“Fever” by Beyoncé

Most simply explained, what the title of this song (“Fever”) is conveying is that the addressee gets the vocalist, his sweetheart, very hot. Implying that someone puts in you heat is, at the end of the day, undeniably a sexual innuendo. But that’s only like half of the story that’s being put forth here.

You can view the lyrics, alternate interprations and sheet music for Beyonce's Fever at Lyrics.org.

In the first verse, the vocalist rather illustrates that she got the hots for the addressee due to his inner qualities. And those are his ‘intelligence’, ‘confidence’, ‘sweetness’ and the “good” way that he treats her. In fact when you take into consideration the way the sentiments in this song progress, it can be said that those very emotions serve as the basis of her finding him so attractive.

And once you get to the second verse, the wording isn’t even about his attributes anymore. Instead, the vocalist is simply stating something along the lines of finding the addressee irresistible. And she is also, as stated, very much in love with him.

The third verse flows along a similar vein, illustrating, most generally explained, that when a person is truly in love, there’s nothing she can do about it. 

The fourth verse proceeds to in fact flip the subject from female to male, as in submitting that women also have fever-inducing powers on men.

The Chorus of “Fever”

The most-overt sexual innuendo comes in the chorus, where the vocalist verifies that this “fever” is something she indulges “in the morning” and “all through the night” with the addressee. But that said, as slinky as popular renditions of this song may be, it’s obvious that what the singer is really speaking to, more than sex, is being completely smitten. However, let’s conclude by saying that this is more of a youth love, i.e. one where participants read as if they’re unable to keep their hands off of each other.

Beyonce, "Fever" Lyrics

When was “Fever” released?

“Fever” is a song dating back to the late 1950s. It is one of the most-recognizable in American pop culture, considering that so many artists have covered it throughout the years. 

The standard version is that which Peggy Lee dropped in 1958. 

Beyoncé’s cover came out over 40 years later, as part of the soundtrack to “The Fighting Temptations” (2003), gospel-inspired film that she co-starred in alongside Cuba Gooding Jr.

Fever

Who wrote “Fever”?

“Fever” was written by Otis Blackwell (1931-2002) and Eddie Cooley (1933-2020). 

Interesting to Note

Beyoncé actually recorded this song twice. The first was released on 9 September 2003, via Columbia, as part of the aforementioned soundtrack. And the second came out in February of 2011 on the playlist of a limited edition EP she put out titled “Heat”, which was part of the marketing campaign for a Knowles-backed fragrance of the same name. 

It has been noted that some of the visuals associated with that latter effort proved so steamy that the advertisement they were featured on could not be played in the UK during the daytime.

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