| Portugal. The Man – Smile Lyrics | 9 years ago |
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There are so many problems with the world that it's overwhelming. Better to just tune all of that out when you can and try to find (and create) what happiness you can with the people for whom you care. I don't think John is mocking the speaker like he was in "Purple Yellow Red and Blue." Both speakers are choosing escapism, sure. But rather than escaping all the crap by pursuing pure hedonism, this guy is selectively ignoring the awful to enjoy the beautiful. "There's so much good to be found, and it'd be nice if I could tune out all of the bad every once in a while ["I'd like to try to forget..."], stop worrying about mortality ["never growing older"], and just smile with you and pretend that the happiness can last." |
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| Portugal. The Man – Purple Yellow Red and Blue Lyrics | 9 years ago |
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Definitely "an ode to hedonism and egocentrism" like danoelmano says. What's striking to me is how this is like the speaker in "Evil Friends" (the song) taking things too far. That guy knows everything's a mess and is trying to make sense of everything, all while insisting that he doesn't really need the help of the idiots around him to do so. "It's not that I'm evil"; he just doesn't see any point in pretending that those morons have any value to add. But here, the speaker's driven himself too far inward. Everything is still screwed up, sure, but now he responds to it not by trying to forge his own path, but by just embracing sensory pleasure without any care about how doing so affects anyone. He's no longer insisting that he's not trying to be evil--in fact, "evil" selfishness is now his only escape from all of the world's issues and all of the idiots that surround him. Because he needs to escape--it's not greed, but necessity. Think Pink from "The Wall" on Side 2. He's retreating from all of his pain, just pursuing sensory pleasure ("Young Lust") while angrily pushing everyone else away from him ("Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 3"). I think this song is pretty analogous. |
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| Portugal. The Man – Waves Lyrics | 9 years ago |
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I think everyone's right about the obvious cynicism and how most of the verses are aimed at politicians who send people off to squabble over petty differences, simply because it perpetuates the military-industrial complex and drives the economy. But I interpret the chorus as the speaker trying to reassure himself by engaging in some escapism and a large-scale, bird's-eye view of things. Sure, everybody's always looking for someone to use. But in the scheme of things--on a geological scale--none of this matters. Life as a whole on this planet will keep on, far from the silly tiffs that serve as an excuse for politicians to start wars. Those squabbles won't last forever, because nothing lasts forever---except life, insulated from all of these "waves" (all of this human insanity) on the bottom of the ocean. Nature outlasts all of this pettiness, and the world stays blue. |
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| Portugal. The Man – Sea of Air Lyrics | 9 years ago |
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"We've got the whole world just hanging out, we've got no seed of doubt." When the speaker and his people heard about the sea of air and went looking for some sort of landmark (a tower so tall....), "nothing" was there. And that's okay--in fact, that's great. A lot of the structures that others insist are important (religion in particular, but really any attempt to impose too much order on the world) simply aren't important. In fact, they're a distraction from just enjoying life. Go argue with God about the bad things if you must, trying to make sense of it all.....or just embrace the "part of you that never cared" about all of that, and just hang out enjoying it with us, in our little sea of air. Even without making sense of it all, when the speaker faces the void, he will be brave -- because this is a place where you're "just hanging out," appreciating the beauty of the supposedly empty chaos of life. There's no activity; the whole world isn't stressfully twisting around you -- it's just "hanging there," without a strong need to have structure imposed. Just relax and appreciate it. |
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| Portugal. The Man – Evil Friends Lyrics | 9 years ago |
| This isn't a fantastic song on its own, but it's almost a necessary element of the album altogether. Definitely distills the whole "I'm pretty messed up, I don't know where I fit into all of this, but I know I don't need you" vibe that permeates the record.. | |
| Portugal. The Man – Plastic Soldier Lyrics | 9 years ago |
| I agree. This album is pretty coherent thematically, and it seems throughout that he's got bigger fish to fry throughout than just the end of a relationship. The last stanza also makes more sense this way; why else bring in "the rest of us" unless juxtaposing against a broader "you"? | |
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