Jonathan Coulton sings Portal's 'Still Alive'

25 Comments by Alexander Sliwinski Nov 16th 2007 1:20PM
Filed under: Culture, PC

If you haven't gotten the note about Portal yet, well, it was a HUGE SUCCESS. We can't really overstate our satisfaction and for those who would like to hear the song from the finale sung by the original creator, Jonathan Coulton, we've got one video above and another after the break. Just to reiterate, the song does give away plot points -- but seriously, finish Portal already, it's done in an afternoon.

The video above is from a concert in Atlanta and the one after the break is from the AT&T channel when they visited Coulton at his home studio in Brooklyn. Spoiler Alert: Oh, the AT&T people also feed Coulton cake, but there's something wrong with it -- and, no, it's not a lie.

Tags: coulton, portal, portal-song, still-alive, theorangebox, valve

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StrangeBum: Nov 16th 2007; 1:45PM

Well I hadn't thought about it before, but I'm definitely going to be learning this on the guitar now. What a great song to sing and play when I'm just hanging out with some of my gamer buddies.

The second video was great, but seriously, the AT&T guy was creepy. I felt uncomfortable watching them share that little cake.....

An a side note, I'm really hungry for cake now.

Blazur: Nov 16th 2007; 3:03PM

If you can transcribe it into tab or sheet music, YOU WOULD BE MY HERO FOREVAH!

This song is excellorantastic!

g.Park: Nov 16th 2007; 3:11PM

Coulton posted the chords on his blog: http://www.jonathancoulton.com/2007/10/15/portal-the-skinny/, the right hand stuff's pretty simple.

Blazur: Nov 16th 2007; 3:15PM

Oh freaking snap! I found the piano sheet music here too: http://topazstorm.com/?sheetmusic

*rushes home*

TomCo: Nov 16th 2007; 1:46PM

How long do you think it will take youtube to remove this video?

LaughingTarget: Nov 16th 2007; 2:06PM

Unlikely. Coulton releases all of his music for free. You can buy the MP3 of it, but you can listen to all of his stuff on his website:

http://www.jonathancoulton.com/

By the way, go listen to "Re: Your Brains" and "Code Monkey", both are his best works bar none.

TomCo: Nov 16th 2007; 2:19PM

Im a fan of Coulton, I was just taking a crack at youtube and their pain in ass removal of content.

When people use embedded video from youtube chances are 6 months from now a person reading the story won't be able to view the video.

I used to think of youtube as a sort of historical archive for video content, but nowadays its closer to a camwhore, and "Look at my friend do something stupid!" repository.

MasterInsan0: Nov 16th 2007; 4:08PM

Not long, apparently, since they're down.

Gaddes: Nov 16th 2007; 1:47PM

I almost sounds a little too high for him, but he pulls it off well.

boulderhorn: Nov 16th 2007; 1:50PM

i live less than a mile from the 5-spot and am a huge portal fan and i had no idea that he was going to be there singing... I'm disappointed, not a huge triumph. My heart is broken.

StrangeBum: Nov 16th 2007; 1:52PM

Did the little heart on your Weighted Companion Cube come out of it unscathed though?

It's funny, I had never heard of Coulton before, at least not that I'm aware of. And here he comes, and I hear about him from a video game. Not the craziest story, but damn. He has a nice style.

mcatrage: Nov 16th 2007; 2:23PM

It's just not the same.

Neebs: Nov 16th 2007; 2:36PM

This.

Still great though.

Rubang B (BRUSH WITH FAME): Nov 16th 2007; 2:30PM

Oh crap, I'm actually pausing "Shout" by Tears for Fears to listen to this, and that's pretty hard to do.

sicsided: Nov 16th 2007; 2:40PM

read new Games for Windows mag, they talk about how they met with Coulton and he was an inspiration towards this song.

Blazur: Nov 16th 2007; 3:08PM

Seriously, this song coupled with the humor, made for one of the best closing endings I've seen in a LONG time. It's hard to overstate my satisfaction...

jack shaftoe: Nov 16th 2007; 5:31PM

I absolutely 100% agree with you, I had to pick up my jaw from the floor as the A.I. kept singing this great, clever, mildly heartbreaking little song. I hope more games are like portal in the future.

Hashbrown_Hunter: Nov 16th 2007; 3:24PM

THIS IS A TRIUMPH.

Phillip: Nov 16th 2007; 3:47PM

I'm making a note here: "HUGE SUCCESS!"

Geer: Nov 16th 2007; 3:50PM

Am I the only one who thinks this song would make a great Guitar Hero track? :)

homerj312: Nov 16th 2007; 4:11PM

The song really is a great ending to a great game. A lot of games are longer and have more involved storylines and endings but everything about portal feels right and is definitely one of my best game experiences in a long time.

Rubang B (BRUSH WITH FAME): Nov 16th 2007; 5:34PM

Definitely the most rewarding climax and resolution of any game ever.

GrimChaos: Nov 16th 2007; 4:39PM

GAME OF THE YEAR!

Sesur: Nov 16th 2007; 5:02PM

That was fucking awesome.

Thomas: Nov 16th 2007; 6:14PM

Holy Cats!

That's my video! Well, the one I shot and posted and so on. And yes, it was an amazing show and I'm glad I went.

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