20 Best Frank Ocean Songs With Raw, Genuine Lyrics For When Life Gets You Down
Music for when you're sad, anxious, lonely, contemplative, drunk, hungover, happy and nostalgic.
Marion Michele on Unsplash Anyone who knows me knows I love Frank Ocean. I have all his albums, know almost every word to each of his songs, flew to Los Angeles to see him live (I cried my eyes out the entire show) and have a shirt with his beautiful face on it.
But my devotion to him goes much further than simply liking and listening to his music. It’s much more transcendental than that. His music touches me in so many ways and each lyrically rich verse and melodic tune is significant for me in different ways and reminds me of certain stages in my life.
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Frank Ocean's first studio album, channel ORANGE, came out in the summer of 2012 when I was beginning my Junior year of college. When I listen to the album now, I’m instantly transported back to a time when my roommates and I would blast Frank Ocean's songs in our apartment all day or when we would go to the beach and play his music through our portable speakers. That album got me through long, sleepless nights of homework and cramming for exams.
When I studied abroad in Spain, I would play his album whenever I was feeling homesick and missed my friends. It brought me so much comfort to know they were at home singing along to the same songs I was.
His highly anticipated second album, Blond, was released in the summer of 2016. It came out at a time when I was starting a new chapter in my life — a new house, new job and new friends. When I listen to that album, I think of my summer romance and the countless times we would drive around in his car, listening and singing along to Frank Ocean.
When I’m sad, anxious, lonely, contemplative, drunk, hungover, happy, stoned, aloof or nostalgic, I turn on Frank Ocean, and he helps put my mind at ease.
Despite his obvious musical talents, which have won him two Grammys and seven nominations, Frank Ocean just has an authentic aurora about him that captivates me, along with so many others.
Ocean is not a celebrity. He is an artist. He stays out of the spotlight as much as possible and uses his God-given talents to speak his truth, create and share with the public. His music is raw, genuine and carries a piece of his soul in every bar.
When life gets me down, Frank Ocean is there to lift me back up. His soul/R&B-inspired vocals paired with lyrically driven metaphor and pathos continue to move me, and I can’t wait to see what great work he releases next.
Here are 20 of the best Frank Ocean lyrics and songs to listen to every time life gets you down.
1. "Swim Good"
"Roaming around like I'm ready for a funeral
One more mile 'til the road runs out
I'm about to drive to the ocean
I'mma try to swim from something bigger than me
Kick off my shoes and swim good,and swim good
Take off this suit and swim good, and swim good, good
I'm going off, don't try stopping me
I'm going off, don't try saving
No flares, no vest, and no fear." — Frank Ocean
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2. "Thinkin Bout You"
"Yes of course I remember, how could I forget how you feel?
You know you were my first time, a new feel
It will never get old, not in my soul, not in my spirit, keep it alive
We'll go down this road 'til it turns from color to black and white." — Frank Ocean
3. "Sweet Life"
"You're catching that breeze 'til you're dead in the grave
But you're keepin' it surreal, whatever you like
Whatever feels good, whatever takes you mountain high
Keepin' it surreal, not sugar-free
My TV ain't HD, that's too real
Grapevines, mango, peaches, and limes, a sweet life." — Frank Ocean
4. "Pilot Jones"
"Tonight she came stumblin' across my lawn again
I just don't know why I keep on tryin' to keep a grown woman sober
See there you go reachin' up your blouse and no I don't want a child
But I ain't been touched in a while by the dealer
And the stoner with the sweetest kiss I've ever known." — Frank Ocean
5. "Pyramids"
"The jewel of Africa, jewel
What good is a jewel that ain't still precious?
How could you run off on me? How could you run off on us?
You feel like God inside that gold
I found you laying down with Samson and his full head of hair
I found my black queen Cleopatra
Bad dreams, Cleopatra." — Frank Ocean
6. "Bad Religion"
"I guess it couldn't hurt me
If it brings me to my knees
It's a bad religion
This unrequited love
To me it's nothing but a one-man cult
And cyanide in my styrofoam cup
I can never make him love me." — Frank Ocean
7. "Forrest Gump"
"My fingertips, and my lips, they burn
From the cigarettes
Forrest Gump, you run my mind boy
Running on my mind boy
Forrest Gump." — Frank Ocean
8. "Lost"
"She's at a stove (huh!)
Can't believe I got her out here cooking dope (Cooking dope)
I promise she'll be whipping meals up for a family of her own,some day
Nothing wrong (Nothing wrong)
No, nothing wrong (Ain't nothing wrong)
With a lie (Ooh, ooh)
Nothing wrong (Nothing wrong)
With another short plane ride (Ain't nothing wrong)
Through the sky (Up in the sky)
You and I (Just you and I)." — Frank Ocean
9. "Chanel"
"V both sides of the 12
Steam both sides of the L
Freeze smoke rings and they hail
Sleet snow grind for the wealth
Whole team diamonds is real
Showed 'em how to shine by theirselves
You need a cosign for your health
I need that bitch to grind on my belt
I know you need to try for my belt
I know you seen it drivin' itself
No matte black on the ride 'cause it's stale
But it's stealth." — Frank Ocean
10. "Lens"
"Despite our history
Somewhere in your nights you're stuck when you think of me
Despite the life I lead
All this life in me
Spirits watch me, pants down
Can't be 'barrassed of it
I feel their smiles on me (smiles on me)
I feel their smiles on me (smile on me)
I feel their smiles on me (lens on me right now)." — Frank Ocean
11. "Nikes"
"We'll let you guys prophesy
We gon' see the future first
Living so the last night feels like a past life
Speaking of the, don't know what got into people
Devil be possessin homies
Demons try to body jump
Why you think I'm in this bitch wearing a fucking Yarmulke
Acid on me like the rain
Weed crumbles into glitter
Rain, glitter." — Frank Ocean
12. "Solo"
"White leaf on my boxers, green leaf turn to vapors for the low
And that mean cheap, cause ain't shit free and I know it
Even love ain't,cause it's enough cost, that clinic kill my soul
But you gotta hit the pussy raw though
Now your baby momma ain't so vicious, all she want is her Pickett fence
And you protest and you picket sign,but them courts won't side with you
Won't let you fly solo
I wanted that act right in Colorado that night
I brought trees to blow through, but it's just me and no you
Stayed up 'til my phone died, smoking big, rolling solo." — Frank Ocean
13. "Self Control"
"Now and then you miss it, sounds make you cry
Some nights you dance with tears in your eyes
I came to visit cause you see me like a UFO
That's like never cause I made you use yourself control
And you made me lose myself control, my self control." — Frank Ocean
14. "Nights"
"Droppin' baby off at home before my night shift
You know I can't hear none of that spend the night shit
That kumbaya shit
Wanna see nirvana, but don't want to die yet
Wanna feel that na na though, could you come by?
Fuck with me after my shift
Know them boys wanna see me broke down
See me bummed out, stressed out
That's just everyday shit
Shut the fuck up, I don't want your conversation
Rollin' marijuana, that's a cheap vacation." — Frank Ocean
15. "White Ferrari"
"I'm sure we're taller in another dimension
You say we're smaller and not worth the mention
You're tired of movin', your body's achin'
We could vacay, there's places to go
Clearly this isn't all that there is
Can't take what's been given
But we're so okay here, we're doing fine
I'm up and naked
You dream of walls that hold us in prison
It's just a scar, at least that's what they call it
And we're free to fall." — Frank Ocean
16. "At Your Best" (You Are Love)
"When I feel what I feel
Sometimes it's hard to tell you so
You may not be in the mood to learn what you think you know
There are times when I find
You want to keep yourself from me
When I don't have the strength
I'm just a mirror of what I see." — Frank Ocean
17. "Rushes"
"The first time is not the best time
I ain't felt this way in years
First I was rushing full weight
This time I'm waiting for the rush
(Help me up,...)
Infatuation's your rush." — Frank Ocean
18. "Moon River"
"Two drifters off to see the world
There's such a crazy world to see
We're all chasing after all the same
Chasing after our rainbow's end
Moon river, wider than a mile
Crossing in style, someday
My dream maker, heartbreaker
Wherever you're going
I'm going the same." — Frank Ocean
19. "Ivy"
"I thought that I was dreaming
When you said you loved me
It started from nothing
I had no chance to prepare
I couldn't see you coming
It started from nothing
I could hate you now
It's quite alright to hate me now
When we both know that deep down
The feeling still deep down is good." — Frank Ocean
20. "Crack Rock"
"You're shuckin' and jivin', stealin' and robbin'
To get the fixing that you're itching for
Your family stopped inviting you to things
Won't let you hold their infant
You used to to get a little cut-up from time to time
But the freaks ain't trying to sleep with cracky." — Frank OceanXX
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Katana Dumont is a writer and storyteller with an interest in the eccentric and phenomenal. When she isn't writing about pop culture, astrology and relationship topics, she’s out frolicking with her friends, eating her way through Portland, and enjoying the local music scene.