Lost

This album contains a lot of duality... without looking at the tracklisting and just this song lyrically, I "guessed" that this would be on the album right after pyramids. It is indeed the song straight after pyramids. I'll talk about the conceptual nature of the album after, but I think there's logic to Franks song progression even tho it's not quite linear. It's comparable to Lana Del Ray's "born to die" thematically and structure wise IMO.

Lost to me, almost can fit into a trilogy of songs:

Pyramids, Lost, Novacane.

All of the songs fit in between the gaps and spaces between these, but these are the keystones in his work. He's exploring the same key themes as a person and an artist but very differently in each work. You know he stumbled on themes with both mystery and profoundness when he can play with styles, characters and each time produce something that can stand on its own, but also has integrity within the context of his work.

Frank changes the perspective of the narrator using the chorus and verses interchangeably. I love the layers of the album, musically, but his strengths are in the narrative and concept. Usually the first things I notice are musical elements, but the content and how it's woven very skillfully through the form is what I really pay attention to.

I think part of his narrative voice is used to explore identity via pulling apart the assumptions of masculinity, personhood, class, gender, race, sex. Frank is not the many narrators of the stor(ies), he's the narrator of the narrators and the guy pulling the strings of the characters within the stories. I love how personal it is without losing it's narrative elements. This is a sign of a gifted story teller.

The undercurrent of the albums narrative is that it is like a fragmented memory, a suburban dream. He samples sounds... there is a lot of pop culture aural imagery and soundbites. Like there's this "classic" sound, both toy-ish and childish yet unadulturated. You get the feel of a guy who grew up with an artistic sensibility in the 90s.. an era of both bubblegum pop as well as more exposure to "adult ideas" and cynicism about relationships than ever.

It sounds like a mixtape, but it feels like he's flicking the switch between a freeze frame of scenes... like the story is progressing across different snap shots and you zoom into the scene, then flick the switch and move onto another scene. They may look like different "players" but the movement in each scene (song) is carrying through a story.

Consequently, there is something very cinematic about the album and especially about this song. It could almost be a film. The characterisation of the hooker-pimp relationship in pyramids goes further here.. relationships are a heavy theme in his work, much like a classic Hollywood film. However, it's not a 30s era exploration of relationships or identity by any stretch of the imagination. This as well as pyramids reminds me of revolutionary road... like trying to escape the same destiny as everyone else, only served to shackle you in another bind. The futility of running and feeling trapped that seems to enter into all relationships but mainly when explicit give and take is involved...

the characterisation in this song makes me wonder whether Frank is going into aspects of race and gender as well.. but who knows. Love the subtlety.