If you asked me to name the most highly acclaimed artist of my generation, I’d likely say Frank Ocean. Frank Ocean is an singer-songwriter who got his start self-releasing music in the early 2010s, which helped shape the alternative R&B scene. In 2012, he released his album Channel Orange, which is a groundbreaking and masterful blend of soul, funk, and electronic music. The album explores themes of heartbreak, longing, identity and purpose. This is exactly what makes Channel Orange unique, as Ocean is immensely gifted at creating vivid and compelling stories. Whenever I listen to a song off of Channel Orange, I can see it, I can feel it- I feel the raw and complex emotions Ocean perfectly conveys. I am such a sucker for this album. I remember exactly where I was the first time I had heard the nine minute long track, “Pyramids.” I was a 17 year old high schooler sitting on my bedroom floor one day after class. My crush at the time had recommended Ocean’s music to me, and so I gave some of his songs a listen. I had no idea that I was being introduced to an artist that would inextricably shape me as an individual. Immediately upon listening to “Pyramids,” I felt like I had been transported to a beautiful yet grimy, lustful yet heartbreaking, synthy neon world. “Pyramids” is a deeply layered song that intertwines themes of love and exploitation through vivid imagery and complex musical structures. The song is divided into two distinct parts, each exploring a different time period that creates an overall thematic narrative. The song opens with a descending four chord progression that repeats the entire first half. This consists of a F minor, D flat major, a suspended C, and a B flat minor. These chords appear to be played through a synthesizer, creating a EDM-techno feel to the song. These chords also play on unusual parts of the beat, which exemplify the overall moodiness and drama of the song. When Ocean begins singing, the drums kick in as well. However, these are not your normal drum beats, and the sound is reversed, evoking a sense of being back in time. Ocean begins to sing and paints a picture of Ancient Egypt, using terminology such as “cheetahs,” “pharaoh,” “glory,” and “throne,” just to name a few. The first half of the song takes place in this ancient world, and the narrator is presumably the lover of a woman he calls “Cleopatra.” Cleopatra is a famous Egyptian Pharaoh who is known for her power, beauty, and affairs. This unnamed narrator is presumably the King and her lover. Cleopatra has been “kidnapped” and the lyrics say, “Bring her back to me (Cleopatra)” The bridge then comes to a complete stop, as all the music drops out and a brassy texturized synthesizer plays a new riff. This is in stark contrast to the riff before it, as sonically, we hear an ascension which peaks at a B flat, and then a descension. The shape of this ascension, peak, and descension, creates the image of a triangle- or a pyramid- further enhancing the narrative of the song. This new riff also introduces a new perspective to the song; Cleopatra hasn’t been “taken,” but rather is caught in an affair. “How could you run off on me, how could you run off on us? / I found you laying down with Samson and his full head of hair” Samson refers to the biblical figure known for his extraordinary strength, which was taken from him by a woman. Ocean uses this metaphor to suggest that his Cleopatra, unlike Samson’s story, did not strip the man she was with of his power or identity. Instead, she “kept his full head of hair,” implying that she simply shared an intimate moment with him without diminishing his strength. Further alluding to the affair, the narrators keeps saying “cheetah” which sounds very similar to “cheater.” The first half of the song then ends with “)ur queen has met her doom / no more / he has killed cleopatra.” Resigned in his search to rescue Cleopatra, the narrator says “he” has “killed” her. Metaphorically, the affair has killed the Cleopatra the narrator once knew and loved. Immediately following this, we enter the middle section of the song, which is characterized by low, hazy, sustained chords, and arpeggiated synthesizers. We shift out of the established F minor key signature the entire first half of the song was set in, and enter a completely new tonal era. Because of this, as the listener, we temporarily lose our sense of time. We float free sonically as we are transported through time into a more contemporary setting. After losing our sense of time and tonal center in the song’s extended bridge, the hook begins and grounds the second half of “Pyramids” rhythmically and harmonically, and we find ourselves back in the same F minor key signature as the first half of the song. We also have a descending chord progression whose tempo is much slower. Ocean establishes a world of motel rooms, lipstick, six inch heels, and waking up to a woman he calls “Cleopatra.” We are no longer in Ancient Egypt, however, this narrator says, “she’s headed to the pyramid / she’s working at the pyramid tonight.” The narrator continues to sing about his daily life of “pimpin’ in my convos / got your girl working for me / hit the strip ‘n my bills paid / that keep my bills paid.” All of this exposition tells the audience that this new narrator is a pimp, and the woman he calls “Cleopatra” is a prostitute who works for him. He only refers to her as “she,” and also says, “got your girl,” which is important to remember given the rest of the song. With “Pyramid’s” final verse, we get another narrative shift. The “her” has now become “you.” “You showed up after work / im bathing your body / touching you places only i know” This new narrator is detailing acts of intimacy with Cleopatra, indicating the two have history together. It is also implied that the narrator has feelings for Cleopatra. However, “But your love ain’t free no more / she’s working at the pyramid tonight” Its this line when the story snaps into place. Cleopatra and our current, final narrator, is reflective of Cleopatra and the King from the past. Samson is the pimp who has “stolen” Cleopatra, while the King still has feelings for her. In the modern day context, the King has fallen to an unemployed man who now has to pay to love Cleopatra. Cleopatra on the other hand, is a Pharaoh fallen from her high position and is now imprisoned by a life of prostitution. Trapped under her pimp, she is now a vehicle of sexual exploitation in our current society. Much of the thematic weight of “Pyramids” lies in the juxtaposition of the two halves. The Pharaoh desperately tries to rescue Ceopatra who he thinks has been stolen. But after finding her bed with another man, he assumes she has cheated on him. However, she still could have been kidnapped and forced into a life of prostitution, which is reflected in the later half of the song. “Pyramids” is a masterclass in storytelling, and is absolutely gorgeous to listen to. I have no idea how many total hours of my life I have spent listening to this nine minute song, but it is somehow not enough.