Despite Frank Ocean’s present absence from the music scene, fans have an embodied and beautiful discography to satiate their craving for Ocean’s art, with Blonde’s “Ivy” remaining a universally loved track.
Stream: “Ivy” – Frank Ocean
As one of the most widely discussed and critically acclaimed R&B artists of 2010s, Frank Ocean was a leading pioneer of the modern R&B scene,
each of his projects embodying a whole mix of diverse yet intriguing qualities. One moment, his vocals were soft and buttery smooth only to jump to another track of his to be met with sweepingly grand displays of his vocal capabilities and range. Coupled with Ocean’s production that’s as diverse as his vocals alongside poetic lyricism, and you get beloved tracks like Blonde’s “Ivy.”

It’s been eight years since Frank Ocean has released a full-length album and almost five since he has released any singles. Many fans have been pleading for Ocean to drop another project, but he’s made it clear that he’s focused on intentional releases that reflect the quality of work he wishes to push out. His priorities lie in artistic freedom rather than meeting any sort of commercial quota, and without that kind of commitment to his art, listeners may have never been left with tracks like “Ivy,” leaving them hungry for more songs to endlessly stream.
“Ivy” remains one of Ocean’s most streamed songs to date, and a deeper look at the track reveals why so many are still listening despite its eight-year shelf life. The track is embodied by retrospection and nostalgia over a failed relationship, how Ocean “had no chance to prepare” and was unable to anticipate the love that was coming his way. Shortcomings on both his own and his partner’s end ultimately led to the “start of nothing.”
Whether that be from the rose-colored foresight youthful love elicits or betrayals that seemed inconceivable at the start of the relationship, what they’re left with is this metaphor of ivy, an all-consuming growth that is almost uncontrollable and incredibly difficult to remove.
I thought that I was dreamin’
when you said you loved me
The start of nothin’
I had no chance to prepare,
couldn’t see you comin’
Ooh, 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
The production on “Ivy” enhances the essence of retrospection that engulfs the song.
Echoing electric guitar and synthesizers give the track a certain quality of spaciness, that familiar feeling that washes over you when you’re looking back on bygone memories with the clarity of who you are now and compassion for who you once were. “Ivy” sits in this bittersweet characterization thanks to the instrumentation; if Ocean wanted the song to feel more bleak, different choices in production certainly could’ve been made. However, what resulted may not have been the “Ivy” that listeners have come to know, love, and deeply connect with.

Ocean ends the track with lyrics that in keeping with this theme of compassion for not only himself, but for the partner he sings about. It leaves listeners with the sentiment that despite everything that transpired within the relationship, the two of them were both young, unready, and helplessly at the mercy of their own actions and impulses. Instead of sitting in regret and shame, Ocean finds himself in a place of clarity and understanding after the failed romance, the resilient ivy of the past wrapped around him.
We both know that deep down
The feeling still deep down is good
All the things I didn’t mean to say
I didn’t mean to do
There were things
you didn’t need to say
Did you mean to? Mean to?
I’ve been dreamin’ of you,
dreamin’ of you
It seems ironic that one of Frank Ocean’s most streamed and praised songs is ultimately about the past, fans listening to a track that was almost inescapable in 2016 now begging for that kind of experience again.
If and when Ocean decides to return to music, he has millions of fans that will undoubtedly welcome his next artistic project with open arms.
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Stream: “Ivy” – Frank Ocean
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