 According to Sarah Rodman of "The Boston Globe", its lyrics make reference to tenacity, love, and the refusal to defer dreams; Beyoncé, as the female protagonist, sings, "demanding her moment in the sun".Chuck Taylor of "Billboard" magazine wrote that Beyoncé shimmers "with evocative emotion", rising to new heights alongside "a golden melody with spellbinding, rafter-raising production".The lyrics are written in the traditional verse-chorus form.