Novacane Lyrics

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About

Genius Annotation

“Novacane,“ the lead single from Frank Ocean’s debut mixtape nostalgia,ULTRA., describes what it’s like to have sex while on drugs, and it details the relationship between Ocean and a girl in dental school who also does porn to subsidize her tuition.

The song’s title is a play on Novocain—a numbing drug primarily used by dentists when performing painful procedures like cavity fillings or root canals. The intentionally incorrect spelling of Novocain points to the theme of drug use. A “nova” is a star “that suddenly increases its light output and then fades away to its former obscurity.” Like a nova, Frank Ocean experiences fleeting highs before eventually coming down.

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

Translations
Genius Answer
What did Frank Ocean say about "Novacane"?
Genius Answer

In an interview with BBC, Frank Ocean said of the “Novacane” music video,

“Novacane,” as opposed to “Swim Good”, had more of a… it was, like, clear what I was trying to do. I was just trying to connect, or, articulate visually, the feeling of being numb. Like, the feeling of somebody trying to love you, but you can’t feel it. Like, the feeling of wanting to feel something that you can’t feel. And so it’s numbing. And a lot of things can cause that numbing. In the video, though, it was, like, some sort of topical anesthetic and a little bit of special effects. And there you have it.

Is there a music video?
Genius Answer

Yes, a music video was released on June 16, 2011. In an interview with XXL, Frank commented on the video, saying:

It was, like, clear what I was trying to do. I was just trying to connect or articulate visually the feeling of being numb. The feeling of wanting to feel something you can’t feel. A lot of things can cause that numbing, but in the video it was some sort of topical aesthetic and a little bit of special effects.

The video was all shot in one take. Most of it takes place in a dark room, which features Frank sitting and smoking. Towards the end, he gets up and starts smearing a substance on his face. The video ends with him being slapped by the ghost of a woman. The video does not last as much as the song. The director, Nabil Elderkin, commented on this in an interview with Pitchfork, saying:

videos don’t always have to be the length of the song. I like the idea of people thinking, “What was that?” [laughs] The fun fact about that slap at the end is we did it about five times. It was about getting the angle right because you aren’t supposed to see it coming. The first couple times, he’d do a little eye-twitch. That girl really slapped him hard. But he was cool about it– he sucked it up.

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