There are multiple theories about the objects that the 27 club had when they died, among them is the White Lighter myth. Frank Ocean, who turns 35 today, references it in my all-time favorite song, Nights:
Every night fucks every day up
Every day patches the night up
On God, you should match it, it's that KO
No white lighters 'til I fuck my 28th up
These lyrics open the second half of the song, but also divide Blonde (the singer's second studio album) perfectly into two parts — the first full of nostalgia, youth, and adolescence; while the second speaks about regret, the pain of growing up, and the remorse that floods certain memories.
The popular White Lighter superstition holds that a white BIC disposable lighter is bad luck because several members of the 27 Club—musicians who died at the age of 27—had it in their pocket when they died.
There is also another reason that has to do with the origin of the product: when the BIC lighter launched on the market, it only came in two colors: white (which soon showed signs of smoke and ash burns), and black (which remained intact in sight).
In 2017 (a year after Blonde), the website Snopes.com, which specializes in validating or invalidating urban legends, internet rumors, and all kinds of stories of dubious origin that exist within popular culture, completely discredited the myth of the White Lighter.
Apparently, the white disposable BIC lighter simply didn't exist when Hendrix, Morrison, or Joplin died, as the first one wasn't made until 1973, more than a year after The Doors frontman's death on July 3, 1971, and both Hendrix like Joplin had passed away even earlier, in 1970.
However, there is a possibility that they could have carried some other brand of disposable lighters, such as the Cricket. Although it was only available in the 1960s in France and thus was not available in the United States until Gillette acquired the brand and launched it for sale in the United States in 1972, long after Hendrix and Joplin’s death.
In Jim Morrison’s case, he had been living in France justbefore his death and passed away in his Paris apartment, so he could have encountered Cricket lighters before the introduction to the US market, but the report of his death does not mention anything.
Despite all this, many superstitious people stopped buying white lighters for a long time. I don't doubt they still don’t come near any.
That's why, in the entire Frank Ocean discography, this reference is in my Top 3 favorite lyrics. Of course, he was cautious of white lighters until he was 27. This idea meets the mysterious, enigmatic, and distant persona that the singer has built over 17 years present in the industry as a singer, song composer, rapper, record producer, photographer, and visual artist.
So, from here on, I want to talk from a superstitious person to (I hope) another superstitious person. I think it is very nice to believe in destiny, the symbolism within small things and coincidences is the greatest gift of everyday life.
Frank Ocean is turning 35 today, so a brief numerology analysis would go something like this:
The number 35 is a mixture of the energies of the numbers 3 and 5. The number 3 signifies expression, expansion, growth, creativity, enthusiasm, hope, joy, optimism, communication, motivation, spiritual energy, inner peace, transparency, and visualization.
While number 5 signifies inspiration, choice of desires, important life choices, changes, life lessons, freedom, preferences, creativity, adaptability, flexibility, diversity, expansion, progress, lucky chances, and use of opportunities.
When these energies combine, they create the energy of the number 35, which symbolizes enthusiasm, motivation, creativity, perspectives, opportunities, imagination, exploration, organization, adventure, vision, and visualization.
Sounds like a good frame of mind for an album, doesn't it? It excites me to think of these last years of his life materialize into something.
Happy birthday to the best dual artist of our generation, whom, for 7 years has been able to carry a white lighter in his pocket!