Nights

Album: Blonde (2016)
Charted: 98
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Like Channel Orange's "Pyramids," this is a two-part odyssey about nocturnal activities. The first half is rap heavy, and finds Ocean describing fragmented events, including a former relationship. The second more melancholic half finds him reminiscing about living in his home state of Louisiana and his stay in Houston after Hurricane Katrina destroyed his New Orleans recording facility.
  • The second half of the song starts at 3:30, which means that it splits exactly at the 30-minute mark of the 60-minute album, splitting Blonde into two. Ocean references the themes of duality throughout the record, often with hints of his bisexuality. He also does this by naming the album Blond on the album's artwork and Blonde on iTunes, (Blond describes a male's fair colored hair, blonde a female's fair colored hair).
  • The synth on this track is played by Buddy Ross, Frank Ocean's touring keyboardist since 2012. Ross also played the piano intro on "Godspeed," the synth on the first half of "White Ferrari," the original instrumentation on "Close to U." and all the repeating interlude music.

    Speaking about the cryptic process for the recording of the album, Ross told Pitchfork: "It's been a four-year process... I had no idea what I was going to be on until the record came out. So more than anybody, I was just waiting and anticipating the release of this so much. I knew I was hopefully going to be a part of it, but I was also just excited to hear all the little bits and pieces I had heard over the years finally come together."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Curt Kirkwood of Meat Puppets

Curt Kirkwood of Meat PuppetsSongwriter Interviews

The (Meat)puppetmaster takes us through songs like "Lake Of Fire" and "Backwater," and talks about performing with Kurt Cobain on MTV Unplugged.

Mike Love of The Beach Boys

Mike Love of The Beach BoysSongwriter Interviews

The lead singer/lyricist of The Beach Boys talks about coming up with the words for "Good Vibrations," "Fun, Fun, Fun," "Kokomo" and other classic songs.

Graham Bonnet (Alcatrazz, Rainbow)

Graham Bonnet (Alcatrazz, Rainbow)Songwriter Interviews

Yngwie Malmsteen and Steve Vai were two of Graham's co-writers for some '80s rock classics.

Bill Medley of The Righteous Brothers

Bill Medley of The Righteous BrothersSongwriter Interviews

Medley looks back on "Unchained Melody" and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" - his huge hits from the '60s that were later revived in movies.

What Musicians Are Related to Other Musicians?

What Musicians Are Related to Other Musicians?Song Writing

A big list of musical marriages and family relations ranging from the simple to the truly dysfunctional.

Dave Pirner of Soul Asylum

Dave Pirner of Soul AsylumSongwriter Interviews

Dave explains how the video appropriated the meaning of "Runaway Train," and what he thought of getting parodied by Weird Al.