"If I Were a Boy" mines a very different mood, and in doing so, elevates Beyoncé's game even higher. This is her Streisand moment -- a tender, fairly simple ballad that Beyoncé uses to prove she's a great vocal actress.
Co-written by Toby Gad, a longtime ingenue supporter who gave Fergie her Song of the Year with "Big Girls Don't Cry," this tearjerker is circular in structure, its unending cadences suggesting that the problem B's addressing is eternal. This isn't just another breakup song; it's an elegy for female empowerment, Beyoncé's admission that no amount of money, fame or skill can solve the basic inequity between her man's heart and her own.
