If I Were A Boy is not a song about penis-envy. As an independent woman, apparently Beyoncé doesn’t suffer from that affliction.

Wise-cracks aside, this single will blow you away. It is not what you’d expect from Beyoncé Knowles. Gone (for the moment?) are the tired R&B routines I was complaining about when I reviewed Green Light a year ago. Instead, I would say that If I Were A Boy is the most conventional song she’s ever released.

What’s the song about, I hear you ask. Well, it’s about a girl imagining how she would behave toward women if she ‘were a boy’. Get it? Lyrically, it’s a tad sanctimonious, because Beyoncé clearly doesn’t understand the male psyche, assuming that she’d still behave like a a girl while encumbered with man-parts. She just doesn’t understand our struggle, fellas!

All the same, the vocals are stripped down, raw but impassioned. Being a ballad, it doesn’t rewrite the rules, but it showcases Beyoncé’s voice and will remind you just how good a singer she really is. Think back to Emotions by Destiny’s Child or Irreplaceable.

The armchair critic who sits beside me every day didn’t warm to the song. However, we’re both agreed that it’ll likely be a grower, and another huge hit for Mrs Z. Without an official video just yet, we’re forced to focus on the music alone, which is very listenable, tender and not the usual T&A fodder we’re used to getting from Beyoncé.

Bonus: Check out this version by BC Jean, said to be the original version! Who’s the better singer?