Porter Robinson - SMILE! :D reaction blog

Hi, it's been a while. Haven't been posting but that's because there wasn't really anything to post about, until now. To paraphrase, a few months ago I talked about Porter Robinson's new (At the time) song, Cheerleader. I specifically talked about how the song is the result of Porter "going full MySpace," with this indie rock, hellogoodbye, Two Door Cinema Club sounding song. Since then, quite a few developments have been made. The hyperlinks refer to the singles Knock Yourself Out XD [sic], Russian Roulette, and Kitsune Maison Freestyle, all of which are on this album. To summarize, KTOX was marketed the same way as Cheerleader, with clips from the music video. Russian Roulette was a surprise drop, with a music video happening a week later which is a jitter lapse of the lyrics of the song taken from things like Genius, the Porter Robinson Discord, YouTube comments, etc. Another surprise was Kitsune Maison Freestyle, which came in the form of Porter posting screen caps of posts from @whatporterwore (An account dedicated to IDing, well, what Porter wore during certain events) with the caption of something along the lines of "We're just tryna look good, trying not to feel bad," and occasionally, a fox emoji, referencing "Kitsune." Stream happened a day later where Porter personally vibe checked and gave away his clothes to his fans, and the song was released promptly. Yadda. Yadda. Yadda. I know.

        TLDR, Porter released a bunch of stuff that I never talked about, and for those songs there will be a pre-description of the song, otherwise, expect whatever the hell happened in that G Jones - Paths reaction blog.

RQ TRIGGER WARNING, ONE OF THESE SONGS (Russian Roulette) SPEAK HEAVILY ON SUICIDE AND SELF HARM

        Knock Yourself Out XD is your everyday average hyperpop song, presumably about being too full of yourself. "[Feel like] Taylor Swift, got $100,000,000 on my wrist" is the very first line that people might've heard, given it was from the trailer.

This chiptune line is a really good way to kick it off.

"I'M EVERYTHING YOU TALK ABOUTTTT!"

Fun fact, this song got Porter as the cover for the Spotify Hyperpop playlist

Taylor Swift line just happened.

Chorus is really catchy.

4, 3, 2, 1!

That whole part there, flow wise is really cool.

        If you want to see my thing on my thoughts on Cheerleader, see here. Some people see this song as a love letter to Porter's fans, and I can kinda see it.

This was my SOTY for a while

I love this song

"cheerleader thought she needed me but I need her"

"IT NOT FAAAAAAAIRR CUS I KNOW YOU LIKE THE BACK OF MY HAND"

GOD this song is such a vibe.

Music vid's fun, too.

Friday getting McDonalds happy meals type beat

idk it's weirdly nostalgic sounding

This soft part, going into this last drop though

Love these guitars

THAT SYNTH VARIATION I LOVE THAT

        Russian Roulette is more of a sadder tale in terms of lyrics. Presumably in this track, Porter talks about not doing enough and his personal struggles with stopping himself from doing more. It then delves deeper into "Pointing the gun at the thing that's stopping him..." himself. About halfway through the track, Porter talks about doing things "One more time." Meaningful things like trying to change, kissing his cat, marrying his wife, and playing his songs. This then shifts to the "I wanna live, I don't wanna die" refrain, leading into a more EDM-ish take on the original instrumental. At the end of the track, a robotic voice says the following:

"The kick drum and bass suggests that the song is coming to a close. That's the format we are used to. Cliches like this are beautiful, because they reflect us, and we are beautiful. Take, for example, this chord progression (talking about a commonly used chord progression that is being used at this point in the song). It only became taboo because it became too powerful. That's why we won't forget it...

Don't kill yourself, you idiot."

Tearjerker aside, this song is Wavedash (friends of Porter) prod

Peep the Sad Machine reference

"She says, and she's right, it depends on me"

THEN I CLOSE MY EYES

GAMBLE WITH MY LIFE

TRYING NOT TO SMILE

MAYBE THIS TIME I WONT BE ALRIGHT

MAYBE THIS TIIIIIIME

This is one of those weird songs that sounds happy but is really sad.

This line though

"I put the gun against the thing that's stopping me" and the gunshots too

Deepest part of the song imo, that and the one more time part

"GO F MYSELF? I ALREADY DID!"

and then he realises

all of these things mean too much to him

all of these memories

koneko

rika (ty)

he wants to live, he doesn't wanna die

"I WANNA LIIIIIIIIVVVVVVEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!"

This part is so fun

"BOOOOOO!"

This ending is beautiful

"Don't kill yourself you idiot"

Perfect Pinterest Garden

ANOTHER Y2K SOUNDIN

This one is My Old iPod vibes

Those VOCALS

Nick Jonas sounding

I'm back in 2015, listening to the radio, and this comes on

Year of the Cup now

Is this a movie quote or something

OH THE REVERSED PIANO FROM LIKE, NURTURE

Okay second half of dullschythe

If this song had a mv, it would be on MTV, it sounding like

OH THE MELODICA RETURNES

I was about to say, is this song about getting drunk and regretting it?

It seems like it is.

Oh the vinyl cracking dude

        Kitsune Maison Freestyle is a more laidback song which brings back the female voice used prominently in Nurture. It's about upping your self image for the sake of, well, yourself. The refrain is a really good sum up. "Tryna look good, trying not to feel bad."

This song is kinda cool, love the chorus

KITSUNE MAISON

Fun fact, Porter actually admitted the "KITSUNE MAISON" hook was inspired by Playboi Carti

Love those guitars

God this was such a wild moment when this song was teased

The return of the weird female Porter

Just tryna look good, trying not to feel bad

This monologue bro

"I can't get the teeth that my mom gave me back"

Just tryna look good trying not to feel, tryna look good trying not to feel, tryna look good trying not to feel baaadd...

Am I weird for thinking this sound like Madeon?

Easier to Love You

This sounds acoustic

OH THOSE PADS

Either this is Rika or female Porter doing harmonies

No info on this but it is also prod by Micheal of Wavedash

This song is cute

"Please be disappointed in me?"

HANGON THIS SONG JUST CLICKED

OH THOSE SQUARE PADS

But yeah it's about trying to look better for someone else

Mona Lisa, w/ Frost Children

OH THOSE HEAVY DRUMS

The second appearance of Frost Children on an ATOY

GOD I LOVE THIS ONE

THIS IS PLAYING IN EVERY MODERN EMO KID'S BEDROOM JUDGING ON SOUND

But yeah that first appearance was on Eliminate's SMSOU

off of Get off the internet but GOD THESE DRUMS ARE COOL

Wait those pads though?

OH THESE VOCALS!!

THIS ENTIRE ALBUM SOUNDS LIKE SOMETHING FROM THE MYSPACE ERA OF THE INTERNET

Is there really no happiness (without this feeling)?

Oh these chops?

OH THIS WAS THE MISSING SONG FROM THE TOUR VIDEO

This song's title was revealed when Porter ranks his discography, and he rated it pretty high

Really fun sounding

This sounds nostalgic in terms of these lyrics

IS THERE REALLY NO HAPPINESS WITHOUT THIS FEELING?

OH WAIT, RIKA VOICEMAIL I THINK

Everything To Me

Really soft one, p sure this is the last track

Yeah I think this is the next Blossom

(For reference Blossom is a love song dedicated to his now wife, Rika)

Oh solo time?

Yeah it is the next Blossom

WAIT I JUST REALIZED, THIS SONG AND THE FIRST SONG ARE IN THE SAME KEY

"AND IT'S YOUUUU"

What a nice ending

To choose a fav, probably Mona Lisa or ITRNH.