white ferrari

I was raised being heavily influenced by the sounds around me. Growing up on a busy street in a small suburban town, the constant hum of traffic was an essential part of my day. Noise was always a constant. It’s what I associated my memories with - the good, the bad, the comforting. My house was never silent. Whether it was the sound of traffic echoing from the street or my parents' favorite tracks from the 80s cranked to tune out the passing cars, I have always been around sound.

Sound was how I identified with myself, with others, and with the world. The older I got, the more I found that music grounded me. Songs that evoked a specific feeling or memory became what I resorted to for peace, connection. 

My music catalog has, undoubtedly, expanded in all different directions. Behind the excursion of discovering new sounds is the chase for the perfect song. One that satisfies every feeling, emotion, and message that the artist intends to deliver through sound and the levels of gratification it can reach.

Layers.

What molds a song is the way the layers of the track align to conjure a feeling. Routinely, the first listening sets up a subconscious expectation of where the song is leading to and what sensation is hoped to result from the layers. We depend on this expectation to be met, exceeded, or lost. 

One artist has perfectly mastered this satisfaction of layers in a way I don’t think anyone has done before. Setting an entirely new genre standard for this music era, Frank Ocean has created what no other artist has before. His discography is one that took me establishing a greater emotional maturity in order to fully connect with. Frank Ocean’s music finally resonated with me at a very significant time of my life where I had built a foundation of music that was healing me through one of the darkest times of my life. 

It was at this time that I discovered White Ferrari.

White Ferrari elicited an identifiable solace. It connected with and appeased these internal feelings I had at the time like nothing else could. It was a gateway into emotional bliss, a mental connection with words and sounds that I genuinely think has never been created before.

I care for you still and I will, forever. That was my part of the deal. Honest. We got so familiar.

Spending each day of the year, White Ferrari. Good times.

Not only are the words that Frank Ocean is serenading us with deeply emotional, they are stacked with depth. So much depth that the song feels to be stretching between dimensions, like experiencing the greatest joys of your childhood and the most painful  heart breaks of your adulthood all in one moment of serenity.

Serenity.

An odd word to describe such a heart wrenching song. But it is the release that comes with the song that provokes the serenity.

“I’m sure we’re taller in another dimension. You say we’re small and not worth the mention. You’re tired of moving, your body’s aching. 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.” 

The message from this song promotes an understanding of how much more life has to offer, never allowing ourselves to fall victim to the shallowness of everyday life. 

It’s connections like this that I continue to pursue my chase for the perfect songs, to find the comfort of sound and the satisfaction of expectations to release emotions. Music is an outlet for discovery, identity, and connection. It is only my hope to provoke this within myself, and guide others to do the same.