Beyoncé’s ‘Ameriican Requiem’ from Cowboy Carter rallies school choirs

Beyoncé’s eighth studio album “Cowboy Carter” was released two years ago, and it’s still making history—not just on the charts but in classrooms, where its opening track is emerging as an anthem for school choirs.

At Germantown Friends private school in Philadelphia, Beyoncé’s song “Ameriican Requiem” is taking center stage in the school’s A cappella group’s repertoire, captivating audiences with its powerful message and sound.

Allen Drew, director of the school’s singing group, said the song was suggested from one of the high school students, Rinn Patterson-Jordan.

“I usually get several hundred (submissions) from students and I listen and go through them all. ‘Ameriican Requiem’ was a suggestion from the student who actually ended up getting the solo. The song was very close to her heart,” he Dew said. “I heard the song was like ‘wow, this is a very timely song.'”

After suggesting the song, Patterson-Jordan set her sights on the solo and ultimately earned it, calling it one of her favorite songs of all time.

“I was very excited about it. I wore my ‘Cowboy Carter‘ hoodie every day of a cappella rehearsal until the auditions. I was very set on doing it,” Patterson-Jordan said.

In the opening track of Beyoncé‘s eight studio album, “Ameriican Requiem,” she sings about reclaiming country music and redefining what it means to be American as a Black woman, confronting exclusion and honoring her Southern roots.

“I I think that sounds beautiful in an a cappella setting, and it’s such a powerful song,” she said. “I feel like a vessel of a message that I think is really important,” Patterson-Jordan added.

The song has resonated not only with those performing it on stage, but also with audiences.

“It’s a very powerful song,” Drew echoed. “The reactions to that song have been very strongly positive. It’s a combination of different things. It’s an amazing song. The group sings it really well, and our lead is really very good,” said Allen.

He makes it clear the significance goes beyond the intricate sound.

“It’s regularly gotten standing ovations, which is pretty cool. That’s the musicality of it,” Allen said. “But I think, also, it’s a very profound and timely song, and I think it gives people a pretty meaningful cathartic release to hear it and to feel the lament of it.”

In the track, Beyoncé sings, “Can we stand for something?/ Now is the time to face the wind/ Now ain’t the time to pretend/ Now is the time to let love in.”

Later she sings, “They used to say I spoke, “Too country and the rejection came, said I wasn’t, ‘Country ‘nough’/ Said I wouldn’t saddle up, but/ If that ain’t country, tell me, what is?”

Miles away in the nation’s capital, Germantown Friends alumni and current Howard University student Isaac Okewole is also resonating with the same song, along with his peers in the University’s first a cappella group.

“We are the Howard Harmonies. Howard is a HBCU (Historically Black College and University) located in Washington D.C., and we’re 13 members strong,” Okewole said. “We perform twice each semester—either at our own showcases or we’re invited by another group to perform.”

As an chemical engineering major, Okewole created the university’s first a cappella group in 2025 so that students of all majors could have an outlet to express themselves and sing songs they love.

He said that, while the group usually does themed performances with the songs ranging from neo-soul, R&B, pop, to country, in February the group did a Black History Month showcase with songs across genres.

“We’re singing a song from each decade going all the way from 70s to the 2020s., and we’re ending it off with ‘Ameriican Requiem,'” he said.

Okewole noted the patriotic significance of including this song in the repertoire.

“The song itself talks about America and institutionalized racism,” he said. “Requiem in itself means to honor or signal a passing of something, and we wanted this group to really be a big turning point for all of us, because we haven’t really been able to do our own music, per se.”

He explained that even those in the group who are fine arts majors have a very strict curriculum they have to follow. The group also allows for students outside of arts majors, like himself, to have a platform.

“If you look at the lyrics of the song, she talks a lot about contrasting identities. A lot about people, at face value, are one thing. But really, when you get to know them, they are something else. Specifically with Beyoncé, when she started in the music industry, people said she’s too country, and that’s something she talked about in the song. And now that she came out with a country album, they she’s not a country anymore,” he said.

He said the group itself can relate to this notion.

“We’re really leaning into that idea that people are multifaceted. The idea that people have a lot of different parts to them is something that we really represent. Everybody in our group is of a different major. Anything from engineering and computer science to musical theater,” he said. “We really spread it across the board, but we’re all joined by our love of singing. And I think ‘Ameriican Requim’ perfectly represents that.”

Not only is the tune a key part of the repertoire, he said it came up early in the process and is now fully embedded into the group going forward.

“The main plan is to change up the songs from year to year, but we want keep that as an audition song, so everybody who knows it has a baseline that we all start from,” he added.

Beyoncé first released the 27-track project March 29, 2024. It quickly made history and broke multiple records in charts across genres. The Grammy-winning album continued to shatter records after the singer completed her 32-stop Cowboy Carter and Rodeo Chitlin’ Circuit Tour in July 2025. Beyond the songs meaning, Okewole said singing the song is simply an experience like no other.

“I think of all the songs that we sing, ‘Ameriican Requiem’ is the one that we had the most fun with… The song itself attunes to the group,” he said. “When we sing it, we don’t have a specific tempo. We don’t have a specific cadence. We kind of look at each other and sense the energy in the room and all come together to build this song in the moment.”