Godspeed

Godspeed

Frank Ocean

On “Godspeed,” the penultimate track from Blonde, Frank describes him leaving a lover, but doing so in a respectful way. The title is an exclamation used to give good fortune to someone starting a journey.

The track features many religious overtones, including various references to the bible sung over a church-style organ, with extensive use of the “plagal cadence.” Additionally, the outro features gospel singer Kim Burrell.

“Godspeed” shares its title with a screenplay Frank published in his Boys Don’t Cry publication:

I wrote a story in the middle – it’s called ‘Godspeed’. It’s basically a reimagined part of my boyhood. Boys do cry, but I don’t think I shed a tear for a good chunk of my teenage years. It’s surprisingly my favourite part of my life so far. Surprising, to me, because the current phase is what I was asking the cosmos for when I was a kid. Maybe that part had it’s rough stretches too, but in my rearview mirror it’s getting small enough to convince myself it was all good. And really though… It’s still all good.