User blog:BlankyXP/..:: PORT BLUE ::..

Uh...hi. Oh my gosh, the blog title actually relates to the subject of this post.

Well...as you may have guessed, this is a blog, mainly focusing on my favorite project of Adam Young, an artist also well-renowned for his works in his other projects such as Owl City, Sky Sailing, Swimming with Dolphins, Seagull Orchestra, and countless others you've probably never heard of. Chances are, you've probably never heard of Port Blue either. Well, the purpose of this blog is to spread the word and get more people into its music...



Port Blue's collection completely consists of instrumental music that, in my view, portray more feelings and abstract meaning than any song with lyrics could virtually achieve. This is what makes it my most favorite of Adam Young's works, as I've always found that I prefer instrumentals over songs with lyrics. Instrumental songs allow you to make interpretations of your own, unlike songs with words that just straight out tell you what you should interpret of the song when you hear it. That's not to say that I don't like songs with lyrics, I just prefer instrumentals. Some of Owl City's songs also hold their own abstract meaning, but within the lyrics themselves, which make no sense if you interpret them literally. If you're more for music with lyrics and straightforward meanings, I would say that Port Blue is probably not for you.

This is a description of Port Blue by Adam Young himself on the official MySpace:
 * "Hello, my name is Adam. Port Blue is music that can be heard playing in elevators, hotel lobbies, airports, museums and restaurants inside my head. It is the soundtrack to my dreams. If I wrote music for movies, this is what my film scores would sound like. Much of the aesthetic of Port Blue is not what lies in the recordings but rather what is extracted from them...dreamscapes. No vocals. In my opinion, there is a huge lack of imaginative, unconventional music being created by artists today and what little there is, goes widely unappreciated by the masses. Port Blue is my attempt at re-creating the music I want to hear and the emotions I want to feel. I hope you enjoy my art as much as I enjoyed creating it. If by chance you ever feel as though you've come to know these songs, please consider yourself a friend because in a manner of speaking, you know me. This music is my heart and soul. This is who I am. With that being said, I am so very glad to meet you."

In this blog, I'll be mainly focusing on interpreting the meanings of some of the more symbolic and/or intriguing songs of Port Blue's collection. In the Creative Writing Club that Holwoman started up, I wrote up a whole interpretation on one of Port Blue's songs, At Anchor...but well, it doesn't seem she's continuing that thing anymore anyway, so yeah. *shifty eyes*

However, do note that since these are ambient/instrumental songs without lyrics and words, the meaning is completely left up to the interpretation of the listener. This is only how I myself interpret these songs. Whether you agree or disagree is entirely up to you.

Uh, anyway, so here's what I got so far. I might add up more interpretations later.

"AT ANCHOR" FROM THE ALBUM "THE AIRSHIP" :: INTERPRETATION
 * [[ You can listen to this song for yourself here: ]]


 * "At Anchor" is most certainly one of my most favorite pieces out of Port Blue's collection. Even without lyrics or words, you can sense the abundance of feelings and meaning that the composer put in it. While everyone could perceive a different meaning out of something like this, most can definitely agree that it emits a strong sense of melancholy. The main focus and meaning in this song is evidently the footsteps, which you can hear right from the first second of the song.


 * The first few seconds is just these footsteps, continuing on and on. About 25 seconds into the song, you can finally start to hear the voices of people talking in the background, like inside a restaurant or a public place of some sort. The footsteps, however, continue resolutely at the same, moderate speed and pace. It's as if whoever is making the footsteps is deep in thought or depressed about something, and isn't paying attention to what's around them. The hollow, clicking sound of the footsteps also definitely give a sense of loneliness. The piano, which comes in somewhat later, blends in with the empty feeling of the footsteps of this -presumably- depressed individual.


 * The footsteps, however, stop halfway through the song, but the music continues. Not much to say about this part of the song, but you can definitely feel that depressive feeling emanating from the music. As the song reaches its climax, the footsteps once again come back into the song as the piano plays, starting at high notes. I can't quite describe how, but these high notes somewhat emit a feeling of longing for someone, perhaps? The piano solo ends abruptly at a single note that feels "suspended in the air", per se, as if something's..."unfinished". However, you can still hear the footsteps. The song ends with the footsteps continuing on and on at the same pace as always until it eventually fades out...

"GLIDER" FROM THE ALBUM "ARCTIC" :: INTERPRETATION
 * [[ You can listen to this song for yourself here: ]]


 * When I first listened to this song in its full length, I was curled up in a ball in the dark in my bed at 1 AM, listening to this on my iPod. I must admit I was a little freaked out by this song when I first heard it and was even tempted to skip to the next song, but I've actually grown to like it.


 * What had unsettled me at first about this song was this: at I believe two points of the song, the song stops for a moment, and a man's voice says:


 * "YOU NEVER CAN TELL WHEN YOU MIGHT NEED A FRIEND."


 * You could imagine that I was scared out of my mind, especially since I was listening to this in the dark at night and all.


 * From the unreleased album, Arctic, "Glider", like the other songs from the album, has somewhat of a frosty, winter feel to it, or at least in some parts of the song. The song is a bit strange, but I suppose that isn't new for Port Blue. I wasn't quite sure how to interpret it at first, and I still don't think I really know how to interpret it. After giving a few listens, however, I came up with a little story to go with this song.


 * (More shall be added later. My grandmother's very loud soap opera is making it hard to focus on the song and write. )

Also, here are a list of other Port Blue songs I really like that I strongly recommend all of you give a listen to.


 * Setting Sail
 * In the Dolphin Tank
 * Sunset Cruiser
 * City of Safe Harbors
 * Silver Blueberry
 * Up Ship!
 * Over Atlantic City (the video has the wrong name)
 * Pond Skater
 * Into the Sea
 * The Axial Catwalk

And that is all...I know most of you probably wouldn't even read farther than the first paragraph of this blog, but I just wanted to get this out there for possibly future Port Blue fans...BECAUSE THIS WORLD IS LACKING IN THEM! This is also a way for me to write out my interpretations of these songs somewhere, and stuff.

...and yes, I would go to such lengths as to write a whole essay to promote this music. OWL CITY/PORT BLUE/SKY SAILING/ETC./ADAM YOUNG FAN 4EVAH! (Or I just have a little too much time on my hands.)