Frank Ocean Lyrical Empathy

“I didn’t care to state the plain
Kept my mouth closed
We’re both so familiar”

This is truly all that I want in a relationship and honestly what’s been missing in my past relationships. When Frank Ocean says, ‘I didn’t care to state the plain” he is referring to saying “I Love You”. There is no need for constant reassurance or any doubt in either of the partner’s mind that what they have is unique and real. Sometimes saying less can mean more.

“We got so familiar
Spending each day of the year, White Ferrari”

This lyric is a paradox in relation to the last. Getting “so familiar” has its positive and negative. On one side Frank Ocean expresses spending each day with his love and building the bond they have, but on the other hand (and in this case) he expresses the idea of becoming “so familiar” that the spark dies out and the romance ends. This is a common struggle in relationships and I’m sure a lot of people could relate to it, including myself. It’s a complicated topic because of the contradictions that it holds. Perhaps, it’s just the universe’s way of saying that it wasn’t meant to be.

“Mind over matter is magic
I do magic
If you think about it it’ll be over in no time
And that’s life”

What I get from the first line “Mind over matter” is not what the common listener will assume, it is a lot deeper. Frank Ocean prefers an abstract and metaphysical relationship (love) than a physical relationship which is expressed with the word “Matter”. He then goes on to say an existential thought that expresses life ending in the blink of an eye. As to state that we only have so much time to find a true relationship. These lyrics hit hard, a lot of people are caught up in sex and purely pleasure that they can’t see the magic that a true romance holds.

Mind- Metaphysical, intangible, true love
Matter- physical, sex, pleasure

Mind > Matter

“You dream of walls that hold us imprisoned
It’s just a skull, least that’s what they call it
And we’re free to roam”

What we are as humans, goes far beyond the limits of thought. Beyond the limits of our mind “that holds us imprisoned”. He reminds us of our true nature and the potential that we have.

Only true artist like Frank Ocean can plant a seed in the mind of another, that dares them to live beyond the limiting beliefs of our mind. We all hold an incredible potential within us, we just to learn to tap into it and be free.