Beyoncé's highly anticipated Cowboy Carter album is officially here, and while the internet has been abuzz for weeks regarding its various promotions, rumored collaborators, and released visuals. Now, as listeners immerse themselves in the tracks and discuss it online, they might notice a music term being thrown around: interpolation.
Most listeners understand what a cover is -- like the second track on Cowboy Carter. "Blackbiird," originally written by Paul McCartney during the summer of 1968 and released later that year on the Beatles's White Album. It's the first true cover Beyoncé has included on a studio album since her solo debut Dangerously In Love, when she and soul legend Luther Vandross duetted on the Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway hit "The Closer I Get to You."
Beyoncé's rendition of Dolly Parton's oft-duplicated 1973 classic "Jolene" is also a cover, though Bey has reimagined and rewritten many of the lyrics throughout to tell a noticeably different story. This was clearly done with Parton's full blessing -- not only has the Country Music Hall of Fame inductee been vocal about her admiration of Beyonce's talents, but some think she manifested the cover a couple of years ago by bringing it up on The Daily Show. "I would love to hear 'Jolene' done in just a big way, kind of like how Whitney did my 'I Will Always Love You,'" Parton told host Trevor Noah during a 2022 on the show. "Someone that can take my little songs and make them, like, powerhouses."
Then there are samples. Most listeners are also familiar with sampling in music -- it's particularly prevalent in hip-hop, where soul, funk, R&B, and other hip-hop songs are pulled from to form new beats, melodies, and choruses. Sometimes these samples are obvious, like on the Cowboy Carter track "Ya Ya," which kicks of with the step-down stomping guitar riff from Nancy Sinatra's 1966 hit "These Boots are Made for Walkin'." Perhaps less obvious is her use of the 1996 track "Born Slippy.NUXX" by the British electro and dance duo Underworld as a sample throughout her song "II Hands II Heaven."
But interpolations are a whole different rodeo, as it were. While samples are a direct copy of the original work -- using the original singer or musicians' recording -- an interpolation re-records whichever part of the song it is using. That could mean a melody, a grouping of chords, or a fully redone piece. For a classic Bey interpolation example, think of her use of Donna Summer's 1975 hit "Love to Love You Baby" throughout her 2004 song "Naughty Girl."
One example of interpolation on Cowboy Carter is her inclusion of the 1783 aria "Caro Mio Ben," about two minutes into the song "Daughter." The renowned Italian piece was woven into the fabric of the revenge fantasy song, and was sung and fully played by Beyoncé and her studio musicians. That distinction makes it interpolation, as opposed to if she'd pulled a sample of another operatic performance of the aria.
Another example is the intro of "Sweet / Honey / Buckiin'," which interpolates Patsy Cline's 1961 hit "I Fall To Pieces," a song which also showed major country/pop crossover appeal -- not only did it hit No. 1 on the Hot Country charts, but it pulled a No. 12 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart as well.
Interpolation can add a feeling of nostalgia to a song, as many of these Cowboy Carter tributes do. And on an album that tips its Stetson to the country hits of the past, it's an approach that Ms. Carter uses to pay homage to the artists she wants to emulate.
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