Songfacts®:

• The fourth single from Frank Ocean's debut album, Channel Orange, "Lost" describes the protagonist's travels with a cocaine-cooking girlfriend. However, he can only provide small moments of stability and comfort as his superstar lifestyle overwhelms her. She feels lost everywhere they go but is too attached to leave him.
• The song samples some dialogue from the 1998 movie about excess, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
• Producer and songwriter Micah Otano (Anastacia's "Burning Star," Fantasia's "Overload"), sued Ocean, claiming that he based the track on of his songs without giving any due credit. Otano claimed that he previously collaborated with Ocean's producer partner Malay, and that the two men co-wrote a track called "Daylight," which, he alleged, Malay then ripped off for this song.
  
  The court case stated that Otano was seeking royalties as well as songwriting and production credits for the track. He was later listed as a writer on the song.
• There was quite a buzz around Ocean after he released his 2011 mixtape Nostalgia, Ultra. Channel Orange was a highly anticipated debut album that made headlines even before it was released, thanks to the song "Bad Religion," where Ocean sings about being in a love with a man who didn't feel the same way. Most of the songs on the album, including "Lost," are works of fiction, but Ocean took to his Tumblr to explain that "Bad Religion" was based on true events. This was news in the world of hip-hop, where it was rare to hear about a gay relationship. Ocean got plenty of support and lots of accolades for the album, including a Grammy Award for Best Urban Contemporary Album.
• The Francisco Soriano-directed video is a whirlwind of concert footage and behind-the-scenes shots of Frank Ocean while on his 2012 Channel Orange tour. Among the iconic images we see on the travelogue clip are the Egyptian pyramids, Parisian street signs and Rome's Castel Sant'Angelo.
• "Lost" did surprisingly well in New Zealand, peaking at #5 on the country's singles chart. It also reached the Top 20 in Belgium and Denmark.
• Major Lazer covered the song for the extended version of their 2015 album, Peace Is the Mission. Their remake, featuring vocals from Danish singer MØ, keeps the same lyrics but adds reggae-style grooves.
• The song returned to the charts worldwide in January 2022 after it went viral on TikTok. The chorus accompanies a short dance routine that trended on the video sharing app.