A reader writes:
I'm sure you're getting tons of emails about this, but I just wanted to talk about Frank Ocean again. Last night he had his television debut on Jimmy Fallon and performed his new song, "Bad Religion." The song is a beautiful reflective meditation from the back of a taxi, and the performance was incredible. The album launched at the same times on iTunes, a week ahead of its physical launch, and it already sits at #1 in more or less the entire English-speaking world.
This story would be unremarkable were it not for what he sang on Fallon's show: "I could never make him love me, never make him love me." What we just witnessed was the birth of a career of a man who unabashedly sings about men the way most R&B musicians sing about women. And yet, it hasn't seemed to affect his popularity; if anything, it's bolstered it. This is a big deal.
Not to mention, the album is brilliant.
Full lyrics after the jump:
Taxi driver
You're 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?
He said "allahu akbar", I told him don't curse me
"But boy you need prayer", I guess it couldn't hurt me
If it brings me to my knees
It's a bad religion[Chorus]
This unrequited love
To me it's nothing but
A one-man cult
And cyanide in my styrofoam cup
I could never make him love me
Never make him love me
Love
LoveTaxi driver
I swear I've got three lives
Balanced on my head like steak knives
I can't tell you the truth about my disguise
I can't trust no one
And you say "allahu akbar", I told him don't curse me
"But boy you need prayer", I guess it couldn't hurt me
If it brings me to my knees
It's a bad religion[Chorus]
It's a bad religion
To be in love with someone
Who could never love you
I know
Only bad religion
Could have me feeling the way I do
The Dish 