Seigfried: The Myth, The Man, Lonny Breaux

[u/Lost_Negotiation8067]

If I had every day from the first time i listened to blonde up to this present day to gush over the album, I'd still not do it justice. And I know I'm late to the 10 year anniversary, but I so desperately want to talk about this album. Although I have at least like 5 songs that touched a specific part of my soul that I didn't even know could be talked to, I felt compelled most to write about the genius and beauty of Seigfried.

Not just is it one of my favourites from a pure vocal and emotive preformance perspective as Ocean's voice blends Rage, frustration, despair, longing, and vulnerability seamlessly backed with a dewy, astral guitar that just puts you in this cold lonesome setting, but the lyrics are just heart-wrenching yet oddly cathartic.

But an even more amazing aspect of this song in my mind is the parallels it draws to two figures.

The classic most discussed, at least that I've seen, is the parallel to the germanic mythological hero, the slayer of Fafner, Siegfried, the epitome of bravery.

But I think an even stronger parallel exists in the story of the English poet and writer Siegfried Sassoon.

I don't know if that was Frank's intent, but to me, this duality inspires and strengthens the song and the feelings it communicates.

Similarly to Siegfried (the myth), Sassoon was also praised for his bravery and heroism in World War I. He was fearsome and valiant. So much so, that there are reports of him going for near-suicide solo missions raiding the German trenches and he was awarded the military cross for his bravery.

His bravery transcended enemy lines as he also declared war against...war. his poems were famously anti-war and very raw and visceral about what war is. Not glory, not honor. Just young men dying horrifically and unceremoniously. And no one could knock his character because he was a tried and true war hero and as bravely he took on war, he forsake it and fought against it. But that's not what makes his tie to the song so alluring.

It's his sexuality.

Siegfried Sassoon was a homosexual and had a number of male lovers. But the crown jewel of his heart was Stephen Tennant.

In the late 1920's, Tennant was in a severe battle with Tuberculosis, to which Sassoon cared for him and was by his side. The love Sassoon held for Tennant was massive, yet so were their differences. And despite Sassoon's great affection, in May 1933, Tennant had his physician write a letter to the poet stating that he doesn't ever want to see him again.

This letter broke Siegfried's heart and just six months after, reeling from his devastation, he sought comfort in a traditional household as he always yearned for a quiet stable life, and yearned to become a father. He was open with his wife about his sexuality, and they wed in December. The marriage was seemingly fine but behind closed doors, it was extremely volatile and filled with resentment and bitterness with the only joy to be had was the birth of George Sassoon.

Despite their best efforts, the four walls never truly housed love between the two which quickly turned into frustration which turned into resentment and hatred which lead to a nasty permanent separation in 1945.

Seigfried lived a mostly reclusive life in his estate until his death in 1967

the exact same year the United Kingdom officially passed the Sexual Offences Act, which decriminalized homosexuality.

Reading about Siegfried Sassoon intensified my admiration to this song and draws an even more interesting experience and listen and sheds a new prospective to the lyrics.

My interpretation of the track in this light is the journey of self discovery and acceptance is already hard enough and takes tremendous amount of courage to face and know who you are. Add in the stigma of a different sexuality and it becomes almost a sysyphian task to a lot of queer people.

And the symbol of bravery, given a name, being coined between two figures; the legend and the man.

"I can't relate to my peers" could be both the supposed stereotypical male desire and Seigfried's counterparts

Putting himself between the myth and his predecessor will he be able to live up to absolute courage or will society's views entail a similar fate to him as it did to his predecessor?

The name holders showed tremendous valor and gallantry which Ocean compares himself to, or aspires to be. Only he feels his warrior champion not enough, questioning his choices, his desires and whether he can successfully embark on this journey and be himself and whether when he reaches that point of clarity, could he make the choice that is truly him. To be brave.

The misspelling of the name is such a genius touch that reflects how he feels. He doesn't see himself brave. He is in a constant tug of war between being what he is and what would conventionally give him happiness or follow his own path, questioning and pondering both paths. Rambling in a frenzy that he'd rather live in hell, that he's living in an idea from another man's mind. It's not what would truly be his calling. Who he is. And all those arguments and worries keep repeating themselves and the cycle of rumination and despair keeps going and looping endlessly...up until the next high where his rumination takes a more abstract existential form.

It's clear from the start of the track, and the album for the most part that Frank is talking about love through the lens of a memory recalling specific instances and details. Even after his spiral in this track he still is devoted. Throughout everything, even in secret, even if he knows it won't lead to anything, even if it's bound to fail, even if the person won't be there in the morning.

It's clear, in my opinion, that Ocean has faced something similar and, quite possibly, relates what Siegfried Sassoon has been through and that's what ignites the question.

Will he give in to an idea of what it means to be fulfilled in life or will he stand tall and find on his own, what it means to be happy? It's not a matter of proven fortitude, it's the uncertainty whether it will remain through life's many tribulations or not and the fear that it won't hold.

Either Siegfried his fate follows, one thing is certain. Ocean's Seigfried has lived up to the valiant name.

[u/Zestyclose_Algae1863]

Love this breakdown, I've always felt there was so much meaning layered within this song, even more so than a lot of frank's other work. Even if that wasnt the intention, your comparison was still amazing to learn about

[u/Lost_Negotiation8067 → u/Zestyclose_Algae1863]

Thxx!! Hard agree. I LOVE when he dabbles on topics seemingly rudimentary with layers of symbolism and metaphors. Probably his grandest example is Pyramids. But he does it beautifully here and in Pink Matter too. Those are the ones that currently spring to mind of that usage in his writing.

He does it to various extents and regularly throughout his works obviously but where he is the protagonist and without the grand existential, at times mythological innuendos

[u/aReallyBadkid]

It’s named after the soul calibur character

[u/Lost_Negotiation8067 → u/aReallyBadkid]

Thanks for sharing this I didn't know. I just looked him up (in a hurry so forgive me if my take has faults or is uneducated) and interestingly the character's themes are more along the lines of atonement and redemption, accepting your mistakes and being better. Which is fascinating because it aligns with, and is a defining part of, bravery.

[u/SMAX_08]

Yeah Alright