Song Analysis: "Thinkin' Bout You" By Frank Ocean

[Pharoah246]

This is from my blog which I'm trying to get up and running, so feel free to head on over there at ldubsmusic.blogspot.com and follow me  

Greetings fellow music lovers. Today on "Song Analysis," we look at one of the more recent pop hits to grace the musical world written by one of the more recent (sort of) famous artists, Frank Ocean, and Shea Taylor. Let's skip the long introduction and just get into it.


But first things first, we need to distinguish a couple things. It's no secret that this is an example of a song that's hyper-produced for radio, which naturally demands a different kind of writing, and since this song was co-written, much like most of the songs on the album this song is on, Channel Orange, we can't really pin point special or unique songwriting techniques used by Frank because co-writing requires universal compensation in order to get where everybody wants to go. We can, however, point out specific usage of line manipulation, metaphor usage, common meter manipulation (how the flow of the words is handled) and vocal techniques used in this song by the writers who wrote it that make it the catchy pop tune that it is. Ok, so now lets start.


The song begins with a six second, string-introduction that serves no other purpose than to fill space with a short, somewhat unique intro in order to get to what everybody wants to hear as quick as possible: the singing. This is typical of a song produced purely for radio; as a matter of fact, while we're talking about the musical component of this song, you really shouldn't be expecting anything special out of the realm of raw musicality in this song. Musically-complex songs tend to intimidate the listener and cause boredom quickly, thus resulting in the listener in, quite simply, turning it off or changing it. This is exactly what you don't want when writing a marketable, pop radio hit, and it's no surprise that this song lacks any attention-grabbing musical aspects. Franks voice makes up for this though, which we hear as soon as the introduction ends and we're propelled into the first verse.


Here's where the science and lyrical technique come in in pure radio hits, and this song uses some pretty cool meter manipulation methods (say that ten times fast), most specifically in the first verse, which is as follows:


A tornado flew around my room
Before you came excuse
The mess it made it usually doesn't rain in
Southern California much
Like Arizona, My eyes don't shed tears, but, boy, they bawl.


The first thing to notice in this first verse is the line breaks. This is a major contributor to the ear-worm factor of this first verse as it grabs your attention extremely well and thus makes you want to continue listening. Frank sings the first verse in punch-line form; short lines with each being sung in one breath with multiple places of emphasis. He chops the flow of the lyrics in places that catch you off guard, which is a great example of good meter manipulation and masks the song's common time signature of 4/4. The most noticeable place this happens is directly in the middle of the word usually, where frank stops the syllable progression after the first syllable is sung, making the word two syllables long instead of its normal four. He then begins the next line by finishing the last syllable, morphing two lines into one and jamming them both in your head. The rest of the first verse progresses in a similar way, leaving you wanting more just before the chorus.


The chorus and first verse are neatly tied together, making them both function as one whole body of lyrics with one not being able to survive without the other. This is normally what happens when the chorus provides a reason as to why the verse before it states an issue or problem, basically reverse cause-and-effect. The chorus is as follows:


When I'm thinking bout you,
Ooh, no, no, no,
I've been thinking bout you,
You know, know, know,
I've been thinking bout you,
Do you think about me still,
Do ya, do ya?


The word when acts as a connector between the first verse and chorus. Let me demonstrate to you how important it is that this happens. If we took out when, this is what we'd get:


...Me eyes don't shed tears, but, boy, they bawl

I've been thinking bout you...


The whole interconnected theme that the first verse and chorus represent when connected falls apart and we get two totally different subject matters in both which collapses the entire lyrical theme of the song. What better way to confuse your listener than to throw two very different points of view at them. Not only does this fall apart, it's boring, but when we tie them together, we get a nice flowing story line along with a reason why he bawls his eyes out, and doesn't just "shed tears." Pretty amazing how important one word can be right? The chorus's odd number of lines leaves an unstable, longing feel, leaving you wanting even more when we sail into the post-chorus.


But first, what do these lyrics mean? One interpretation could be that he's informing a new, potential lover about his messy relationship-past and to not worry about it. He says it's not normal for a relationship he's in to crash and burn like his previous one did, and to just trust him since all he does is think about her. Another one could be that he's apologizing for how his relationship with a girl turned out, and that it's, again, not normal for that to happen. He still thinks about her and naturally wants her back, wondering if she feels the same. Since the verse and chorus together both produce an odd number of lines and with the verse being sung in the choppy, uneven way that it is, we can rest assured that Frank feels lost and unstable. The post-chorus, however, provides a new insight into the lyrical story, which is as follows.


Or do you not think so far,
Ahead?
Cause I've been thinking 'bout forever,
Ooh


The post-chorus is sung the whole way through in falsetto with two repetitions, each sung with different intensity, simply adding to the enjoyment factor and allowing you to listen to Frank's sexy voice (no homo). There is also a scientific reason as to why it's sung like this that amends to the song's lyrical theme of want and longing. Falsetto voices have a natural, almost-complaining sound to them. This is why certain parts of songs are sung in falsetto and not in normal voice but at higher octaves because the softness of the falsetto adds to the songs or the specific part of the song's lyrical theme of, quite frankly, whining and complaining. In this case, frank is crying out to this lover whether or not she thinks about making him her lover in the future because that's all he thinks about, leading us to think now that the encounter in the first verse was on a friend to friend basis and that frank wants to make this girl his lover now because, as the chorus states, all he does is think about her. The second repetition picks up the intensity which just adds more to the mood that the song produces. All this falls together nicely to produce two repetitions of a growing scale post-chorus that adds a significant amount of emotion to the overall mood of the song while tacking quite nicely on top of the chorus; exactly what a post-chorus is supposed to do.


It's from here that we're taken into the second verse, which abandons the choppy punch-line structure of the first one:


No, I don't like you, I just thought you were cool
Enough to kick it
Got a beach house I could sell you in Idaho
Since you think I don't love you, I just thought you were cute
That's why I kiss you
Got a fighter jet, I don't get to fly it though


Here we see some pretty cool metaphor usage but not as much meter manipulation. There's a lot of sarcasm here as Frank tries to get across the point of his obvious, now obsessive love for this girl. At this point in the song's conservation, it would be ideal to imagine Frank so stunned at this girl's obliviousness to his feelings that he speaks in sarcastic remarks just to humor her. In the first three lines, Frank talks about not liking her, but just thinking that she was "cool enough to kick it" and that he has a beach house in Idaho he could sell her. Both are clearly sarcastic metaphors, and here's why; the first one is rather simple, with Frank saying in a sarcastic tone, "What? Oh no! Of course I don't like you! I just thought you were cool... Duh..." The second one is a bit more intrinsic, though. Idaho is a land-locked state in the U.S., so it's physically impossible for there to be beach houses there, so what's Frank talking about?  What he's saying is he would literally go to the means of doing the impossible just for her, which acts as the contrast to the first sarcastic remark about not liking her and just thinking she was cool. Both of these metaphors act together as one very well, and add a little bit of sad hope to the mood of the song. These first three lines also set the template for the rest of the verse of sarcastic remark to contrast-of sarcastic remark. The last three lines follow this exact template, and we can imagine frank saying in the first two lines of this metaphor, "You don't think I love you...? Well, I just think you're cute then! How about that? Why else would I passionately mouth-rape you..." Thus following the same feel of sarcasm as the first line of the verse has. The very last line of the second verse follows the literal metaphor of the beach house, with Frank saying he's got something, in this metaphorical case, a fighter jet, which obviously symbolizes this smoking hot girl he's trying to get with, right at his finger tips, but is unable to get love or any feelings back from her, and thus is unable to fly the fighter jet. Great examples of clever metaphor usage that progress the story even further and give the second repetition of the chorus a deeper, more moving feel.


We go through another chorus and post-chorus routine until we hit the bridge, which is:


Yes, of course
I remember, how could I forget?
How you feel?
And though you were my first time
A new feel
It won't ever 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


Just as the musical content of the bridge changes, so does the lyrical content as well. Here, Frank is talking about how he'll never forget the experiences that they shared throughout their relationship, whether lover-to-lover or friendship, and how he'll always remember her as the first time he has, based upon the content of the previous verses, tried to get with a girl worth fighting for. I don't know about you, but that's normally a pretty memorable time in all of our lives, and Frank paints it very nicely here, ending it by saying how the memories will eventually fade from the colorful, ever-changing slideshows into the black and white silent films of his past, while all the while still remembering every moment of it; however, the last two repetitions of the post-chorus that end the song still leave Frank questioning this girl, this time wondering if she'll do the same, which is a perfect way to end a song that's entire theme is that of instability, want and longing peppered with sad hope and tied off with him never getting the girl in the first place but still constantly thinking about her. Beautiful work, Frank and Shea. After that, the music slowly fades out, and you're done, sitting blankly in your seat staring into the abyss shocked at how much you just related to that song.


And that, my friends, is the song. I hope you all enjoyed. If you have any feedback, requests or questions feel free to send me them and I will happily address them. Otherwise, thanks for reading, and till next time.




Luke





I will gladly keep posting these on here as well if people are interested.

[Farrell Jackson]

I don't know this song but you did a great analysis on it, specifically the lyric meter and meaning. However I think you missed the metaphorical meaning of the "Gotta a beach house I could sell you in Idaho" . To me that means he's offering the subject, in a sarcastic duping way, something that isn't obtainable. Which is his affection. Maybe because he was spurned a little by her? It's the same as saying "if you believe that then I'll sell you a bridge in Brooklyn". Which is long time con saying in the USA.

I did enjoy you analysis very much!

Farrell

[Pharoah246]

I don't know this song but you did a great analysis on it, specifically the lyric meter and meaning. However I think you missed the metaphorical meaning of the "Gotta a beach house I could sell you in Idaho" . To me that means he's offering the subject, in a sarcastic duping way, something that isn't obtainable. Which is his affection. Maybe because he was spurned a little by her? It's the same as saying "if you believe that then I'll sell you a bridge in Brooklyn". Which is long time con saying in the USA.

I did enjoy you analysis very much!

Farrell

Just made me rethink it lol, and that sounds much better than what I pitched. I'll keep mine the way it is though to keep it original. Thanks for the feedback!