Portland

A few (possible) corrections:

I'm fairly sure it's "Shared a pack of lights for lunch" (light cigarettes having less nicotine and all that, some people end up smoking more of them), as opposed to "pack of lies". In "Serving boy can chain nothing that ain't anchored to his throne", the "anchored" part sounds like Paul is saying something else, but I'm not sure what. Finally, I hear "And your ears just wanna ring" as opposed to "Your ears is gonna ring". It's not a major difference, but given that ears cannot will themselves to ring, it may serve as a Westerberg twist of language. Then again, I've been wrong before. Thanks Mr. AwesomeSquared, you picked up on some things I had previously missed.

I really love this song. It's so melancholic. I don't really know what it means.

I'm surprised nobody has pointed out that it's one of the few instances where Westerberg reuses lyrics - specifically "It's too late to turn back, here we go" was in "Talent Show".

Anyway, recently, it seems that a few articles have been published about The Replacements and Portland. The short version is this:

• the Mats had a particularly infamous drunk and/or awful show in Portland at the end of the PTMM tour on Dec 7 1987 supported by Young Fresh Fellows,
• later wrote the song "Portland"
• and etched an apology to Portland in the run-out groove of "Don't Tell a Soul".

These articles have more details and actual first-hand accounts and even an adorable comic: http://www.aquariumdrunkard.com/2013/04/23/sevens-the-replacements-portland/ is an older article from 2013

More recent articles from April 2015 when The Replacements returned to Portland for the "Back by Unpopular Demand" tour and with Young Fresh Fellows as support act again: http://www.dailyemerald.com/2015/04/08/the-replacements/ http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/a-match-made-in-hell/Content?oid=15342689

I feel weird thinking this, as so many of these songs have people commenting that they refer to drugs, often when I think it's not so clear the song is about drugs. So this might be my own example of taking a few phrases and over stating my case, but

"Shared a cigarette for breakfast Shared an airplane ride for lunch" Sets a very unbalanced picture of these people and their unhealthy lifestyle..

"Well I predict we'll have a drink" It's only one word but in the song it just comes out so darkly colored as a reference to a big problem, to me..

"And your ears are gonna ring And your eyes just wanna close Nothing changing I suppose

It's too late to turn back, here we go Portland, oh no"

To me this section, the first part resembles what a really big hit of something or other feelings like. The second part reflects that they are a little conflicted about going to Portland, definitely are torn, know it's a bad idea. The "Oh, no.." part sounds like someone to me has given in to their own dark side.

Then again, all of these pieces are really quite ambiguous, and my arguments are based as much on the lyrics as my own subjective "feeling" evoked when I hear them sung by this guy. So I may be wrong. I do hear Portland is a good place to find dope..

I feel weird thinking this, as so many of these songs have people commenting that they refer to drugs, often when I think it's not so clear the song is about drugs. So this might be my own example of taking a few phrases and over stating my case, but

"Shared a cigarette for breakfast Shared an airplane ride for lunch" Sets a very unbalanced picture of these people and their unhealthy lifestyle..

"Well I predict we'll have a drink" It's only one word but in the song it just comes out so darkly colored as a reference to a big problem, to me..

"And your ears are gonna ring And your eyes just wanna close Nothing changing I suppose

It's too late to turn back, here we go Portland, oh no"

To me this section, the first part resembles what a really big hit of something or other feelings like. The second part reflects that they are a little conflicted about going to Portland, definitely are torn, know it's a bad idea. The "Oh, no.." part sounds like someone to me has given in to their own dark side.

Then again, all of these pieces are really quite ambiguous, and my arguments are based as much on the lyrics as my own subjective "feeling" evoked when I hear them sung by this guy. So I may be wrong. I do hear Portland is a good place to find dope..

One more thing: after the "funny monkey" line, is it "putting silver in his cup" or "no silver in his cup"?

Such a sweet tune. I thought this one should have been on the album. Obviously it has some aspects of Talent Show (or vice versa), but it would have worked perfectly as a hidden track ending the album, as an epilogue to the opener. I think it's simply about being on the road. I have heard this song a couple of hundred times at least, and will never get tired of it...

Sounds like a bands tour recollection. From sitting on an airplane wasting time playing cards and drinking:

Shared a cigarette for breakfast Shared an airplane ride for lunch Sitting in between a ghost And a walking bowl of punch Can you play a little hunch?

Predicting a delay on landing Well I predict we'll have a drink Lost my money on the first hand Got burned on a big fat king

To landing and seeing a beggar or maybe a baggage handler:

Sitting like a backwoods junkie Caught down in a servant trust Look at the funny monkey Putting silver in his cup

To seeing another band doing the same thing(touring)or just regular people Traveling, living on credit.

Shared a cigarette for breakfast Shared a pack of lies for lunch Credit card almighty Bringing in the next little bunch.