Portal - The Soundtrack

Let's be honest here - there is only one reason why anyone would want the Portal soundtrack, and that is the ending song "Still Alive" and the accompanying radio mix. It's not that the other game music is bad at all. But while you're playing the game, you don't notice the music. Between focusing on the puzzles, avoiding the turret fire, and listening to GlaDOS, music is probably the last thing on your mind. I was surprised to learn that there WAS music in the game until I found the soundtrack.

If you listen to the soundtrack, the music is decent. It's a New Age kind of soundtrack that is very nice to work to. But it's most certainly background music. If you heard this music anywhere else you wouldn't know it was game music at all. There are no discernable tunes and each track seems to fade into the next. You won't easily be able to tell which track goes with which level in the game unless you've played a lot of Portal. It's pretty decent ambient stuff, but not worth buying the soundtrack for.

As I mentioned above, "Still Alive" is the reason to own this soundtrack. I'll post the lyrics below under a SPOILER banner (since it contains spoilers for how to end the game, plus won't make much sense if you haven't played Portal), but it's very much worth listening to. Catchy isn't the word for it - the song is infectious, and you will find yourself humming it for days after you first hear it. And once it's stuck in your head, it's fairly maddening if you don't know the words. So you need to listen to it again to get the lyrics... thus the endless cycle repeats. I really think you'll be hearing this song everywhere over the next few years. It's already appeared in Kotaku's Christmas Flash animation (2007) and a VG Cats comic, and I'm pretty sure you'll be seeing variations and new lyrics for years to come.

The Radio Mix of "Still Alive" was born to be a ringtone. It's the perfect length for a cellphone ringer or (if you want to really "live the experience"), an alarm clock buzzer. Now that's the way to start a morning!

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The lyrics below contain SPOILERS for the end of the game.
If you wish to read on, please highlight the text below. You have been warned. :)

Still Alive lyrics
Sung by: GlaDOS

This was a triumph
I'm making a note here
HUGE SUCCESS
It's hard to overstate my satisfaction

Aperture Science
We do what we must because we can
For the good of all of us
Except the ones who are dead

But there's no sense crying
Over every mistake
You just keep on trying
Till you run out of cake

And the science gets done
And you make a neat gun
For the people who are
Still Alive

I'm not even angry
I'm being so sincere right now
Even though you broke my heart
And killed me

And tore me to pieces
And threw every piece into a fire
As they burned it hurt because
I was so happy for you

Now these points of data
Make a beautiful line
And we're out of beta
We're releasing on time

So I'm glad I got burned
Think of all the things we learned
For the people who are
Still alive

Go ahead and leave me
I think I'd prefer to stay inside
Maybe you'll find someone else
To help you

Maybe Black Mesa
That was a joke, HA HA, fat chance
Anyway this cake is great
It's so delicious and moist

Look at me still talking
When there's science to do
As I look out there
It makes me glad I'm not you

I've experiments to run
There is research to be done
On the people who are
Still alive

And believe me I am
Still alive

I'm doing science and I'm
Still alive

I feel FANTASTIC and I'm
Still alive

While you're dying I'll be
Still alive

And when you're dead I will be
Still alive
Still alive
Still alive

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