By Hailey Abdilla
“Lyrical genius”—how many would describe most of Frank Ocean’s songs. “Bad Religion” being one of my personal favorites from his Channel ORANGE album. Rife with painful implications of unrequited love, the song tugs at the heartstrings as Frank Ocean pours his emotions out into the 2 minutes and 54 second track. Ocean utilizes repetition throughout the song, constantly reminding his listeners that “if it brings me to my knees, it’s a bad religion.” In this sense, Ocean is comparing religion to love, explaining that any person who makes him beg for their love (as in begging on their knees) is unfair and “bad” for him. Ocean goes on to describe his one-sided love as “cyanide in my styrofoam cup,” elucidating how painful and detrimental his one-sided love affair has been by comparing it to a deadly poison. Ocean then alludes at his struggles with his own sexuality, telling the figurative taxi driver in the song that he has “three lives,” hinting at the feeling that he is living lives that aren’t truly his, in order to appease others. He goes even further stating “I can’t tell you the truth about my disguise, I can’t trust no one.” I interpret this as Ocean’s internal struggles with his own sexuality and his fears to openly identify as how he truly feels. Finally, Ocean’s choice to compare unreciprocated love to religion in the first place encapsulates Ocean’s true feelings about the severity and importance of love. The song ends saying “it’s a bad religion, to be in love with someone who could never love you.” This equation of love and religion highlights the significance Frank Ocean places on love, as religion is an incredibly significant part of people’s lives.