Beyoncé brings her ‘Lemonade’ stand to CenturyLink Field

Of the many heart-wrenching moments on Beyoncé’s new visual album, “Lemonade,” perhaps the one that resonates most comes on the 10th track, “Freedom.” In this song, the musical giant — who plays CenturyLink Field on Wednesday (May 18) — sings, “Freedom, freedom I can’t move. Freedom cut me loose!”

It’s a fervent chant attempting to sonically break social barriers, bonds of silence and with the words “cut me loose” brings to mind images of Billie Holiday’s anti-lynching song “Strange Fruit.” The chorus emphasizes the point that Beyoncé, perhaps the most celebrated, successful — and, yes, criticized — singer in popular culture, needs room to breathe.

The idea that Beyoncé needs freedom may come as a surprise to her fans. Forbes says she is worth over $450 million and her latest album debuted at No. 1 (her sixth in a row to do so). But when you consider the longstanding plight of black women, it makes a great deal of sense. As Seattle writer Ijeoma Oluo wrote in The Guardian, black women “are the women left behind … expected to never air our grievances in public … to stay loyal to our men by staying silent through abuse and infidelity.”