair, New Jersey. Its forebear, MSR Studios, was located in Manhattan, just ...

and KMA Studios, in New York City; Steele and Billy Kraven served as background vocalists.

Tony Maserati Tony Maserati is an American record producer and audio engineer specializing in mixing. He was involved in the development of the New York R&B and hip-hop scene in the 1990s, working with Mary J. Blige, Notorious B.I.G., Puff Daddy, and Queen ...

mixed the track, while Pete Wolford, Ryan Kelly, Serge Nudel, Justin Hergett and Jon Castelli all assisted in the

audio engineering Audio most commonly refers to sound, as it is transmitted in signal form. It may also refer to: Sound * Audio signal, an electrical representation of sound *Audio frequency, a frequency in the audio spectrum * Digital audio, representation of sou ...

of "Rather Die Young"; both tasks were executed at the RMC Studio, in Los Angeles. Speaking about what motivated her to record a song in the vein of "Rather Die Young", Beyoncé said: "I really want people to think when they listen to my music. I want it to help them through their painful memories, their painful moments, and their most happy moments. I want it to be a conversation."

Composition and lyrical interpretation

"Rather Die Young" is an R&B-

, which is heavily influenced by the 1990s R&B music and the 1970s soul music. Alexis Petridis of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' commented that it refracts "a dramatic

ballad through gauzy modern production". "Rather Die Young" also contains elements of

retro Retro style is imitative or consciously derivative of lifestyles, trends, or art forms from history, including in music, modes, fashions, or attitudes. In popular culture, the "nostalgia cycle" is typically for the two decades that begin 20–30 ...

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...

. The song is built on a heavy laid-back programmed drum

beat Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery (c ...

, which according to Thomas Conner of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

'', was inspired by the material of American band

. Additional

instrumentation Instrumentation a collective term for measuring instruments that are used for indicating, measuring and recording physical quantities. The term has its origins in the art and science of scientific instrument-making. Instrumentation can refer to ...

includes a horn section, a weave of

s, a

, a

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, and a

. Priya Elan of ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' noted that "Rather Die Young" gets close to the "smoky soul styling" of

Anita Baker Anita Denise Baker (born January 26, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter. She is one of the most popular singers of soulful ballads, especially renowned for her work during the height of the quiet storm period in the 1980s. Starting her career ...

, before adding that its

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

bears similarities to

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948), is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musicals, ...

's previous work and jazz hands. Jim Farber of ''The Daily News'' wrote that "'Rather Die Young' has a choir of Beyoncés" that recalls the harmonies of all-female singing group

The Emotions ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

. Simon Goddard of '' Q'' magazine compared the song with

Massive Attack Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol by Robert "3D" Del Naja, Adrian "Tricky" Thaws, Andrew "Mushroom" Vowles and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall. The debut Massive Attack album ''Blue Lines'' was release ...

's "

Protection Protection is any measure taken to guard a thing against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although th ...

" (1995) and also noted similarities with

The Shangri-Las The Shangri-Las were an American pop girl group of the 1960s. Between 1964 and 1966 several hit songs of theirs documented teen tragedies and melodramas. They continue to be known for their hits "Remember (Walking in the Sand)", "Give Him a Gre ...

' songs. Lyrically, "Rather Die Young" talks about the inability to fight what the heart wants, even if it is wrong. Beyoncé prostrates herself at the mercy of an indifferent love interest, telling him that she would rather die young than to live her life without him. Beyoncé also sings about leaving a legacy as she shows her "epic" neediness to her love interest, as stated by Genevieve Koski of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

''. The music stays soft in the first

verse Verse may refer to: Poetry * Verse, an occasional synonym for poetry * Verse, a metrical structure, a stanza * Blank verse, a type of poetry having regular meter but no rhyme * Free verse, a type of poetry written without the use of strict me ...

, where Beyoncé likens her romantic interest to American actor

, "You're my James Dean / you make me feel like I'm seventeen". She also relates about how good girls often fall for bad boys; she affirms that "bad boy" she loves, "drive too fast" and "smoke too much". During the chorus, Beyoncé projects the image of a woman, who wants to love and be loved regardless of what others may say, "I'd rather die young / Than live my life without you / Rather not live at all". As the song progresses, Beyoncé references "some deeper emotional fires burning" as she sings, "Nobody understands what we've been through".

Critical reception

The song received generally positive reviews. Joanne Dorken of

MTV UK MTV is a British pay television channel focusing on reality TV and music programming operated by Paramount Networks UK & Australia. The channel launched as part of MTV Networks Europe localisation strategy in 1997. MTV UK (previously MTV UK & I ...

wrote that "Rather Die Young" is a "dark, yet enchanting... mesmerising" ballad, noting that as Beyoncé sings, she give listeners a sense of mystery. She also commended her "stunning vocals". Likewise, Chad Grischow of the website

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

wrote that the song gives Beyoncé's vocals room to shine with "some beautifully soft verses and belted hook". Alexis Petridis of ''The Guardian'' called "Rather Die Young" a fantastic and dramatic song. Similarly, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

''s Matthew Perpetua wrote, "There's a great melodramatic kick to this song, which comes across like a quiet storm slow jam spiced up with modern drum programming. 'I'd rather not live at all than live my life without you' is an unusually self-pitying lyric for Beyoncé, but she sells it well regardless." Conrad Tao of Sputnikmusic showed high favoritism for the song, writing:

nowles'utterance of 'you're my James Dean / you make me feel like I'm seventeen' on 'Rather Die Young' is made tolerable by her honeyed vocal slides. Certainly, the 'bad boy' Beyoncé is in love with is more a physical representation of countless painfully banal fantasies about guys who 'drive too fast' and 'smoke too much' than an actual person, but at least it feels tangible. For once, the pop song trying to make a connection with its listener doesn't feel like a total fraud. Forget
Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...
's song about her relationship with her father or
Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...
' lullaby to her babies – here, I'm convinced, if only for a moment, that Beyoncé really would rather die young than to live her life without her lover, that she cares, even if you don't. This doesn't fully explain why 4 is as enjoyable as it is, but it does convey just how convincing Beyoncé can be when given the right tools – and it turns out that those tools consist of not much more than Beyoncé's voice itself.

''Prefix magazine''s Craig Jenkins found "retro-leaning flourishes and propulsive boom bap in equal measure" in "Rather Die Young". Likewise, Cameron Adams of the ''

Herald Sun The ''Herald Sun'' is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the Murdoch owned News Corp. The ''Herald S ...

'' wrote that "Rather Die Young" is a "boundary-pushing backdrop of 1970s soul dragged into tomorrow", further describing it as bizarre but brilliant. Mikael Wood of ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

'' magazine described it as a slow-to-bloom song which is "preoccupied by love's pleasure". Ben Cardew of ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' described "Rather Die Young" as a drum-heavy and gloomy ballad accompanied by a lovely melody. Jocelyn Vena of MTV News described the ballad as having an old-school vibe and commended how "instead of going hard, she eyoncékeeps the music soft" Robert Copsey of the British entertainment and media news website

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...

noted similarities between "Rather Die Young" and Beyoncé's older material. A mixed review came from Adam Markovitz of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'', who compared Beyoncé's work on "Rather Die Young" to that of past idols such as

Luther Vandross Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Known for his sweet and soulful vocals, Vandross has sold over 40 million records worldwide. He achieved eleven consecutive P ...

and

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups o ...

, but felt the tone overshadowed her style, stating that "she gets lost in her idols' polyester-swathed shadows". Matthew Horton of

BBC Online BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and BBC Sport, Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, t ...

wrote that the ballad is less successful than the other songs on ''4'' because of its "overdone glitz". Similarly, ''

''s Hamish MacBain classified "Rather Die Young" as one of the "barely distinguishable slowies", and Priya Elan of the same publication wrote that the song is spoilt by "some rather drippy lyrics and tschorus", adding that there are several lyrical references that "instead of being explained further, are overturned in favour of some romantic mulch".

Greg Kot Greg Kot (born March 3, 1957) is an American music journalist and author. From 1990 until 2020, Kot was the rock music critic at the ''Chicago Tribune'', where he covered popular music and reported on music-related social, political and busines ...

of the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' noted that the song was a little more than a chorus on repeat. Ryan Dombal of

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...

commented that "Rather Die Young" ruins its Philly soul vibe with "a theatrical Broadway glaze".

Live performances

Beyoncé performed "Rather Die Young" live for first time on August 14, 2011 during the '' 4 Intimate Nights with Beyoncé''

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own duri ...

, which was held at the

, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. She performed the ballad in front of 3,500 people; she was wearing a gold dress and was backed by her all-female band and her backing singers, called the Mamas. The performance was included on her 2011 video album '' Live at Roseland: Elements of 4''. The song was also included on a medley with " Love on Top" on the

Renaissance World Tour The Renaissance World Tour is the ongoing ninth concert tour by American singer-songwriter Beyoncé. It was announced on February 1, 2023, in support of her seventh studio album, ''Renaissance'' (2022). The concert run began on May 10, 2023, at ...

(2023).

Chart performance

Selling 15,161 digital downloads, "Rather Die Young" opened at number 37 on the South Korea Gaon International Singles Chart for the week ending July 2, 2011.

References

External links

Beyoncé's Official Website
{{Beyoncé songs 2011 songs 2010s ballads Beyoncé songs Song recordings produced by Beyoncé Song recordings produced by Jeff Bhasker Songs written by Beyoncé Contemporary R&B ballads Soul ballads Songs about suicide Songs written by Jeff Bhasker