Port of Call

And I I called through the air that night I can't see your voice without light (I can't just listen to what you say without bringing in the truth as I see it) I could only smile I've been alone some time

And all in all It's been fun

And you You had hope for me now I danced all around it somehow

Be fair to me I may drift awhile Were it up to me You'd know why

I I called through the air that night My thoughts were swarming inside Was it infantile That which we desire

Were it up to me Or the warmth from your eyes (if merely being kind or looking on me in favor could win my heart and affect the outcome of my decisions)

And I I called through the air that night My thoughts were still buried inside

We were closer then I'd been alone some time Filled your glass with gin Filled your heart with pride

And you You had hope for me now I danced all around it somehow

Be fair to me I may drift awhile If there's a plan for me Would it make you smile

No I don't want to be there for no one I'd stay here No I don't want to be there for no one That's over the sea I don't want to follow your light On the sea No I don't want to be there for no one That I can't see

In my opinion there is a unspoken duality here between the apparent relationship beween lovers and the relationship between man and Creator/God (as suggested by @moflo). The protagonist/singer (Zach Condon) appears to be struggling to balance his passions. On one side we have Zach's love for music and culture displayed by his wanderlust and being a professional musical artist. On the other side we have the human need for love and intimacy. The song portrays a close relationship in the past between the protagonist and the object of affection ("I've been alone some time","We were closer then"). In the present tense of the song the two seem to have met again and have spent some time talking and reconnecting. During this period it is implied that the object of affection has appealed to become a more permanent fixture in the protagonist's life ("You had hope for me now"). However, still it seems that the protagonist is purposefully, albeit possibly unconsciously, avoiding a commitment to the object of affection. The protagonist appeals to the object of affection to ("Be fair to me") stating ("I may drift awhile"). Here, we go back to the protagonist's wanderlust and demands as a musical artist. He is asking for some grace from the object of affection, some leeway to satisfy the desires of his heart not contained within the relationship with the object of affection. He is also saying that it will most likely take some time in order to satiate (satisfy) those desires. The protagonist goes on to say, "Were it up to me, You'd know why". This is pretty straight-forward, he doesn't have full understanding of why these desires are so compelling, and furthermore, that if indeed he could understand he would willingly give reason. When we get to "Was it infantile, That which we desire", it begs the question, are the desires of our hearts both unwittingly immature and without full depth of understanding (more simply and broadly, isn't what you want and what I want both equally selfish?)[especially in the context of a Creator/God, obviously any of these would have full depth of understanding and wit]. In the past tense the protagonist continuously references one night ("I called through the air that night") where the protagonist is saying he called out to/for the object of affection. My take on this is that he tried to reach out to the object of affection toward the end of the first segment of their relationship (where the object of affection is unhappy with their relationship and is becoming distant) in an attempt to reassure them and secure their relationship, but was unable to voice his thoughts or articulate them completely ("My thoughts were swarming inside"/"My thoughts were still buried inside") and so the object of affection leaves for awhile. Then the protagonist is reflecting on the past when he says "We were closer then, I'd been alone some time". My vision here is that he is referring to the first segment of their relationship and stating their closeness at that time while also stating that the he had been alone for some time before their first relationship even occurred(most likely enjoying himself and engaging in his non-relational passions). This statement would coincide with the idea that the time spent alone following one's heart satisfying your own life's desires would allow for more room to be malleable within a relationship later. At this time in their relationship the object of affection celebrated and took pride in the desires and accomplishments of the protagonist("Filled your glass with gin, Filled your heart with pride". Once again we come to the "Be fair to me" part of the verse. Only this time the protagonist asks "If there's a plan for me, Would it make you smile". If the object of affection could know that there is a plan for the life of the protagonist that would bring about wonderful and great things. If the ambitions and aspirations of the protagonist and it's implied accordance with fate could be understood objectively by the object of affection, would or could they be happy for the protagonist in spite of their own personal loss. Obviously not all of this can be applied to a relationship with a Creator/God and is intended as a partial double entendre. I could go on and on about this subject but I'll just end with this statement. This is the quintessential "it's not you it's me" song, only here it's true. Comments and questions are welcome. Thanks Zach for a absolutely beautiful song!

-Aesop Grimm

And I, I called through the air that night A calm sea voiced with a lie I could only smile, I've been alone some time And all, and all, it's been fine

And you, you had hope for me now I danced all around it somehow Be fair to me, I may drift a while Were it up to me, you know I'd

I, I called through the air that night The faults were swarming inside Was it infantile, that which we desired? Were it up to me, all from your eyes

And I, I called through the air that night My thoughts were still blurry inside We were closer then, I've been alone some time Filled you glass with gin Filled your heart with pride And you, you had hope for me now I danced all around it somehow Be fair to me, I may drift a while

If there's a plan for me Would it make you smile? No, don't want to be there for no one I can see

Haven't heard too much of the new album yet, but this song immediately grabbed my attention and I figured I'd throw in my two cents!

First off, to me it sounds a bit more like "Were it up to me, you'd know why" at the end of the second verse, and the third verse sounds a bit more like "I, I called through the air that night The false walls looming in sight Was it infantile, that which we desired? Were it up to me, pull the wool from your eyes"

Not sure about it, but there's definitely a clump of words between "Were it up to me" and "your eyes".

Anyways!

I can't help but think of someone on a small boat in the middle of a quiet, dark ocean singing this to themselves/to someone they've left behind (or possibly someone who's died) even though they know the person it's intended for will never hear it. It sounds like it's addressed to someone the singer took for granted, someone who the singer abandoned even though the person was always there to help the singer when he needed it. It's an apology without begging for forgiveness - the singer recognizes what he's done, expresses remorse and asks for patience, while hinting that he would like to reconnect in the future.

It starts out with a bit of a "hello, how are you"-style greeting after not seeing someone for a long time. It's not a very convincing "it's been fine", which is the first hint that something has been bothering him for a while. Imagine if someone you hadn't seen in years said "All in all, it's been fine" when you asked how they were - that would raise a few questions, or at least it would for me.

There's a lot of deception implied in the first verses, with the "were it up to me, you'd know why", the "false walls looming in sight" or "faults swarming inside", saying that the subject of the song has wool over their eyes, and that he's kept his "thoughts buried inside." Maybe the singer was prevented from giving real reasons for going "out to sea," (as shown by the repeated "were it up to me" bits) maybe he intentionally gave different ones to avoid conflict or take the easy way out at the time but would now like to make amends. It's implied that he can't, though, so maybe the subject doesn't want to hear it, is out of his life or has maybe even died in the time since he left.

With the line about desires being infantile, I can only think that he may have expressed that about whatever plans he had with whoever it was and he's now doubting his reasoning or realizing he was just creating problems.

With the repeated "And you, you had hope for me now/I danced all around it somehow" that just brings to mind that someone had well-intentioned hopes/desires for him or his future, but instead of talking to the person and working out whatever issues he had with their hopes/desires for his future, he smiled and nodded and kept going. I think of this as part of the apology/recognition as well, because it must've hurt the subject when he smiled, nodded, and then sailed away and did something completely different without giving any in-depth reasons.

He gets nostalgic by the end of the song, thinking about sharing gin and filling their heart with pride. Maybe the pride was because he told them he was sailing away for a better reason than the real one, maybe it was because they thought he was going out to do what they hoped he would do.

He asks for patience throughout the song with the "be fair to me, I may drift a while" (my favorite line), where he recognizes that he doesn't really know what he's doing. At the end of the song it's like he wants to be friends again - he tests the water by asking if the other person would be glad to hear that he's doing well/has figured things out ("If there's a plan for me/Would it make you smile?").

The last line that I can make out before Zach starts singing over the music is the "No, don't want to be there for no one" - the singer realizes that it's a lot to ask that the person he's wronged wait for him to come back, that the person he's wronged be there one more time for him (calling himself "no one" in this case).

It all ties in to the title - according to good old wikipedia, a port of call is an intermediate stop for a ship on its sailing itinerary, which may include up to half a dozen ports. At these ports, a cargo ship may take on supplies or fuel, as well as unloading and loading cargo. The singer has come to the subject often for all kinds of help, maybe sometimes returning the favor, but the subject has always been the more significant one in the relationship and the singer left one day without giving good reasons. He returned the kindness with deception and drifted away.

Or at least that's how I understand it. There's a pretty hefty dose of projecting myself into the interpretation, as I've been coming to terms with the fact that I've recently done this exact thing to someone, so take it all with a grain of salt. Or a fistful, either one.

tl;dr version: beautiful song

Uuunnnggggh this is beautiful.

Beirut : Port of Call : On the Alternate Side youtube.com/watch

From this performance it sounds like:

And I, I called through the air that night I can't see your voice in that light I could only smile, I've been alone some time And all, and all, it's been fine

And you, you had hope for me now I danced all around it somehow Be fair to me, I may drift a while Were it up to me, you know I'd

I, I called through the air at night With thoughts still buried/blurry inside Was it infantile, that which he desired/desires Were it up to me, pull the wool from your eyes

And I, I called through the air that night My thoughts were still buried/blurry inside We were closer then, I've been alone some time Filled you glass with gin Filled your heart with pride And you, you had hope for me now I danced all around it somehow Be fair to me, I may drift a while

If there's a plan for me Would it make you smile?

No, I don't want to be there/here for no one I can be No, I don't want to be there/here for no one Its only safe

*Favorite line in this song is the bit about "pulling the wool from your eyes". A very beautiful way of saying he just wants to wake up beside her & pull the bed sheet from her face.

"Filled your glass with gin"

just adding my 2 cents ...

"port of call" is a reference to "portus cale", the etymology and ancient name of "Portugal", actually an old city in the north after which the country is now named ("Cale" - the Port of Cale as derived from Latin).

Since there are always a lot of references to toponymies in Beirut's work, maybe the song was really made there ...

...cheers from Brazil! It'd be great to have a song named after any Brazilian place... perhaps Recife since the guys loved here =D

Is it crazy to think that maybe he's talking to God?

I think as a whole the entire Beirut album "Rip Tide" tells a story one stage at a time. Basically, in my head, it goes like this;

1) A Candle's Fire: The singer has (from now I'll assume man and woman) a girlfriend whom he can't quite admit his feelings for, or he has a problem with commitment; "A candle's fire is only just a flame... [A campfire] scares me just the same." He's wrestling with his real feelings for her before she leaves to go maybe from Santa Fe to East Harlem (see below) for a little while.

2) Santa Fe: Singer tries to justify him staying behind, or perhaps argue for his girl not to leave, Santa Fe. He talks about how maybe he's too young to commit before she leaves or something like that, "I'm just too young (And what of my heart)"

3) East Harlem: His girlfriend is gone. He pines for her but knows that when she comes back he'll be able to tell her how he feels; "And sound of your breath in the cold And oh, the sound will bring me home again."

4) Goshen: She comes back, but she's "Not the girl I used to know..." Perhaps she changed in her trip and came back a different person or with another man. It breaks his heart because he regrets never telling her how he felt, "What would you hide from such a glow, If I had only told you so?" At this point the album changes from being lovesick and hopeful to being shattered and depressed...

The next couple songs I won't really get into here, but basically he goes through his depression which leads into Vagabond, a sort of recovery song. He's accepted his love lost and is ready to move on.

9) Port of Call: This is when he meets back up with the girl he loved, or perhaps sees her and they begin to talk; "I could only smile, I've been alone some time. And all, and all, it's been fine." He realizes that, because he never told her how he felt, he's partially at fault; "The faults were all swarming inside. Was it infantile, that which we desired? Were it up to me, all from your eyes." Like an above poster stated, it feels like he knows that and, in talking to her, admits his feelings but knows that they can never reconnect. They've both taken steps to move on and have both changed, but neither are bitter about their young love...

"Be fair to me, I a may drift a while. If there's a plan for me, would it make you smile?"

Just my interpretation. I feel like this album, more than any of Zach's others, tells a complete and very emotional story. Absolutely love it, like listening to a short novel in poetic verse!

Not a lyric connection, but the official song title seems to have changed to 'Cuixmala'