Blond

ENTRY

In 2016 of August , Frank Ocean released his second debute album Blond. We follow entire teenhood of Frank’s relationships, sexuality, drug use and loses. More than that they are all past memories that Frank lived actually. The closest and most personal past thoughts and reflections that Frank navigating audience as an adult now, but the most special part of Blond ,it hasn’t a classical storytelling, it isn’t about one concept or person. The actual hitting point is it’s all about multiple people, thoughts and memories that audience listens by Frank, just like from an old friend on a car ride while chilling.

In every song or interlude transition , you cannot relate any kind of chronological sequence. They are just randomly placed. As I observed ,it was done consciously .You may see that a song about ,harm of drug addiction, but after one from another Frank gets high again. Unstable , complicated and relatable situations. Exactly what makes this album so special and unique ,beyond its quality of good music.

NIKES/IVY/PINK+WHITE

The first song of the album , begins with an angelic ,higher noted , childish voice of Frank. Throughout the album, this voice change expresses and symbolizes young Frank’s thoughts with flashbacks . In the song , young Frank talks about materialism and chilling at the party while gets high. Then ,Frank starts a conversation with a random girl. The girl ,tells him that she’s in platonic with Frank’s drug dealer young cousin. Frank keeps talking to her because he can sympathize the situation. Then suddenly he changes his voice from past to the future. The audience leaves flashback suddenly. And Frank prophesies us now. we listen that ,two teenagers hooking up and chilling .But after all, he wants to mean something to her even she doesn’t into him. Exactly whole Blond about sympathizing and relating situations of love and teenhood because they are not only Frank’s memories, they also relateable situations that audience also lived.

The Second song Ivy, about Frank’s First Love .Also it’s about a person who actually Frank relationship with in. In the song, this relationship is not kinda perfect, it may be include love ,but also toxic. It looks like Ivy. Beautiful, charming on the outside, but also poisonous from the inside.

Pink +white touches many subjects that Frank effected. One of them was the girl in previous song Nikes and their complicated situationship and lose of a friend, who died at Hurricane Katrina . Therefore ,in the entire song and the rest of the album ,he obsessed with the idea of immortality because of the trauma of death. If you look closely for entire album , he is trying to reach immortality at somehow. He uses drugs, fucks bitches, falls in love ,etc. Every action related to the idea of immortality, reaching heaven and hell on earth.

GET HIGHER

The first interlude of the album is Be Yourself. A woman talks and giving edvices to her son about harm of drug addiction . However, Frank and entire album is so real because after the end of the interlude Frank gets high again. He Solo’s his own and thinks about hell and heaven on earth. As I realized, Solo hasn’t lots of melodic sounds. The audience listen only Frank and his thoughts about his life and the girl on Nikes and Pink +White. He is stayed up her so long til his phone died. After the end of the night, he stays on his own, lonely, high and Solo.

Skyline to is an another interlude that between Be Yourself and Solo. This interlude explains the situationship between Nikes girl and him. Their lack of communication and mutualist relationship disturbs Frank because their relationships so superficial. She gives sex and Frank provides drugs for return, but at the same time he feels happy because even they are not more than drugs and sex, Frank still wants to mean something to her. However, when it’s morning she has to leave again. The saddest part is Frank knows, audience knows, but everyone keeps silence.

Self Control absolutely about the person who mentioned in Ivy because there is no way to Nikes girl cry over for Frank. After we figure it out we can keep going clearly. A sentence in the song effected me deeply as personal.

Cuz you see me like a UFO. To be seen by someone as stranger, urban, unidentified and always high ,just like an UFO. As I listened to Frank , at the beginning ,I could never understand that “why these people sees Frank so useless and superficial ? He is so deep,etc.” But then at that point ,I understood that exactly we are the people that everyone knows us as they want to see.

Good Guy another interlude that tells a story about Frank’s one of the hook ups with a guy on LA. As you can realize ,the title of the cover and mainstream name of the album unmatched with each other like Blonde and Blond because Frank is bisexual. However, after hooking, Frank likes this guy , but he knows that it’s not going to be a relationship or something emotional.

The other half of the interlude , two unknown random guy have a conversation . One of them talks about a girl who named Jasmine that wrecks his heart. Frank added this interlude I guess on purpose because love is common for everyone and Frank could relate random guy for his own relationship with Nikes , exactly just like Jasmine did to the random guy.

Blond has no chronology ,so it makes it so complicated and hard to write about it. It is just like a conversation with a friend you haven’t seen for a long time . You confuse because you had lived lots of thing with multiple person and you switch one event from another while tellin to your friends.

CHAPTER 2 : SWITCH NIGTS

Nights about Nikes girl again. As I realized, nearly whole album somehow related to this girl that effected Frank deeply. The song has two parts , at the first part he says negative nothing about this girl and he pretends like he doesn’t give a fuck.

But at one point ,when Frank feels so low, heartbreak hits and we see the bottom just like the second part of this song. At that point , the second parts of Nights , the whole album switches night mode and more darker.

Solo Reprise is the only song that Frank isn’t singing. I believed that this one is also done on purpose too because after previous feeling of bottom, it symbolizes that Frank couldn’t able to sing or he too tired and upset for talking. He doesn’t even get high no more because he is feels on bottom.

After this interlude we come across the anger and sufferness part that Pretty Sweet represents. Frank doesn’t give a fuck about which side on he is, he is on this side. He is at night side and we don’t even know what the fuck happened. We only hear Frank is so upset and begging for God to die. But, in Close to You after all suffering phases , we may still feel close to someone who tore us apart because somehow we may able to delete our fucked up memories with this people. Even if they drag us on the ground. They look us and think that you are a two faced bitch who can’t create boundaries.

However, the real case ,somehow you realize that you just gave up after feel of Pretty Sweet ,you can’t feel nothing now. Even anger too. You just hold on the habits. Whatever that person things can’t effect you anymore because they always gonna see you like a UFO.

Facebook Story is my favorite interlude on this album. A random French guy talks about someone that his past relationship. In my personal past experiences , I could really relate this guy. You don’t even give a fuck about something, but that thing may really important for someone you relationship with.

WHITE FERRARI

White Ferrari is not only on this album, this song is my one of the favorite songs of all time and deserves a chapter only it’s own. The song has two parts just like Nights. At the first part , Frank can’t accept that girl on Nikes is gone. He still hopes that , she will come back , pretend like nothing bad happened , deletes bad memories in his mind and just imagining to chill at White Ferrari until he realizes that there is no hope lasts again. Just imagining that could be different in an another dimension.

And there is only left depression , there is only lefts Siegfried . There is only lefts, probablities he sure that never gonna happen. Without hope and expectations. He can’t even dream being together again. Crying over and over because of the realization of , past times were the happiest times that he missed now. “I wish I’d go back times that we were together because I didn’t know that you are gone”. Loop

FINAL

To be honest ,I can’t write an essay about them from third person look right now because of the alcohol that I used and also I am in Godspeed phase now . Therefore, I am gonna edit grammar stuffs later . Blonde is one of the closest albums to my personal experiences. Maybe the most close one. The truth is I lived them all. Sometimes I am still thinking about each of them. I experienced Nikes, Ivy, Good Guy… But the most heartbreaking part is none realized that , but I am just pretending. Not because pleasing someone, I just gave up. I can’t change a person that who sees me like a UFO or Shakespeare.

I will never be that kid again