Frank Ocean, a talented singer, songwriter, and music producer has released multiple albums along with over twenty singles. Recently clips from the songs “Pink + White” and “White Ferrari“ featured in the album Blonde have been trending around the internet.
Blonde was released by Frank Ocean on Aug 20, 2020. Out of the gate, Blonde was a huge hit. The album became number one on the Billboard chart with over 65 million streams in the United States and 232,000 sales.
Frank Ocean took four years to release new music, so, when Blonde was released the pent-up demand for a new album sent fans wild. The album was released by Ocean himself, an individual who didn’t have the help of a big corporation. Hitting number one on the album was a surprise to the music industry since no artist had done this before.
“White Ferrari”, one of my favorite songs from the album, creates emotion for the listener. For me especially, it’s an emotional rollercoaster. The song’s lyrics are about a shift in feelings you go through when relationships end. These lyrics, “You left when I forgot to speak// So I text to speech, lesser speeds// I care for you still and I will forever// That was my part of the deal, honest,” truly speak to me because they are a reminder of lost friendships. This song can be interpreted in many different ways, making it suitable for everyone to listen to.
To me, the song “Nights” is so much more than a song. It expresses the struggles of trying to maintain everyone’s contentment and happiness. As well as the feelings of a one-sided relationship. “Nights” is a musical version of what it feels like to be invisible. “Everybody needs you// No, you can’t make everybody equal// You don’t even got nobody being honest with you” These lyrics demonstrate this idea of unfairness. That you care about others more than they do for you. It touches on this reality some may face in their lives.
The track, “Solo” is also one of my favorites. It tells the story of being “solo” until finding people you belong to. By the end of the song, it explains the benefits and the conscious doubts of surrounding yourself with a group of people. The lyrics: “Forgot to tell you, gotta tell you how much I vibe with you// Now we don’t gotta be solo,” explain Ocean’s idea of being with people, though, within the next stanza, he says, “Think we were better off solo”. The song goes through the ups and downs of friendships, which as a high school student I can truly relate to.
Overall, this is an album I listen to almost daily. The lyrics tell a story, which I feel many songs in this day and age don’t do.
When asked what my favorite lyrics are from this album, many came to my mind. One especially speaks to me, from the song “White Ferrari”; “Mind Over Matter is magic, I do magic// If you think about it, it’ll be over in no time// And that’s life”. This is my favorite lyric because it explains how quickly life goes. I feel that in our youth we waste so much time worrying about the little things, and in this album, Ocean summarized this perfectly.
I rate this album a 10/10.
