Beyoncé’s ‘Break my soul’ becomes the anthem of the ‘great resignation’

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MUSIC – No clip, but lyrics that take up all the space, flashing on a black background. Beyoncé unveiled on the night of Monday to Tuesday June 21 her new single, titled break my soulthrough an official lyric video, available on YouTube.

“And I just quit my job / Gonna find another motivation / Damn they make me work so hard / Work at nine / Till five / And they get on my nerves / That’s why I don’t can’t sleep at night”, chants the singer queen of R’n’B. It is difficult for Americans not to be challenged by these words as they echo the “Great Resignation”.

In the United States, the “Great Resignation” refers to these mass resignations of employees and workers, which began in the spring of 2021, “as the American economy was opening up again after its lull due to the pandemic”, recalls the American media CNBC.

47 million Americans left their jobs in 2021

As early as June 21, just hours after the release of “Break My Soul,” CNBC headlined “The Song Break My Soul by Beyoncé is an ode to the great resignation”. Interviewed by the American media, economist Nick Bunker stressed that Beyoncé’s new single was an “example […] of a broader public discussion about people leaving their jobs”.

According to the United States Department of Labor, more than 47 million Americans left their jobs in 2021. A trend that is continuing in 2022, as highlighted by the latest reports from the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. In April 2022, 4.4 million Americans quit. They were 4.5 million to have left their jobs in March 2022.

The mandatory confinements due to the pandemic have indeed allowed many Americans to question their working conditions, their financial situation or the usefulness of their job, accelerating the number of resignations in the spring of 2021, especially in the sales sectors. and the hotel industry.

This was followed by viral videos on TikTok, nicknamed the “Quit-Tok”, where Americans publicly announced their resignation. With “Break My Soul”, the phenomenon could regain momentum: on Twitter, Internet users have announced that they wish, often with humor, to leave their jobs since Monday.

Me quitting my job because Beyoncé asked me to.

Does she ask us to quit our jobs? ‘Cause I will, Beyonce, I will.

“Many saw it as a rejection of work, but I saw it as people taking advantage of the abundance of job opportunities […]. Employees are realizing that they have bargaining power,” says Nick Bunker, this time at New York Times. In the United States, hourly wages thus increased by 6.1% in May 2022 over one year, the strongest annual increase for 25 years, notes CNBC.

A situation that once again echoes the title of Beyoncé. “I am working on my new salvation / I am building a new base / I am motivated / I have found a new base on which to build myself”, indeed concludes the singer in Break My Soul.

See also on The HuffPost: “Grammy Awards: The Big Winners of the Ceremony”