As the deal with Jean's record company fell apart, Gad marketed the songs to established artists. Gad and Jean had co-written 12 songs, including "If I Were a Boy", for the singer's debut album.
She then recorded the song in less than half an hour, with Gad on the guitar.Īfter completing her version of "If I Were a Boy", Jean presented it to her record company, which rejected the song. Once there, she wrote the lyrics and melody in about 15 minutes. Gad captured Jean's ideas on a pocket recorder, and they went to the studio the same day. After reflecting on the idea, she concluded that she would have been a better man than her past lover. She then thought that if she were a boy, she would have eaten without regret. Although tempted, Jean refrained from eating pizza because she was dieting. One day Jean and Gad visited a pizzeria in Times Square in New York City. Most of the lyrics were written by Jean, who was inspired by the break-up of a romantic relationship. It is the only song on either disc that Beyoncé did not co-write. "If I Were a Boy" was written by BC Jean and Toby Gad. It’s unclear at the end whether she is final about not taking him back or if there is a note of hope that someday he’ll realize what he’s been doing to her and become a better man. The woman in the song has been taken for granted but at the same time she doesn’t want to let go and lose everything that she once had. She explores what it would be like if she did all the things he did to her every day.
"If I were a boy" is a commentary on the double standards that that often exist between men and women and a story of role reversal.