Kansas - Portrait (He Knew) (1977) (Remaster) [720p HD]

"Portrait (He Knew)" was released in 1977 on the album Point Of Know Return. It was clearly about Albert Einstein although not a lot of people seemed to be aware of the fact. It was a great song for a video, and one of my favorite on this particular album, the other's being "Nobody Home", "Closet Chronicles", and "Dust In The Wind".

Point of Know Return was HUGE in 1978! I remember listening to it over and over and over......loved the many instrumental breaks and solos.

The video is just layers and layers of masked images and masked video. Tried for some really cool effects and found some pretty neat ones....'specially fond of that tree recoil effect from the atom bomb at that cool little note drag!

Anyway, as usual....I hope you find something to enjoy.

[Lyrics]
He had a thousand ideas, you might have heard his name
He lived alone with his vision
Not looking for fortune or fame
Never said too much to speak of
He was off on another plane
The words that he said were a mystery
Nobody's sure he was sane

But he knew, he knew more than me or you
No one could see his view, Oh where was he going to

He was in search of an answer
The nature of what we are
He was trying to do it a new way
He was bright as a star
But nobody understood him
"His numbers are not the way"
He's lost in the deepest enigma
Which no one's unraveled today

But he knew, he knew more than me or you
No one could see his view, Oh where was he going to
And he tried, but before he could tell us he died
When he left us the people cried,
Oh where was he going to?

He had a different idea
A glimpse of the master plan
He could see into the future
A true visionary man
But there's something he never told us
It died when he went away
If only he could have been with us
No telling what he might say

But he knew, he knew more than me or you
No one could see his view
Oh, where was he going to
But he knew, you could tell by the picture he drew
It was totally something new,
Oh where was he going to?

[jeffj]

Saw Kansas on both October 12, 2023 in Worcester, Massachusetts and on December 13, 1977 in Providence, Rhode Island! 46 years apart, but i'm still loving and listeing to the music of Kansas! They are my choice for the Greatest American Progressive Rock Band of All Time!

[LS-kift]

Had the privilege of meeting Phil Ehart at a drum clinic, years ago. Very nice guy and a great drummer. Hope that Kansas will make it to the Rock Hall of Fame one day.

[OLDROCKER]

I just saw Kansas again about a month ago. this was the best song of the night!!!!

[marksproha]

an enormously under-rated song from one of the better rock  bands of the 70's

[YouraWildManGeorge]

Thank You for treating this very fine music with such respect!

[claytonjacksonjr.]

This is the way to put Einstein in a rock song. Well done Kansas, very well done.

[DonOfPC]

Thanks for posting this. I remember listening to this album as a kid with my dad. He would always play it in the dead of winter when we had snow days and it was below zero cold. It fit perfectly and portrait was always my favorite song.

[scrappingfoetus]

I round the bend and stop to catch my breath, I look to my right and walk out to the edge of the cliff. I stare out at a storm of wondrous power. The view was of a Blood Red sky with Deep Blue storm clouds that grow to thunderheads as far as I could see. I realized I must get to the valley below before the weather turns for the worst. I tighten my belt around my waist and my straps on my backpack and take in a deep breath. I return to my path and start a slow and even jog down the path, the ground rumbles under my feet from the thunder of the storm that was still far off. I quicken my pace to a full out run, to get off this mountain before the night closes in on me. I stumble, I almost fall, I recover my balance and I keep on running. I break though some bushes of neon green an with bright gold leaves, to my surprise there was the edge of the cliff I can, t stop myself in time. I am falling head over heals in a free fall and I smile to myself. I Knew this is not the first time this has happened to me and it will not be the Last!!! :)THx Brother for the Mind :)

[michaelbaucom]

The sound on this version is five stars out of five, video is high-quality, as always. And, to those who claim this song is about Tesla, no, it is about Einstein, as co-writer Kerry Livgren states in his autobiography, " Seeds of Change", which MGM obviously read! Thanks MGM, great as always.

[joejones]

Einstein...I recently read a biography of him, what a fascinating guy and life, such a trip to see the path that led him to greatness. The speed of light is the speed of time...

[MetalGuruMessiah]

Thank you very much for checking it and for the nice comment!

[MetalGuruMessiah]

@Clayton139
Thanks so really happy you enjoyed the effort! Kansas is/was a great pretty amazing. Thanks so much for the comment!

[HenryWinehard]

One of my all-time favorite songs. Good work, mate!

[gerry]

The song is about any visionary that is T 1st misunderstood. It is a fractal experience

[littleorangemonster]

Great video, fine job! Kansas always had some of the cleanest production of any band for their time. All the overlapping frequencies (vocals, keyboad, violin) yet they are all very distinct and clear.

[MetalGuruMessiah]

I can appreciate people thinking the song was originally about Jesus, but it was always about Albert Einstein until years later when it was re-recorded.

If you listened to the lyrics it was clearly referencing Einstein (to me the most obvious being "He's lost in the deepest enigma...Which no one's unraveled today" which to me at least is a reference to Einstein's quest for a unified theory)...Albert Einstein spent the last thirty years of his life on a fruitless quest for a way to combine gravity and electromagnetism into a single elegant theory.

There is also this interview where Kerry spoke about the song and who he wrote it about. This interview was taken from In The Studio for the Point of Know Return, featuring Kansas. It's show #220, and originally aired on
September 7, 1992. The following abbreviations are used:

RB: Red Beard (interviewer)
PE: Phil Ehart
KL: Kerry Livgren

RB: In spite of the chaos, Livgren's songwriting continued to flourish.
Among his contributions to Point of Know Return, was the song called
Portrait. And you might be surprised to find out who Kerry was really
writing about.

KL: I've always been a very avid reader - read a lot of science fiction,
read a lot of philosophy, a lot of religious books, a lot of science,
and I was always fascinated by Albert Einstein, and the fact that he
went so far with mathematics and physics, that he actually crossed the
line into metaphysics and philosophy, and he was actually getting to the
very fabric of the universe. I thought, what an amazing man. And I was
so fascinated with the guy, one day I wrote a song about him. The
interesting thing about Portrait, is that nobody seemed to catch on who
it was about. I mean, the list of people who they thought that was
about was incredibly long. And people would come up with all these
reasons why this is who they thought it was about. And they would
always corner me and say "who's that about?". When I would say Albert
Einstein, they'd give me this blank look like "Wow, I never thought of
that!", you know. So whenever you can stimulate people to think, and to
speculate and stuff, I consider it a success. You know, that was one of
my personal goals in songwriting - was to make people use their brain
cells.

[JohnNewkirk]

Nice job! Love Kansas and this was always one of my favorites!

[artbosman]

Seen him on tv in spirit  , working like always  . last year  . He cam through  .  In his own preculiar way  ..  from Spirit

[MetalGuruMessiah]

@fogggygyrl
I wish I could take credit for the idea, but the song was actually written about Einstein (though hardly anyone seemed to acknowledge just drove the fact home! LOL!

I'm happy that you watched the video and took the time to leave a comment. Take care!

[HenryWinehard]

  I too have Aspergers Syndrome and this is now my ALL TIME FAVORITE VIDEO. It has taken on a huge new meaning for me now that I was diagnosed a few days ago at age 46..!!! THANK YOU!