In his natural voice, Ocean croons about the absurd number of journalists trying to predict his next step musically, singing, “we’ll let you guys prophesy.” This also acts as a commentary on the tendency of humans to speak judgmentally and preemptively about others, and how much this holds them back. This shift is also marked with the introduction of gentle guitar strings. Verse two shifts to vocals that are not pitched, signifying a shift in the vulnerability and emotional depth of the song’s lyricism up to this point. This verse also includes a nod to Trayvon Martin. Lyrical imagery and pitched up vocals present a whimsical image of wealth and eloquence, eventually revealing it to be a fantasy. The first verse of “Nikes” is a woozy critique of materialism and the seemingly elegant things that entrap many in a false sense of satisfaction and shallow relationships.
Simply: “Blonde” could shatter a heart to dust. This unobtrusive production allows Ocean’s voice to shine, the reasoning behind this method described perfectly by Pitchfork: “ Because he is a writer first, he kinks his voice to suit his characters and his stories.” It is hard to untangle lyrically, filled with Shakespearean allusion and personal anecdotes that, when looked at from afar, deviate into a nebulous image of Ocean’s life. “Blonde” offers a peek into the broken souls that were never consoled, articulately weaving themes of youth, loss, and nostalgia into an instrumental mood that is hazy, heart wrenching, and genre-defying. Ocean uses motifs of summer and bleached hair to portray the carefree nature of adolescence, and its eventual end. “Blonde” is the epic tale of a man, Frank Ocean himself, whose vast life experiences have made him aware of his own mortality and fragility- but doesn’t know what to do with the depressing insignificance of this realization. I figured that no time was better than now for a review, analysis, and breakdown of “Blonde”, song by song.
Ocean surprise-released a new song, “ DHL”, this past week. Pitchfork’s top 200 albums of the decade list featured “Blonde” as number one. All of Ocean’s prior life experiences- his experiences with ghostwriting, unrequited love, releasing a critically acclaimed debut album- seem as though they were lovingly seeded into a garden and encouraged to bloom into the odyssey that is his second studio album, “Blonde”. Ocean, the 30-year old former member of rap collective “Odd Future” and enigma of the music industry, has inarguably ascended all planes of musical skill and innovation. “ Revolutionary “, “ storytelling ”, and “ baffling ” are just a few of the words that critics have used to describe Frank Ocean’s music over the ages.
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