Port of Morrow (5:49)

The Port Of Morrow Songfacts says that The Port of Morrow is a port site on the Columbia River in Boardman, Morrow County, Oregon. This ends symbolically the musical journey that The Shins embarked on throughout the album.

“Port of Morrow, you know, I don’t know too much about what the actual place is,” Mercer said to Spinner about the titular port of call. “I know it’s an industrial port over here in Portland, Oregon. What I do know is at the end of every tour when we return home to Portland, in eastern Oregon you pass this little sign and it says ‘Port of Morrow’ and it’s something about the mood that you’re in at the end of the tour and just the strange evocative nature of that phrase.

It ended up being a line in the song ‘Port of Morrow’ that, to me,” he added, “ended up symbolizing the exit point of everyone’s life… which is death. So that’s what ‘Port of Morrow’ is about: death and mortality and understanding that’s what awaits you and the strange dichotomy of life being beautiful and engaging and fascinating and wonderful, but also dark.”

Mercer concluded: “I think that’s something in the last few years that I’ve come to realize - that strong artistic experiences are always coupled. There’s always a moment of beauty with its fragile and transient nature.”