Frank Ocean, is a big name in the music industry. From ghostwriting to creating beautiful (basically perfect) music. Though he has disappeared from the music industry he left us some beautiful albums. “Blonde” Was released in 2016, and I’ll dive deeper into what is considered the ‘warmer seasons’ of Blonde. 

  Blonde goes into a personal look at Frank Ocean’s teenage years. It represents him going through relationships, substance abuse, friendships, and breakups. Throughout the album it is put out there he is searching for ‘nirvana’ an obtainable feeling.  For context, the Blonde album is split into seasons for what each season stands for, for clarification this is a theory. There is much debate about this album and all the things it is about. This is only what it seems and speculation. 

Spring rebirth, removal, hope, and growth 

Nikes 

On Blonde, Nikes marked the ‘beginning’ of the story he is telling. For further context, we know Frank is referring to his teenage years when his voice is high-pitched throughout his songs. This song shows even better the truth behind being a teenager. How everyone is worried about their appearances and labels, he mentions he isn’t different from that. He introduces his little cousin, who is introduced as a drug dealer. He begins a conversation with his cousin’s girlfriend, who was introduced to his cousin, as their conversation goes she explains how her relationship with his cousin is not much but it means something to her. This to some, may seem as if she is not truly his cousin’s girlfriend and only a girl who has feelings for a guy. After their conversation, it switches to Frank’s voice when he’s older as if he’s looking back. We get imagery of the two just relaxing together, as this is happening he clearly shows interest in this girl. In the end, it seems as if the two do end up ‘hooking up’. 

Ivy

This song starts with Frank speaking about a girl he loves, though it is not the girl from Nike. This is what this album is about, not only one person but multiple relationships and situations in his teenage years as a whole. This song seems to represent Frank’s first love. Although, the first love is supposed to be almost ‘perfect’ his seems to not be perfect at all. It seems for her it isn’t real but for him, it’s the opposite. She is the only thing that crosses his mind. His relationship is toxic, and Ivy is a poisonous plant explaining the title also Ivy grows in spring. 

Pink+White

 This song consists of two main ‘events’. He talks about his situation with the girl from Nike. The more important event he talks about is the death of one of his close friends. He talks about all the lessons his friend taught him. Throughout the song, we can infer that his friend died during Hurricane Katrina. He repeats a line in the song stating, “You showed me love”, which can symbolize one of two things: the overall lesson this friend taught him or his current situation. Through this, it seems like a sign of growth from Frank but he says “It’s all downhill from here” showing he knows it’s not going to go well. Through this song, he seems to have an obsession with immortality which in a way ties into being young. 

Be Yourself

Be Yourself is the first interlude on Blonde. The song which plays in the background is played multiple times throughout this album and acts as a ‘seperator’ for the ‘seasons’. The song is a 

A woman who seems to be a mother talking to her son about life lessons, mainly lessons on substance abuse and overall being yourself. 

Summer (Romance, freedom, youth.) 

Solo

He opens talking about how he and the girl from Nikes are constantly partying and doing drugs. He continues by saying that he has strong feelings for her. But after that, the song takes a turn saying they probably shouldn’t be together, it can be speculated this is a retrospective thought though. Though, at the moment the relationship still seems unhealthy. We already have gotten the idea that Frank is obsessed with heaven and immortality and he continues to bring it up. From this, we know he is trying to reach heaven on earth or nirvana. It seems, his ultimate goal through this album is to reach heaven on earth. The second verse talks about his more personal feelings, and at the end, he mentions how he went somewhere alone without her, ‘solo’ but it seems he’s waiting for her and she never comes. He’s solo. 

Skyline to

He opens up talking about certain aspects of his and with this girl, the one from Nike, relationship. Some of this song seems like a response to Solo. This song seems to further validate what she is to Frank, and how he wants more out of the relationship. He seems to be happy simply with this girl’s presence. Then, he seems to speak on how the morning then comes and she leaves as she does. 

Self Control

The song begins with Frank’s pitched voice showing him as a teenager. Though, you may think this song may be about the girl from Nike it seems as if it isn’t about her because he shows no sympathy towards this other girl as he did with Nike. As it was with Ivy it is another situation. It seems the pair have feelings for each other but don’t connect. Even though he knows it won’t work he still wants to have a place with this girl. 

Good Guy

Good Guy is the next interlude, another separator of the seasons. It showcases him going on a date with a guy in a gay bar. This points towards the fact that Frank is bisexual. This has a lot to do with this from both ‘Blonde’ and ‘Blond’ to illustrate his bisexuality. As the date goes on in this interlude, he realizes this isn’t going to go far and is simply something for him to do. Then the song cuts to a random conversation of two random guys talking about girls. Then it simply ends. 

Now this is only the warmer seasons of the Blonde album. All that’s left is to dive deeper into the colder seasons.