Jay-Z released his latest collaboration "Glory feat. B.I.C." on his website LifeandTimes.com on Monday. The new track commemorates the birth of Jay-Z and Beyonce's newborn baby girl, Blue Ivy, just two days earlier on January 7.
"The most amazing feeling I feel / Words can't describe the feeling, for real / Maybe I paint the sky blue / My greatest creation was you: Glory," opens Jay-Z on the song that features the first cries and sounds of Blue Ivy Carter herself.
The Hov's sweet and simple lyrics range from moments of postpartum elation "Your mama said that you danced for her / Did you wiggle your hands for her?" and "You're the child of my destiny / You're my child with the child from Destiny's Child / That's a hell of a recipe;" to more confessional lyrics that appear to reveal the power couple's struggles with an earlier heart-breaking miscarriage.
Jay-Z starts the first verse of "Glory" with the lyrics "False alarms and false starts / All made better by the sound of your heart / All the pain of the last time / I prayed so hard it was the last time." Later he returns to the topic again, saying "Last time the miscarriage was so tragic / We was afraid you disappeared / But nah, baby, you magic."
Jay-Z isn't the first musician to pen an ode to their child (though, he might have the world record for the quickest release). Here is a list of some of the best songs dedicated to the children of musicians:
"Isn't She Lovely" by Stevie Wonder -- Jay-Z isn't the first artist to feature the sounds and cries of his newborn on a track. Stevie Wonder celebrated the birth of his daughter Aisha on his 1976 album "Songs in the Key of Life." The non-radio edit on the album features plenty of audio of Wonder playing with his first child.
"Little Green" by Joni Mitchell -- Jay-Z also isn't the first artist to name a child after a color. Kelly green was the poetic name for Joni Mitchell's first daughter, Kelly Dale Anderson--a daughter that she was forced to give up for adoption in her youth. "My daughter's father left me three months pregnant in an attic room with no money and winter coming on and only a fireplace for heat. The spindles of the banister were gap-toothed- fuel for last winter's occupants," Mitchell remembered. This song on Mitchell's 1971 album "Blue" was the only public account of the secret birth until the mother and daughter were reunited nearly 30-years later.
"Lullabye (Goodnight My Angel)" by Billy Joel -- This heartfelt reassurance of love to a questioning daughter was inspired by Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley's own daughter Alexa Ray Joel, who was young at the time.
"Beautiful Boy" by John Lennon -- This sweet and simple song about the joys of parenthood opens with the lines, "Close your eyes / Have no fear / The monster's gone / He's on the run and your daddy's here." The song is featured on the 1980 album "Double Fantasy." Tragically, just three weeks after its release, Lennon was shot and killed.
"To Zion" by Lauryn Hill -- This powerful song about motherhood chronicles Hill's decision to have her first baby instead of having an abortion--as was suggested by many of those close to her.
"Tears in Heaven" by Eric Clapton -- A teary ballad that tells about the pain and loss Clapton felt following his four-year-old son Conor's deadly fall from a New York City apartment window.
"Just the Two of Us" by Will Smith -- Will Smith adapted Bill Withers' 1981 love song of the same name into this catchy endorsement of fatherhood, and dedicated it to his first son Trey Smith.
"Forever Young" by Bob Dylan -- Reportedly written for his son Jakob Dylan, "Forever Young" captures the hopes and prayers of nearly every mother and father. Jay-Z sampled the German synthpop group Alphaville's song of the same name for his song "Young Forever." Now that he is a father, maybe Jay-Z will sample Dylan's quintessential ode to parenthood for a new track. Or, maybe not.
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