I have chosen to read the song “White Ferrari” by Frank Ocean for my midterm. I chose this text because it is one of my favorite songs by Frank Ocean. I find it really relatable and nostalgic, and it sounds beautiful. The lyrics leave a lot of room for interpretation, so I think it will be fun to explore my own interpretation and experience of the song. I imagine my audience to be people that enjoy Frank Ocean’s music and are familiar with White Ferrari. I often look up the meanings of songs that I like, so from my experience, I think these people would be the most interested in my close-read because it would allow them to better understand and appreciate a song they already enjoy.
The two formally/generically similar texts I have discovered through research are “Frank Ocean Taught Us to Never Settle” by Donna-Claire Chesman and “White Ferrari by Frank Ocean: Lyrics Meaning and Interpretation“. Both articles analyze the song’s lyrics and describe what they mean, as well as what the song means as a whole. I chose these two sources because while they share the same purpose, they provide different interpretations which I thought was interesting. “Frank Ocean Taught Us to Never Settle” claims that the song is about gaining closure from a relationship. It describes the decay of a relationship, and this is what the silence Ocean describes in the song refers to. In the second source, the song is interpreted as a story about two people who are not in a relationship, but clearly have feelings for each other. The silence in this interpretation refers to the lack of agknowledging each other’s feelings. A clear distinction between the two in form is that the second source goes line by line describing the meaning. The lyrics are physically distinct from the paragraphs that analyze them. The first source, on the other hand, only interprets some of the lines and includes the lyrics within the paragraphs. These texts are similar to mine in that I will also be analyzing the lyrics of White Ferrari to argue my interpretation of the song. I will do so by including the lyrics in my essay just as these sources have. I will likely share a more similar form to the second source because I think it will allow for a more comprehensible read. I think these sources share the same intended audience as my midterm essay since they generally share the same function as my essay. I imagine that the people who enjoy White Ferrari are the ones seeking out the meaning of the lyrics.
I intend to talk about this song in relation to queerness, youth, and love. I think these themes are prevalent throughout the song and I think I have an interesting interpretation of these topics. I would also like to explain how this song functions for me, and how that can differ based on the listener. My text intersects with the class themes of queerness and identity. I think it could also intersect with the class theme of reading, but I am still not solid in the definition of reading. This is something I could use help with!
White Ferrari by Frank Ocean: Lyrics Meaning and interpretation. Sharpens. (2022, March 11). Retrieved October 6, 2022, from https://sharpens.org/lyrics/meaning/white-ferrari-by-frank-ocean
Chesman, D.-C. (2020, July 8). Frank Ocean taught us to never settle. DJBooth. Retrieved October 8, 2022, from https://djbooth.net/features/2020-07-08-frank-ocean-white-ferrari-nostalgia-forever