Genius | Song Lyrics & Knowledge

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 Frank Ocean – Nights

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Frank is dropping off his lover at home before he goes in to work the night shift, perhaps referring to a night in the studio. His lover wants him to spend the night, but Frank has work to do.

“Kumbaya” is a spiritual song asking God to help those in need. However, the phrase “let’s hold hands and sing Kumbaya” is an expression that describes a fake or forced peacemaking. Frank is avoiding spending the night with his lover because he doesn’t want to talk about what’s really wrong.

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2 years

You know I can’t hear none of that “spend the night” shit

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3 years

regarding the second explanation, he is probably not fully in terms with his homosexuality during this relationship and hence is avoiding the question. he doesn’t know what is wrong, he just doesn’t want to spend time with this girl (this gushy).

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3 years

Could be he doesn’t want to let the lady spend the night at his home when he’s off to work. So he drops her at her place when he leaves for the night shift. He however still needs her and that’s why he invites her over for drugs and sex after his shift in the next lines.

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Jane Doe

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5 years

By calling spending the night “kumbaya shit” he’s saying he’s not emotionally invested in what they’re doing; he doesn’t want a relationship, so he’s not interested in staying the night after sex, and he’s mocking the idea of it as overly-sentimental

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Josh Jones

7 years

Kumbaya means come by here, so he could be also be relating staying over to coming by

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Now your baby mama ain't so vicious
All she want is her picket fence
And you protest and you picket sign
But them courts won't side with you
Won't let you fly solo, yeah Frank Ocean – Solo

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Frank is referring to the father of a child protesting gaining custody and/or paying child support. It is believed that courts side with women in divorce and child custody settlements. Given the theme of the song, the father seems to want to fly solo and just be by himself, but the courts won’t allow that to happen since the mother of the child wants him to be around.

A white picket fence is seen as a symbol of a happy suburban life. The mother of the child doesn’t want to destroy the father, but seeks a happy, comfortable life as a family.

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5 years

This line speaks of how things would have probably turned out if he didn’t let his counterpart get the abortion in the previous line

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111

6 years

His references to witnessing (and being part of) an abortion and losing the custody of a child denote the emotional intensity in such situations

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212

6 years

I fell these lines still correlate with the idea of abortion.

the mother means well and wants to keep the baby and live the idealistic “white picket fence” life with the father,
The father on the other hand thinks that they should abort the child.

The father protests and pickets signs in favour of aborting the child and laws being brought in to help that happen,
but the courts (justice system) dont choose his side and they’re forced to keep the baby,
therefore the father isn’t allowed to be single/alone/‘solo’ but has to have his child in this world.

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282

7 years

Just wanna point out for rhyme hunters that “side with you” matches “vibe with you” in the first verse

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7 years

Also, the word “solo” could be taken as so low, relating to the fact that leaving your children is seen as “low” from a social standpoint

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7 years

The line about all she want is her picket fence displays a sense of entitlement when a woman births a man child especially considering the rap community is notorious for having baby mommas that they have to support because she wanted to have the child. In a way it’s like a warning for the listener of what’s to come if their situation is similar to the narrators.

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I'm just a guy, I'm not a god
Sometimes I feel like I'm a god, but I'm not a god
If I was, I don't know which heaven would have me, mama
Let me run this bitch, I'ma run it into the ground, mama, the whole galaxy Frank Ocean – Futura Free

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Although Frank has become a world-renowned artist, he hasn’t adjusted fully to fame. He still feels like the person he’s always been, yet he sometimes lets his “god-level” of success go to his head. It’s telling that in the previous line, he capitalized the word “God,” but when he referred to god in the context of himself, he wrote it in lowercase.

This is similar to Kanye West, who has a song called “I Am A God” and proclaimed himself “Yeezus.” But at the end of the day ‘Ye remembers who the real God is; in a series of now deleted tweets, West tweeted out in February 2016,

My number one enemy has been my ego… there is only one throne and that’s God’s …

Even if he was a god, Frank thinks that he probably wouldn’t be very good at it, resulting in a collapse of the universe. Frank also doesn’t know which religion would accept him, given Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Hinduism all view homosexual behaviour as a sin and Frank revealed he once had a relationship with a man in a tumblr letter.

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Although Frank has become a world-renowned artist, he hasn't adjusted fully to fame. He still feels like the person he's always been, yet he sometimes lets his "god-level" of success go to his head. It's telling that in the previous line, he capitalized the word “God,” but when he referred to god in the context of himself, he wrote it in lowercase.

This is similar to Kanye West, who has a song called ["I Am A God"](http://genius.com/Kanye-west-i-am-a-god-lyrics) and [proclaimed himself "Yeezus."](http://genius.com/Kanye-west-2013-zane-lowe-bbc-radio-interview-part-2-annotated) But at the end of the day 'Ye remembers who the real God is; in a [series of now deleted tweets](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3451485/Kanye-West-admits-s-wrong-series-tweets-Taylor-Swift-slammed-claiming-famous.html), West tweeted out in February 2016,

> My number one enemy has been my ego… there is only one throne and that’s God's …

Even if he was a god, Frank thinks that he probably wouldn't be very good at it, resulting in a collapse of the universe. Frank also doesn't know which religion would accept him, given Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Hinduism all view [homosexual behaviour as a sin](http://www.religionfacts.com/homosexuality) and Frank revealed he once had a relationship with a man in [a tumblr letter.](http://genius.com/Frank-ocean-frank-oceans-open-letter-on-tumblr-annotated)

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Suriya Sivakumar

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2 years

Hinduism does not view homosexual behaviour as a sin.

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1,024

7 years

Reference to the saying “Black man is God”. Maybe Frank tried to follow the teachings of Five Percenters at one point in his life.

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I got that act right in the Windy City that night
No trees to blow through, but blow me and I owe you
Two grams when the sun rise
Smoking good, rolling solo Frank Ocean – Solo

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“Act right” is another term for sex; its name comes from how you act when you want some. The Windy City is a nickname of Chicago.

Frank plays off the city’s nickname, saying he doesn’t have any trees (marijuana) to blow (smoke), but his partner can still give him a blowjob in exchange for a couple grams of weed when Frank can get some in the morning.

Frank also employs a double entendre to close the verse: rolling solo is a term used when one is doing any activity alone—Frank is rolling solo as in he is rolling a joint of marijuana by himself.

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1 month

Also interesting to point out that he talks about smoking marijuana, right after “Be Yourself”, with his childhood friend’s mother telling him not to.

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SЖ

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5 years

Perhaps he gives him a piece of himself?

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111

6 years

«I got that act right in the Windy City that night»

Chicago’s called the Windy City because there’s wind caused by the hot air emanating from the political feuds. That being said, Frank critics the corruption of the government by making a parallel between managing a country and meaningless, borderline barter sex.
Which is why using the nickname of Chicago «the Windy City» was probably part of a political metaphor.

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1,397

7 years

Frank intentionally included oral sex as the form of sexual relations that occurred between these two people in the song. He did this because it works as a metaphor for how their current relationship works, a sort of selfish sexual act and stimulating really for only one partner. This also highlights the total non-existence of emotional connection between these two people. The deal he makes with her is alluding to the lie he sells to her that they will one day be more than just a hookup.

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8 years

So if this song is Frank’s take on the single life, then the end of this verse is important. This character doesn’t have any weed, but gets someone to give him oral sex with the promise that he’ll give them two grams in the morning. But the last two lines see him “Smoking good, rolling solo”. He lied to this person in order to get a blowjob, and so is clearly not interested in seeing them again or making it any more then a one-night stand. Drugs figure big into this song, so all of this is probably Frank’s critique of how people use drugs and sex to to get over on each other in immoral ways.

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Blast off like the rocket man, piano (Yep) Young Thug (Ft. Wyclef Jean) – Kanye West

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A reference to Elton John’s classic hit “Rocket Man.” Elton John is known not just as a singer and songwriter but as an amazing pianist as well.

Elton John is someone who Thugger idolizes; the original title of this song was actually supposed to be “Elton John,” and in March 2016 he seemed quite excited when he got to meet the Rocket Man himself.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BDTeMq4xz-4/?hl=en

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Basedgator Genius Users – Genius Power Hour: August 2016

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Put in some work on “Unity” and “Device Control”

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Boy, you missed your moment
Perusing the MoMA, Frank Ocean – U-N-I-T-Y

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MoMA is the nickname for the Modern Museum of Art in New York City. Frank is likely sees the other people his lover is paying attention to as works of art. By taking more interest in them, his lover has missed their chance with Frank.

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Daniel

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3 years

So as someone who has worked in and been deep into the music industry in L.A. I believe this lyric is the industry talking to Frank Ocean. They are saying he missed his chance to be the biggest artist on earth because he was too focused on the art. I know it may be hard to believe, but in a place like L.A. it is easy for someone like Frank to perceive himself as a failure or to be perceived by the industry at large as a failure. The difference between an artist like Frank and and artist like The Weeknd is massive, and Frank is far from A-List compared to The Weekend. In L.A. you are constantly inundated with you social status, with things like restaurant reservations and social invites being given or taken away as soon as someone “bigger” comes along. It influences every moment of your life there no matter who you are.

I believe Frank confirms this in the next line, since he is crying on a friends shoulder, but that shoulder is a sculpture, aka art. It sounds like he loves what he’s made but it’s left him very much in a league of his own within music, which is a vey lonely place to be.

I also want to say that remember this album was being made prior to Blonde’s release and Frank had probably been hearing a lot of people tell him that 4 years is too long and his albums would flop. He waited because he wanted them perfect.

So as someone who has worked in and been deep into the music industry in L.A. I believe this lyric is the industry talking to Frank Ocean. They are saying he missed his chance to be the biggest artist on earth because he was too focused on the art. I know it may be hard to believe, but in a place like L.A. it is easy for someone like Frank to perceive himself as a failure or to be perceived by the industry at large as a failure. The difference between an artist like Frank and and artist like The Weeknd is massive, and Frank is far from A-List compared to The Weekend. In L.A. you are constantly inundated with you social status, with things like restaurant reservations and social invites being given or taken away as soon as someone "bigger" comes along. It influences every moment of your life there no matter who you are.

I believe Frank confirms this in the next line, since he is crying on a friends shoulder, but that shoulder is a sculpture, aka art. It sounds like he loves what he's made but it's left him very much in a league of his own within music, which is a vey lonely place to be.

I also want to say that remember this album was being made prior to Blonde's release and Frank had probably been hearing a lot of people tell him that 4 years is too long and his albums would flop. He waited because he wanted them perfect.

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Nate Duvalois

Marked this as restating the line ?

3 years

Frank says Perusing not Persuing as the lyrics suggest. Perusing means to read into something carefully which means he is carefully looking at the art in the MoMA thinking about it.

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277

5 years

There are also MoMAs in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and probably many other cities

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I wear leather Gucci jackets like it's still the 80s Rae Sremmurd (Ft. Gucci Mane) – Black Beatles

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In the 1980’s leather jackets were quite fashionable; even modern leather jackets try and emulate their style.

Both members of Rae Sremmurd own leather Gucci jackets. In their Fader cover story, their Gucci jackets were described as such:

Both boys are wearing brand new [Gucci jackets]: Swae’s is embroidered with flowers, and Jxmmi’s, which he’s wearing over a bare chest, is a patchwork of shiny red, black, and green panels.

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BasedGator Genius Users – Your Favorite Brunch/Breakfast Items

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PANCAKES ARE GOAT

For real I could probably eat buttermilk pancakes and bacon for every meal. It’s just the contrast of salty and sweet, crunchy and soft…so good. You really can’t beat it unless you put the bacon in the pancakes, which is just unnecessary and culinarily abominable (but very delicious).