The shortest song on the album, “Forward” is also a turning point. Whatever has happened in this relationship‚ Beyoncé’s moving ahead. It’s notable that a man’s soft voice (British singer James Blake) sings these lyrics with Bey. Now, rather than a partner in anger (like Jack White in “Don’t Hurt Yourself”), a man’s voice is a partner in and source of solace.

James Blake told Pitchfork how the collaboration came about:

Beyoncé came to the studio, and I was sitting at the piano when I met her. She was just lovely. I came up with something to go with an idea she had; I just embellished her melody. I think the idea was to use some of her lyrics, but I didn’t realize that – I misunderstood and did something entirely different from what she wanted. But it didn’t matter, because she really liked it, and they ended up using [my version]."

Blue Ivy was there, too, which was nice. She was singing along to the song, which was a huge compliment, because kids just don’t have any pretense whatsoever."