Through the rain and all the clatter
Under the Fremont bridge I saw a pigeon fly
Fly in fear from the raptor come to take its life

And as it closed in for the capture
I funneled the fear through my ancient eyes
To see in flight, what I know are the bitter mechanics of life

Under my hat it reads "The lines are all imagined"
A fact of life I know to hide from my little girls
I know my place amongst the bugs and all the animals
And it's from these ordinary people you are longing to be free

My hotel and on the TV
A preacher on a stage like a buzzard cries
Out a warning of phony sorrow, he's trying to get a rise

The cyanide from an almond
Let him look at your hands, get the angles right
Ace of spades, port of morrow, life is death is life

I saw a photograph: Cologne in '27
And then a postcard after the bombs in '45
Must've been a world of evil clowns that let it happen

But now I recognize, dear listeners
That you were there and so was I

Under my hat I know the lines are all imagined
A fact of life I must impress on my little girls
I know my place amongst the creatures in the pageant
And there are flowers in the garbage, and a skull under your curls


Lyrics submitted by llscience

Port of Morrow Lyrics as written by James Mercer

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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Port of Morrow song meanings
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  • +12
    General Comment

    This song is UNREAL.

    I love the first verse, when he sees the pigeon about to be killed and he fears for it, but he knows what's going to happen; those are just the mechanics of life.

    I love how at first he wants to hide the fact that "the lines are all imagined" from his little girl, but then at the end, wants to impress it upon her. There is so much that is just imagined in our world today that we take for granted to be real. To realize that it doesn't exist, that it doesn't matter, is incredibly important (or is it?).

    "Ace of spades, port of morrow, life is death is life"...

    Then he makes a statement of human history: "Must've been a world of evil clowns who let it happen... But now I recognize, dear listeners, that you were there and so was I." The first time I heard this song, and I heard him sing "dear listeners," it felt so surreal.

    The last line, that there is "a skull under your curls" is incredibly powerful to end the song. No matter how full of life a young girl might seem, she's just a skeleton on the inside. Just like everyone else who is alive, and everyone who is dead.

    When it all comes together, it seems like an incredibly complex and simultaneously simple statement on life. Whatever it is, this song feels incredibly important to me.

    llscienceon March 17, 2012   Link

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