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?



Lyrics submitted by Idan

Track duration: 04:32


Portrait (He Knew) song meanings
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11 Comments

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  • 0
    My Interpretation:Could easily be about Syd Barrett. I was just reading about him, and this song suddenly came to mind.

    Granted, the line "His numbers are not the way" doesn't quite make sense in that context. But OTOH, if you take "died" symbolically, everything else fits.
    Flag gelon March 24, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:It's well known among us Kansas fanatics that this song is about Albert Einstein. Fact, from the band itself. When Kerry started his career in Christian music about 5 years later, he redid this song to be about Jesus.

    Also note that it was during the making of this album (Point of Know Return) that Kerry began to discover his present religious beliefs, but was not at that time a deeply religous man. Spiritual yes, deeply religious, no.
    Flag Trailmasteron September 27, 2009   Link
  • -2
    My Opinion:This is a comentary on the life of Jesus Christ.
    Flag danv1962on April 13, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I never knew who it was about. It could be Einstein. That'd make sense. Nobody really understood him, and "portrait" of course could mean not only just a portrait of his life, but also it could represent something. Like his work or something. And nobody's really unraveled it today, because, well, we still don't get it. Some of the lines sound like they could be about Jesus, I guess, but mostly not. It COULD be about DaVinci if you wanted it to be. Actually - it could be about most anyone you wanted it to be. And we can leave it so.
    Flag Pippin the Mercuryon July 18, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Classic album. The song is about Einstien, though. Portrait means like... "portrait of Einstien's life" instead of just picture.
    Flag Zorgnon July 31, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Definately Einstien. Livgren said so himself. He wrote Ballads to Einstien and Hughes and put them back to back on the Album Point of Know Return. Kickass album, one of those where you can listen from beginning to end without coming across a bad song.
    Flag WYWHon May 04, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I thought of Da Vinci too, i even made a poster where i pasted these lyrics next to a printout of Da Vinci's self-portrait.

    i don't think this song is about Jesus, becuse the person in this song is looking for the answers and searching. Jesus already had all the answers, that is why he came to earth. And Jesus did not "live alone with his vision", he preached to many and spoke in a clear, easily understood manner, not "The words that he said were a mystery".

    as for the person being Einstein, the mention of 'numbers' seems to support this theory, but what was the picture that he drew? Da Vinci was an artist, so it could be any of his works(i think the portrait was his self-portrait).
    Flag findsomepeaceon December 08, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I dunno, I think Leonardo da Vinci. The song is called "Portrait" after all.
    Flag neotemplaron September 15, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Alot of Livegren's music was on face value about earthly things such as Albert Einstein's life, war, etc. However, he was a very religious person at points in his life though, if i remember correctly, he did go through a phase where he questioned many religions and which ones were right and wrong for him and why...much of his music is an expression of this period and despite face value alot of it has deeper meanings about religions (not neccessarily christian...see Incommudro- Hymn to Atman) that he put in both intentionally and unintentionally....also if i remember correctly he did say this song was about the life of albert einstein....but he never said it was NOT about Jesus either
    Flag myrdhynon February 09, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Hmmm, since Kerry Livgren was a deeply religous man, I althoughs felt that many of his songs were about Jesus. This one, as well as Nobody's Home.
    Flag Fein Messon February 01, 2005   Link

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