Feel It Still

The creators of the song have a child, and it's about balancing the demands of their careers with the demands of their daughter.

It sounds like the lyricist is done with fighting in this current political environment especially when he mentions he has a little baby. He can’t keep his hands off her. his hands used to be for fighting, now they’re purpose is to care for his child. He puts them on a shelf in case he needs to protect her.

The chorus is almost making fun of SJWs when he mentions the 1960s which was the Vietnam protests, civil rights for blacks. Those were actually something to fight for politically. Now, we just complain about the corrupt system we’re apart of. People are now just a rebel for the fun of it.

I really like the bridge bc it shows hypocrisy of war. Give up ur hopes n dreams. N it also seems like “stop flipping for the enemies” could be the smear campaign the corporations use to not allow minimum wage to go up to 15 dollars. “Flipping” could literally mean flipping burgers. and it sounds like he’s giving a nod to Sander’s tip to the middle kids (college debt) and Trumps famous wall. N then he says it doesn’t bother him either way. Let the wall fall down by being peaceful or fight a bullshit political war. we truly know we’re not under attack and we don’t need a wall to feel safe from immigrants.

The “1986” reference reminds me of the first line to “fight for your right” by the beastie boys which is “KICK IT”. I could be way off but I’m the same age as the members of Portugal the man. I still can’t believe they’re on the radio. They deserve it.

recommend reading the artists’ interpretation that someone previously mentioned as it added a lot of insight. Personally I found this song to be really creative free form of jazz and electronic smashed into a pop concept structure that intersected a lot of musical and lyrical genres. Unlike the guy who felt it was a stab at SJWs, I felt it was more an ode to those still fighting for those issues that seemed to be “fixed” but that are still worth fighting for, since clearly racism and sexism haven’t been “fixed” in the cultural mindset, even if, in some small way, they’ve been addressed in the legal mindset of the US/the world. I felt that it’s a pretty sincere acknowledgement that a lot of these issues are difficult to fight against because the general population of the US/ developed countries is under the impression that there’s no real problem, and the band is still fighting against these issues despite lack of popular support, because it is still relevant and still matters, although it’s hard to get buy in due to the majority believing everything is “fine” for oppressed classes they don’t belong to. Other things, like family and career, take precedent, so it’s hard to address these things while still meshing with the larger society they need to be a part of to care for their families.

TLDR: They want to do more, but don’t want to commit to rebellion because they have families to take care of and lives to tend to.

The allusion to aliens in the video I found especially prescient, because that was a real concern in 1966, but also because it’s an “other” that all humans can relate to. Overall, it’s a very visceral overture that’s enjoyable despite political beliefs or group membership.

as explained by the artists themselves songfacts.com/detail.php

The idea of being a rebel just for kicks relates to a desire to buck the system and fight the power with music like bands did back in 1966 - except the desire is blunted by the realization these times aren't like those times, and it's harder to believe that music is going to change anything. It feels like you might be speaking truth to power, but you might as well be doing it just for kicks, for all the difference it will really make. Still, he's trying to figure out how to "feel it still", to still care about trying to make some kind of positive difference, and balance that with the family and practical considerations of his baby daughter and thinking about her future. How to do what feels right in the midst of a changed and changing, complicated world...

i LOVE this song soooooo much! the lyrics are pretty thoughtful and i like the tune.

I find the lyrics kind of nonsensical, but my favorite part of the song is that pentatonic guitar riff that gives it the 1960’s feel.