This new Beyonce song name drops a Central Valley city, songwriter confirms

Saturday, March 30, 2024
This new Beyonce song name drops a Valley city, songwriter confirms
Valley native Ryan Beatty confirms the Fresno County city that was named dropped on Beyonce's new album, Cowboy Carter.

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- One of Beyonce's songs on her new country album, Cowboy Carter, subtly mentions Clovis, California.

In the song "Just for Fun" featuring Louisiana musician Willie Jones, Beyonce sings:

And everywhere I go, I hide my face/ From the cowboys in Clovis, and the rodeo circus, I/ Came here for a reason but I don't know the purpose

RELATED: Beyoncé's 'Cowboy Carter' highlights challenges for Black artists in country industry

Songwriter for "Just for Fun" Ryan Beatty confirmed in an Instagram post Friday that the lyric is, in fact, a reference to his hometown of Clovis.

"Writing these songs over the last four years has been one of the brightest highlights of my life on earth..." Beatty wrote in part. "Shoutout Dave, Jack, Annie, the cowboys in Clovis etc, etc, etc."

Beatty is a Clovis High alum who reached stardom after posting covers to popular songs to YouTube in 2011. His debut single "Every Little Thing" would release later that year in November. Beatty even headlined local venues such as the Tower Theater.

Beatty also wrote three additional songs on "Cowboy Carter" including "Protector", "bodyguard" and "II hands II heaven."

While multiple contribution song lyric sites-such as Genius-and even other streaming platforms like TIDAL conflict Beyonce's wording for "Clovers," Apple Music has the correct lyrics.

According to Apple Music, lyrics are submitted by artists or even the artist label must follow formatting requirements in the platform's guidelines.

The Clovis Rodeo Association has put out a statement sharing its excitement for the name drop. It reads:

We sincerely appreciate international pop/country artist Beyoncé highlighting some of the great cowboys that visit the Clovis Rodeo each year in her song Just For Fun. As a sign of our gratitude, we set aside five tickets for Beyoncé and her family to enjoy the Clovis Rodeo any day of her choosing this April. Everyone is invited to visit our website or the ticket office and buy their tickets now! Maybe they'll even run into Beyoncé as she comes to pick up her tickets.

Clovis Rodeo director Ron Dunbar says tickets have been set aside for Beyonce if she and her family would like to attend the event on any day of her choosing.

"It's awesome, Beyonce is a rockstar throughout the music business and to mention the Clovis Rodeo is pretty cool. If she wants to come sing that song, we can probably give her a spot on the stage on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday night," said Dunbar.

He also extended the invitation to songwriter Beatty as a thank you for giving the town a shoutout.

To listen to the song in full, click the YouTube video down below.

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