Portland-via-Alaska indie rock band Portugal. The Man's upcoming eighth full-length album Woodstock is scheduled for release on 16 June via Atlantic Records. After dropping the politically charged and uptempo "Feel It Still" last March and the sweeping "Number One" last April, the quintet showcased the record's slower and more contemplative side with "So Young" when this month began. Don't let the track's classic laidback vibes and catchy hook (with its pleasing end rhymes) lull you into thinking that the track amounts to a blissful slow jam, however. The track is similarly preoccupied with the band's realization that they "needed to speak out about the world crumbling around them":
'I don't need to make amends
But I'm done going undercover
I just want to find a friend
I don't need another lover
One day the world may end
But there's still plenty to discover
Till then I'll just pretend
I don't need another lover'
Lyrics: Musixmatch
John Gourley's falsetto-leaning voice (backed by airy harmonies and occasional vocal interjections) seem optimistic while describing a rather dire situation: 'So young, loaded gun/ Oblivious to what the trigger does/ Will ya wake up, we're never gonna make up/ Got ammunition on a mission, gonna shoot you/ Down'. A possible Trump reference ('Knocked out with the Midas touch/ A champion wearing golden gloves') is included, but there are otherwise no specific details about how the sinister surroundings in the song materialized. Listeners today can easily fill in the blanks with their own context, of course, as the deceptively easy listening song describes a kind of turmoil that is a little too close for comfort:
'Oooh... it's troubling
When the belly of the beast starts rumbling
Oooh... it's getting too hot
Like it's summer in the city that we're living in'
