Frank Ocean’s “Swim Good” tells the story of a man who is plagued by the grief of his life regrets in a calm, relaxed tone. In the music video for “Swim Good”, the audience is shown a plethora of calming images despite the dark and depressing subject matter. The main character in the video walks around in Japanese garb, wielding a katana and driving around in an orange car to keep the audiences’ interest. Ocean uses the images in the music video to tell a completely different story than what is perceived through the lyrics alone. Ocean’s “Swim Good” is a story about a man who murders someone special to him and then wants to commit suicide by driving his car into the ocean, this idea is conveyed primarily through the use of symbolism and visual cues.

Symbolism is one way in which Ocean shows the audience that the main character in “Swim Good” is a murderer who wants to commit suicide. The image that initially appears in the music video is the main character in a panda mask sitting and eating popcorn, this is a metaphor for how the song is masked as a calm and relaxing video about swimming in the ocean. Beneath the surface, the subject matter contains contradictory feelings of pain and guilt. It appears the man in the mask is enjoying himself, but behind that mask is all of the guilt and pain and no one except the main character will know. Another symbol is the road in which the main character drives on. The road represents the path that life takes you. The main character wants to drive off so that he can forget the grief he has of killing the person that was special to him: “I’m going off, don’t try stopping me, I’m going off don’t try saving” (Ocean 25). This quote further reinforces the fact that the main character is attempting to end his life. Another important symbol in “Swim Good” is the ocean, the ocean functions as the afterlife, and a way for the main character to escape from the grief and guilt that he faces. This functions well with the calming images of the ocean waves in the music video, since the afterlife acts as a way for the main character to relax, the ocean is shown in the video as being naturally peaceful. In the music video, the black suit that Ocean continues to reference, symbolizes the guilt and grief that the man suffers as a result of ending the life of someone that was close to him. This is because the main character puts on the suit once he loses his “baby”. This information can be obtained from the line: “Ever since I lost my baby/ I’ve had this black suit on” (Ocean 17). Ocean also says that once he drives into the ocean, he’s going to “take off this suit”, so by killing himself he is able to relieve his pain and guilt. Another way that Ocean depicts the main character as a murderer intent on committing suicide is through the use of visual cues.

Visual cues are another way that Ocean depicts the main character as a suicidal murderer. By sending the audience subliminal images, Ocean is able to convey a certain mood or emotion. Some of these images are less subtle than others in terms of masking their intention. For example, several times in the music video the audience is shown pictures of a woman who is assumed to be the girl that the main character kills in the song. One of these images shows the main character’s sword inches from the woman’s face, which would lead one to believe that the main character killed her. Ocean also uses visual cues to make the audience divert their attention from the true subject matter of the piece, and tries to convey emotions that would never be associated with how the main character is feeling throughout the song. The lyrics themselves convey an entirely different message than what is shown in the music video. Throughout the music video the audience is exposed to several calming images of crashing ocean waves and lots of slow motion video of the main character, which has a calming, relaxing effect on the audience. Another way in which the music video evokes his ideas through the use of visual cues is through the use of color. Most of the objects associated with the main character in the video are warm colors; the car that he drives is orange, and the robe that he wears is also orange. Warm colors evoke loud, hateful emotions, which is how the main character feels about the death of his special friend. The main character’s end goal is also the ocean which is a cool color and represents calm, relaxing emotions (NYU 1). This relates to how the main character feels about death, which is a release from his anxiety and therefore calming and peaceful. Ocean also sings at a slow pace with a cool, controlled voice it is probable that Ocean intends the audience to have a calm tone even though the subject matter of the piece is far from relaxing, in order to make the listener further question the meaning behind his lyrics. 

In conclusion, Ocean’s “Swim Good” tells a story of a murder-suicide, masked by a song that appears to be about swimming in the Ocean. This is achieved primarily through the use of symbolism, and imagery. Ocean impressively manages to create a calm tone and relaxing visual cues, while still singing about death, and the regrets we have in life. What’s more is the that the video incorporates calming images, while containing subject matter that focuses on murder and suicide. As seen in the ending moments of the music video, the main character watches in envy as a bird flies across the sky. The main character wishes he could be free from his pains and worries much like this free, graceful creature is. This subject matter is unobtainable without the visual cues contained within the music video, listening to the lyrics alone will not evoke the same message than when the music video is played along with it. The piece does a good job of reminding us that hiding your emotions behind a mask can only lead to undesirable consequences. 
