“Beyoncé Is A Scientist Of Songs”: Diana Gordon Talks ‘Lemonade’ Songwriting & “Becky With The Good Hair” Reaction

Diana Gordon is undergoing a career renaissance, having shed her Wynter Gordon moniker on new single “The Legend Of,” which comes after she co-wrote the most memorable tracks from Lemonade: “Sorry,” “Don’t Hurt Yourself” and “Daddy Lessons.” In fact, she’s the one responsible for the instantly iconic “Becky with the good hair” line, and she recently spoke to EW about the lyric’s popularity and Beyoncé‘s songwriting process.

“I laughed, like this is so silly. Where are we living?” Gordon says about the “Becky” fallout. “I was like, ‘What day in age from that lyric do you get all of this information?’ Is it really telling you all that much, accusing people?” She even says that Bey herself never expected such a huge reaction to that tiny sliver of the album.

Regarding Beyoncé’s process, Gordon offers yet another account that discredits the argument that all those collaborators mean Beyoncé is just a pop puppet. “Beyoncé is a scientist of songs. I’ve never seen anyone work the way she works,” Gordon says, echoing what Mike Will recently said. “She definitely changes the song structures. She can take two songs, say, ‘I like two lines, I like the melody then let me use that for a verse and a bridge and write the whole middle.’ It’s more of a collaboration. You never know what she’ll like. I came to her with a bunch of songs and she was like, ‘I like that verse, I like the idea.’ But she definitely doesn’t take things as is, at least not from me.”

As for the country-tinged “Daddy Lessons,” it struck an emotional chord with both of them. “When I played it for her, I was like, ‘This is one of my favorite songs.’ She was like, ‘This is my life.’ I told her, ‘You know what, take it, do what you want with it,'” Gordon recalls. “She went and re-produced it, she changed some words, added the bridge, it’s hers. She didn’t talk to me about her father. We didn’t go into details. I see their relationship in the media just like everyone else. I watched the HBO special just like everyone else.”

For more about Gordon’s career change-up, Lemonade input and Beyoncé pajama party experience, read the full interview.