“Seigfried,” the fifteenth track on Frank Ocean’s Blonde, might be called a metaphysical break-up song. Based on the mention of “a speckled face”, the song may be about male model Willy Cartier, who’s rumored to have had a brief affair with Ocean. The hero Siegfried of Norse mythology is often depicted as a handsome man with long, flowing hair, much like Cartier.

The narrative of the song is difficult to follow, but seems to have a recognizable structure nonetheless. The song moves from his love life, to his inner life, and then back out to his love life. In the first verse Frank begins by addressing a lover in a failed romance and goes to reflect on his own life. Frank’s reflections become increasingly more penetrating: they move from wondering about his life choices and then transition to thoughts about the nature of his own mind and God. The song then seems to move back into a consideration of lost love and ends with a declaration “I’d do anything for you.”

The title appears to be a spelling variation on the Germanic name Siegfried, which is composed of the roots sig, meaning victory, and frithu, meaning peace. The name “Siegfried” has several cultural resonances Frank may be channeling:

1. Siegfried is a warrior in Norse mythology. In folklore, Siegfried slays the dragon Fafnir and wins the princess Brünnhilde. He is considered an archetypal figure of bravery. Siegfried was popularized through the operas of Richard Wagner (1813-1883), specifically his four-part work Der Ring des Nibelungen.

2. The song may also make reference to Siegfried Sassoon; a British war poet who had a number of homosexual and heterosexual affairs and encounters, echoing Frank’s own bisexuality. Siegfried Sassoon was a soldier – possibly the reason Frank repeatedly mentions being or not being brave. Also, Siegfried had a close friend by the name of Wilfred Owen. Wilfred had fallen madly in love with Siegfried and wrote many love letters to him. Frank may be relating himself and the situation he describes in the song to Wilfred Owen.

3. Siegfried is a character from the Soulcalibur series. “Soul Calibur” was a track from Ocean’s mixtape, nostalgia, ULTRA.

Frank premiered “Seigfried” on his European Tour, California Live, at the BMW Welt in Munich back in June 2013.