Portrait

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Kansas

About Portrait

"Portrait (He Knew)" is a song by the American progressive rock band Kansas. It was written by Kerry Livgren and Steve Walsh and was recorded for the band's fifth album, Point of Know Return. The song was also released as a single after the success of "Point of Know Return" and "Dust in the Wind" and charted at #64 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was later released on the live and compilation albums Two for the Show, Live at the Whisky, Device, Voice, Drum, The Kansas Boxed Set, The Ultimate Kansas, Sail On: The 30th Anniversary Collection, Works in Progress, and Playlist: The Very Best of Kansas. It appears in a number of different mixes and lengths: the original album version, the edited single version, a different single edit that appears as a bonus track on the European-only 1999 compilation Definitive Collection, and a new remix by the original producers Jeff Glixman as a bonus track on the CD remaster of its original parent album. It was also released on the DVDs of Device, Voice, Drum and Works in Progress. 


Year:
2006
5:38
53 
#8

Lyrics currently unavailable…


Kansas

Kansas (i/ˈkænzəs/) is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name (natively kką:ze) is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south wind," although this was probably not the term's original meaning. Residents of Kansas are called "Kansans." For thousands of years what is now Kansas was home to numerous and diverse Native American tribes. Tribes in the Eastern part of the state generally lived in villages along the river valleys. Tribes in the Western part of the state were semi-nomadic and hunted large herds of bison. Kansas was first settled by European Americans in … more »

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10 facts about this song

Album Classification
"Portrait (He Knew)" is a song from the American rock band Kansas' fifth studio album, "Point of Know Return," which was released in 1977.
Chart Rankings
The song didn't make much of an impression on the mainstream charts, but it remained a fan favorite and a staple of Kansas' live performances.
Songwriting Credits
"Portrait (He Knew)" was written by Kansas band members Kerry Livgren and Steve Walsh.
Musical Style
Typical of Kansas' sound, "Portrait (He Knew)" displays a fusion of progressive rock and heartland rock—a fusion that made the band unique in the 1970s rock scene.
Subject Matter
Many fans believe that "Portrait (He Knew)" is about Jesus Christ, though others think it may refer to Albert Einstein. The band itself has never confirmed who the person in the song's title might be.
Live Performances
The track is particularly well-known for its live performances, with an intense violin and guitar duet that showcases the band's instrumental prowess.
Cover Versions
The Christian rock band Petra covered "Portrait (He Knew)" in 1989 for their album "Petra Praise: The Rock Cries Out."
Legacy
Even if "Portrait (He Knew)" wasn't a big chart hit, it remains one of Kansas' most revered tracks because it encapsulates the band's unique blend of complex progressive rock arrangements and more straightforward heartland rock storytelling.
Song Length
"Portrait (He Knew)" is 4 minutes and 32 seconds long, making it an average length song for the commercial music scene of the 1970s.
Einstein Reference
The lyrics of the song reference famous physicist Albert Einstein's theory of relativity when they say, "He knew about the universe/ He knew about science/ He knew about the relativity."

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