Channel Orange is a groundbreaking R&B album that came out in 2012. It was Ocean’s debut studio album. Ocean is known for his emotional lyrics and smooth voice. Channel Orange blends R&B, funk, and electronic music. The album explores themes like love and identity. It’s praised for its unique sound and storytelling. Channel Orange solidified Ocean’s place as a standout artist in modern music. I absolutely recommend this album, as it is one of my favorites because of the variety of songs.
This album’s first track is “Thinkin’ Bout You.” Many people might know this song from the Vine “A potato flew around my room,” as that was a parody of “Thinkin’ Bout You.” The song starts with a violin, and the melody is calm and repetitive. Ocean is talking about a past relationship he had. At first, he wants to act tough about it, but in reality, he still has strong feelings for his ex-lover. Throughout the song, he explains that he is still wondering whether this past lover feels the same way he does or if they have moved on from him. For me, this is not my favorite song in the album; it seemed a little bit overplayed, so I didn’t listen as much, but when I do, it is a good refreshment.
Next up is “Sierra Leone.” It begins with a soothing subtle beat, and within the first few lines Ocean says, “Horses gallop to her throne”, which signifies a woman getting pregnant and the “throne” is her uterus. This song is a fictional story that implies Ocean had gotten a girl pregnant as a teenager. Throughout the song, he sounds like an irresponsible teenager who is not ready for parenthood, but towards the end, he is ready to be a father figure. I love listening to this song because it feels like something I haven’t heard before. Ocean’s vocals and the beat of the song are very intriguing. He is constantly hitting high notes in this song; it feels like a gift to listen to.
The next song on the album is called “Sweet Life.” This song reminds me of warm weather and going on vacation. The story behind this song is about how money and being wealthy numbs people to the problems of the outside world. In the line, “So why see the world, when you got the beach,” Ocean implies that these wealthy people only live in their bubbles and need to escape it and acknowledge the struggles of people less fortunate than them. For me this song is good, but it is not my go-to. But, over time I have come to appreciate this song more; it is very catchy and always stuck in my head.
“Super Rich Kids” is the next song. This song blew up on TikTok a couple of years ago, so a lot of people might already know it. There is a repetitive beat in the background, but as the song plays, Ocean changes his vocals. He starts by talking on the beat, then his vocals get higher as the song progresses and he starts singing. This song elaborates how having a life only full of wealth and material goods won’t fulfill a person as much as love and happiness can. In my opinion, I have heard this song a little bit too much over time, so it’s one of my least listened-to on the album.
Up next is “Pilot Jones,” in which the story can be perceived two different ways: Ocean having a girlfriend that “takes” him “high” and makes him feel good and happy, or Ocean smoking weed and how this is making him feel. Before knowing the meaning, I originally thought the song was only about a person. In the song, he compares his girlfriend with weed as a metaphor for the love that they share. At first, I wasn’t a fan of this song, but it has grown on me over time. The bass in this song is very heavy and listening to it in the car sometimes overtakes the vocals which is not my favorite thing about this song. Other than that it’s a pretty solid song.
“Crack Rock” is up next. This song is about a man who overcame his addiction to crack cocaine. Ocean’s grandfather was the inspiration for this song because he was a crack user and overcame his addiction. I love this song; it starts with a slow piano, and then throughout the song, the pace starts to speed up. If you didn’t know the meaning of this song you might think it was a happy, upbeat song.
Next up we have “Pyramids,” which is one of my all-time favorite songs. This song is almost 10 minutes long with multiple different-sounding parts. Listening to this song will take you on a journey just because of how unique and hypnotizing it is. The story behind this song is about a man and Cleopatra. The first part of the song is set in Egypt and how Ocean finds Cleopatra cheating on him, then he wakes up from a dream. His character in the song is now this guy who is broke and has met up with a stripper and she is going back to the pyramids, which represent a strip club. I highly recommend this song to anyone because it is so different sounding and the story behind it makes it even better.
Next is my favorite song on this album, “Lost.” This song is about a drug dealer who uses his girlfriend to deliver his drugs. This song is very upbeat and happy sounding; I wouldn’t have guessed the song was about drug dealing. I love everything about how this song sounds. Ocean’s vocals are amazing and the song sounds like summertime. I recommend everyone listen to this.
Next up is “Bad Religion. “Taxi driver, be my shrink for the hour, leave the meter running, it’s rush hour so take the streets if you wanna, just outrun the demons, could you?” This story is short and simple: in the back of a cab, he uses his cab driver for a therapy session. This song is very sad-sounding, yet amazing. Ocean’s vocals are very angelic and hypnotizing. The way Ocean sings in this song sounds very heartfelt and emotional. This song is definitely in the top five on this album for me.
Lastly, we have “Forrest Gump.” This song is sung from two people’s perspectives, one where this guy stands from the bleachers watching his crush play football, while the other perspective is the football player watching his crush cheer for him in the stands. This song sounds very emotional but in a good way. There is whistling in the background of this song which I love. I also really enjoy listening to this song. Anyone who has a crush could relate to this song.
After listening to all of the songs on this album, this is one of my favorite albums ever produced. This album has so many different emotions: love, sadness, euphoria, etcetera, and all of the songs are unique. Anyone could listen to this album and at least enjoy three of the songs.
