40 Things We Learned From Beyonce's HBO Documentary

And so much more.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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The world will stop tonight, albeit briefly, for Beyonce's HBO documentary "Life Is But A Dream." And yes, the entire doc takes you behind the scenes with the Queen of the music industry (also: universe) right now. But we've already seen it.

The majority of the documentary's highlights come from Beyonce's personal recordings on her Macbook, while the rest are her being interviewed ,and behind-the-scenes footage from around the time that her previous album, dropped to more recent times, as she shows the world Blue Ivy Carter. There's nothing shockingly intimate about the production because, of course, it's on Beyonce's terms, but there's still some decent stuff. 

In the event you weren't able to watch it—or in the event you just want to get to the bottom of it without watching it—read on: These are the 40 Best Things We Learned Watching the Beyonce HBO Documentary.

[And, oh yeah: Spoiler alert. Kinda.]

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When she was younger, she felt like she needed her father's approval. Mathew Knowles never gave it, because he wanted to push her to get better and stronger.

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At one point, she felt that she was doing too much, and wouldn't be able to grow as an artist.

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She set a goal and fixated on becoming an independent person, artistically and financially.

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Being independent meant firing her father. She felt as though her soul had been tarnished from it. "It was bigger than the record, it's bigger than my music."

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Beyonce constantly records herself on her laptop.

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Destiny's Child heard Survivor debuted at No. 1 while filming the "Bootylicious" video.

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On the day of 4's release, Beyonce said she felt like no one should be able to judge it, because it was from her heart.

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Beyonce loved being pregnant. A lot: "Being pregnant was very much life falling in love. You are so open, so overjoyed."

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Beyonce wasn't crazy about hiding her pregnancy: "I had to hide something that was the best thing in my life."

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She likes to be pissed off before she goes on stage.

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She brought in two boys from Mozambique to perform with her at the 2011 Billboard Awards for "Run The World (Girls)."

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She rehearsed for the Billboard Awards performance in the hallway of her hotel, and the first time anyone saw the full performance together was when it was live.

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On women: "I love my husband, but there's nothing like a conversation with a woman that understands you. I grow so much from those conversations. I need my sisters."

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She was pregnant at the Billboard Awards and no one knew.

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She previewed "I Care" for Columbia Records-and the entire conference room gave her a standing ovation.

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What It's Like To Be Beyonce and Jay-Z: Beyonce and Jay-Z sit on a yacht and listen to Feist, and she talks about feeling overjoyed. Jay also sings a few bars of "Forever Young."

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Beyonce would perform in her mother's hair salon when she was younger, and then ask for money.

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She had a miscarriage two years ago. She heard her baby's heartbeat for the first time and said, "It was the most beautiful music I had ever heard in my life." She picked out names, too.

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Immediately after she miscarried, Beyonce went to the studio to write "the saddest song she's ever written." It hasn't been released yet.

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She says the battle of her life is figuring out how to stay current and stay soulful.

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She thinks about retiring. Often.

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She records herself speaking to her computer on the night Blue Ivy kicks for the first time. For the record, she kicked five times.

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If you get HBO, you can now watch an early ultrasound of Blue Ivy Carter on-demand.

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After her VMA performance of "Love On Top" where she revealed that she was pregnant, she walked off-stage and exclaimed: "We're all free!"

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On Jay-Z: "We connected on a spirtual level and he just so happens to be a musician...I pray that Jay and I stay a team...It's every woman's dream, to feel this way about someone."

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Jay-Z and Beyonce sing Coldplay's "Yellow" to each other. They also change the lyrics to "Jay Jay, I love you so."

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She addresses rumors that she used a surrogate mother, saying: "A child, you don't play around with that."

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You get to watch Beyonce and Julez (Solange's son) play "Heart and Soul" on the piano and Beyonce sings to her not-yet-born daughter.

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Blue Ivy is shown on camera in the final scene where Beyonce's family sits around looking at photos—even her father Mathew is there.

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She dedicated the entire documentary to Blue Ivy Carter and Shawn Carter. And nobody else.

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