<P> In the second verse, Beyoncé resigns herself and continues to sing about cruelties that men often inflict on women . Still imagining herself impersonating the man who has wronged her, she highlights how some men switch off their phones to avoid ex-lovers after having found another girl . Beyoncé continues, "I'd put myself first / And make the rules as I go /' Cause I know that she'd be faithful / Waitin' for me to come home". She then repeats the chorus; the intensity with which she sings gradually increases until she hits her upper register and seems close to crying . During the bridge, Beyoncé stops singing about the male behaviors she would indulge in if she were a man and addresses her callous lover directly . As Beyoncé emphasizes how it feels to be cheated on, she sings her vocal lines an octave higher than she did in the rest of the song . She finally tells him that it is too late to come back and apologize . In the last verse, Beyoncé concludes, "But you're just a boy". Fraser McAlpine of BBC Music notes that she "(pushes) her voice into a thin, pleading whine" at this point . With a squeak in her voice, she repeats the chorus for the final time as she fights to remain strong, not allowing her agony to bring her down . </P> <P> "If I Were a Boy" and "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" were released simultaneously as the double album's two lead singles . The songs were taken from different discs of the album to demonstrate Beyoncé's conflicting personalities, the album's central theme . This motif was demonstrated by placing the ballads on a separate disc from the uptempo tracks . "If I Were a Boy" and "Single Ladies" were initially planned to debut on US radio stations on October 7, 2008, but both premiered the following day . "If I Were a Boy" debuted on Z100's Elvis Duran and the Morning Show, while "Single Ladies" first aired on New York mainstream urban radio station Power 105.1 . Both singles were added to rhythmic contemporary radio on October 13, 2008 . That same day, "If I Were a Boy" was sent to contemporary hit radio, and "Single Ladies was sent to urban contemporary radio . On November 24, 2008, "If I Were a Boy" was sent to US urban radio . Two digital EPs, each containing seven dance remixes of "If I Were a Boy" were released on February 10, 2009, in the US . </P> <P> The ballad was first released internationally as a stand - alone digital download in Oceania and most European countries on October 17, 2008 . In France and the United Kingdom, "If I Were a Boy" was serviced digitally on October 26, 2008 . On November 7, 2008, a two - track CD single, including "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" as the B - side, went on sale in all European countries, Oceania, and in Canada . In Canada two different digital EPs were made available on February 3 and 10, 2009 . A Spanish version of "If I Were a Boy" was translated by Rudy Pérez and mixed by Andrés Bermúdez at The Beach House in Miami . Titled "Si Yo Fuera un Chico (If I Were a Boy)", this version was only included on copies of I Am...Sasha Fierce in Mexico as well as iTunes Stores in Latin America and Spain, where it was released as a stand - alone single on February 3, 2009 . </P> <P> "If I Were a Boy" was widely acclaimed by contemporary music critics, who applauded Beyoncé's vocal performance and called the song her best yet . Billboard magazine's critic Chuck Taylor wrote that "If I Were a Boy" is Beyoncé's "most affecting offering" since "Listen" (2006). He praised her vocals as "breathtaking, exquisitely emotive, mournful, and mature" and added that the song "exudes the fragrance of a Grammy Award". According to Ann Powers of the Los Angeles Times, "If I Were a Boy" is Beyoncé's Streisand moment and "a tender, fairly simple ballad that (she) uses to prove she's a great vocal actress". Powers concluded, "This isn't just another breakup song; it's an elegy for female empowerment, Beyoncé's admission that no amount of money, fame or skill can solve the basic inequity between her man's heart and her own ." Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine wrote that "If I Were a Boy" could become as commercially successful as "Irreplaceable" because of its radio - friendly appeal . James Montgomery of MTV News complimented the "tear - jerking power" of "If I Were a Boy" and noted that it reveals "sides of Beyoncé we never knew existed". </P>

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