Oceanic Feeling

"**Oceanic Feeling**" is a song by Lorde from her third studio album, *Solar Power*. It is the twelfth and final track from the standard version of the album and was written by Lorde and produced by Jack Antonoff.

## About the song

On Oceanic Feeling, where after relentlessly denying stardom on the album, Ella ends the album by saying *"it's time to take off my robes and return to the choir"*, as a way of telling us that no matter how long she goes away, Ella will never leave to be Lorde.

*“It’s like, a six and a half minute, sort of rumination on where I’m at. It’s just two chords going back and forth. It was so open where I could take the melody… so I had a bunch of lyrics, and you know, a ton of voice notes of me, sort of figuring out where to lift or fall.”*

Curiously, the first and last tracks of *Solar Power* link up. *The Path* begins with a "vent" about the spotlight and ends with an invitation to distance herself, *Oceanic Feeling* starts by portraying life away from the spotlight and ends with her saying she's ready to come back.

## Critical reception

**NPR** editorial assistant LaTesha Harris ranks *“Oceanic Feeling”* as the 10th best song of 2021.

## Chart performance

In New Zealand, the song peaked at number 17 on the *Top 20 NZ Singles* chart (Songs by New Zealand artists) and number 46 on the *US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs* chart.

## Lyrics

It's a blue day

We could jump Bulli

When I hit that water

When it holds me

I think about my father

Doin' the same thing

When he was a boy

When he was a boy

It's a blue day

We could go fishing

You'll catch the big one

Ah

Slidin' the knife under the skin

Grateful for this offering

And all the livin' things under the sun

Under the sun

Little brother, I think you're an angel

I see your silver chain levitate

When you're kickflipping

Baby boy, you're super cool

I know you're scared, so was I

But all will be revealed in time (Time, time)

Oh, look, the rays are in the bay now

Can you hear the waves and the cicadas all around?

I can make anything real

Rays so hot, it's a summer body

Every day is blue and never cloudy

Don't look down

I can make anything real

In the future

If I have a daughter

Will she have my waist?

Or my widow's peak?

My dreamer's disposition or my wicked streak?

Will she split a dab with her lover?

Laugh with the stars like her mother

When she was a girl?

When she was a girl

Now the cherry black lipstick's gathering dust in a drawer

I don't need her anymore

'Cause I got this power

I just had to breathe (Breathe out, breathe out, breathe out)

And tune in (Tune in, tune in, tune in, tune in)

I just had to breathe (Breathe out, breathe out, breathe out)

And tune in (Tune in, tune in, tune in, tune in)

I just had to breathe

And tune in

I just had to breathe

And tune in

I just had to breathe

Oh, was enlightenment found?

No, but I'm tryin', takin' it one year at a time

Oh, oh, can you hear the sound?

It's shimmerin' higher

On the beach I'm buildin' a pyre

(Used the wood brought in by the tide)

I know you'll show me how I'll know when it's time to take off my robes and step into the choir

## Trivia

* According to Lorde, "**Oceanic Feeling**" is the song she most wants people to understand. It's about her family, her home and her country.
* Lorde wanted the song to sound like New Zealand.
* Oceanic Feeling is Lorde's favorite song on *Solar Power*.
* According to Lorde, *Oceanic Feeling* was the last song written for the album.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.npr.org/sections/the-best-music-of-2021-staff-picks