"One thing that people don't know, and probably won't get, is the fact that Hawthorne Passage, that whole song, is about Portland. In a way. It's got a double meaning. But musically it's inspired by Portland, just driving around downtown Portland at night listening to gothic rock music. It's what totally initially inspired the first part of that song, and the second part was inspired by driving around Portland listening to Godspeed You Black Emperor. It has a very Portland vibe to it, hence the name The Hawthorne Passage which is named after the Hawthorne Bridge, one of the few bridges that connects the two parts of the city because there's a river that runs through the city. Conceptually, not musically, the song is a journey of life towards death. A simple, prosaic concept, and that's where the movie samples come into play. The 'life' part of the city, in the lively downtown area, that musical expression is there, and then the passage to death is sort of on the other side of the city, when you drive out towards the airport, the city degrades more and more. North Portland is kind of a slum, and it's like going towards death, life spiraling downward. That's where that kind of inspiration came from. The post rock vibe you get from bands like Mogwai and Godspeed You Black Emperor and even some of the Swans material, it totally reflects that desolation and decay, in society more so than anything else. I thought that was a great way to express the death part of the song. The movie samples came into play at the beginning of the death section of the song and introduces that next step."
"One thing that people don't know, and probably won't get, is the fact that Hawthorne Passage, that whole song, is about Portland. In a way. It's got a double meaning. But musically it's inspired by Portland, just driving around downtown Portland at night listening to gothic rock music. It's what totally initially inspired the first part of that song, and the second part was inspired by driving around Portland listening to Godspeed You Black Emperor. It has a very Portland vibe to it, hence the name The Hawthorne Passage which is named after the Hawthorne Bridge, one of the few bridges that connects the two parts of the city because there's a river that runs through the city. Conceptually, not musically, the song is a journey of life towards death. A simple, prosaic concept, and that's where the movie samples come into play. The 'life' part of the city, in the lively downtown area, that musical expression is there, and then the passage to death is sort of on the other side of the city, when you drive out towards the airport, the city degrades more and more. North Portland is kind of a slum, and it's like going towards death, life spiraling downward. That's where that kind of inspiration came from. The post rock vibe you get from bands like Mogwai and Godspeed You Black Emperor and even some of the Swans material, it totally reflects that desolation and decay, in society more so than anything else. I thought that was a great way to express the death part of the song. The movie samples came into play at the beginning of the death section of the song and introduces that next step."
~John Haughm - http://www.lotfp.com/content.php?interviewid=13