I'm Still Alive, and I Want You Gone.

Axioma

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Honestly, I think I Want You Gone is the better song from some objective song-quality standpoint, but that doesn't mean I like it more.

In fact, I enjoy Still Alive more. I just don't think it's as technically masterful as I Want You Gone, but it turns out that technical mastery doesn't make a song more enjoyable.
 

Behazard

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I love both the songs.
I must say I immediatly loved Still Alive when I first heard it and played it over and over again, while Want you Gone had to grow on me.

As independed songs I still believe Still Alive is gone, but as ending song to the independent games they are both very good.
 

MindBullets

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We all expected there to be a song at the end of Portal 2. The same probably couldn't be said for the first game. That's probably why people thought of Want You Gone as somehow worse than Still Alive, when they are both quite good.

Kind of like how a joke loses its impact when you're familiar with the punchline already.
 

Zack Alklazaris

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You just can't beat Portal 1 credits. It was unexpected, was dark yet funny, and fit perfectly into the cute adorable aspect that is GLaDoS. She is after all, like a teddy bear with poisonous spikes.

Want you gone was ok, but it wasn't very Portal like. I prefer the old one.
 

Zen Toombs

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PlowmanMk said:
This certainly makes me want an 'Aperture Science' T-shirt. *rushes to Valve Store*. Tis a pitty the shipping costs to Australia are so expensive
If it matters, my version of the shirt has the black and white reversed (black shirt with white writing) and I got it when I wandered into Hot Topic with a friend. Normally not a huge fan of their work, but I just couldn't resist. :3
 

GoAwayVifs

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Aug 5, 2011
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You're all wrong. The best credits song is Robots FTW from the co-op credits.

But of the two Want you gone is the better song.
 

The Artificially Prolonged

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Jul 15, 2008
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At first I liked Still Alive more because of the surprise factor that came along with not expecting such funny song at the end of Portal, rather than expecting one at the end of Portal 2. However now that time has past I feel that Want You Gone is the stronger song of the two.
 

Flippincrazy

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Jul 4, 2010
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Turret Opera was more evocative than either 'Still Alive' or 'Want You Gone", in my opinion - for some reason after all the superb events of Portal 2, it really struck a chord for me. One of the few pieces of game music that ever brought me to not-so-manly tear. So completely out of the blue too... it was perfect.

But I agree with the general consensus here if we're only taking about those two songs, 'Still Alive' was far more memorable and fun whereas 'Want You Gone' fit perfectly with the story and was the more emotional of the two.

Both are awesome though.
 

Anti Nudist Cupcake

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Mar 23, 2010
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Still alive had better lyrics but Want you gone has a better tune.

But if I had to choose which one to replay, it'd be Want you gone so i'm gonna go ahead and do that now...
 

PotluckBrigand

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Jul 30, 2008
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Portal 2 had amazing music all around, I thought. Contextual change-ups in the instruments that were used made the whole score very interactive and cool.

The guy who did it (I forgot his name and I don't feel like looking it up. Sorry, guy) did an incredible job.

Also, here: I got this for you. All of you.

This song makes me shiver.

 

Zen Toombs

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Anoni Mus said:
Repost, I made a topic with this question :D
Sorry it took me a minute to fact check that and respond. I had a test I was late to. Methinks I did well on it anyway though.

Anyways, I just checked up on that and the other "Still Alive vs Want You Gone" thread was from a while ago, and I think it's interesting to see how opinions have evolved since then. Thanks for letting me know about it though!
 

Rusman

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Personally I prefer Want You Gone but neither of them can really hold up against JoCo's other work.
I think Want You Gone sounds better live as well.
 

Woodsey

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Want You Gone should have been ditched in favour of a longer Turret Opera. That's my biggest complaint about Portal 2; and I didn't even hate Want You Gone, I just don't remember it.
 

BabyRaptor

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Speaking as the rare individual that played One and hasn't yet played Two (despite owning it...Yeah, I'm slacking) and has only just now heard the second song...

Yeah. Still Alive is better.
 

everythingbeeps

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Still Alive is better, but both songs are way overrated. Most of the appeal of Still Alive was that it was unexpected, as TC pointed out.

Want You Gone just sounds too much like an Aimee Mann song.


Also, the "Still Alive" from Mirror's Edge is way better than both. WAY better.
 

Laughing Man

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Want you gone is better, saying that they are both very good songs.

In the first, you are the hero, and your quest is to defeat GlaDoS and escape the lab, that is the beginning middle and end of the story, and the slightly comical, tongue in cheek, "I'm Still Alive" sets the stage for the inevitable sequel because it shows you that your 'quest' isn't over.
Your analysis is a bit off. Portal 1 was a stand alone that was tacked on with the Orange box it was never meant to have any deep or meaning story but saying that, the story starts out as you being nothing more than a test subject. It never indicates that you are trying to escape and never indicates that killing Glados is an objective. Escape and Glados death only become an objective after she tries to kill you in the last test chamber and even more so when it turns out she killed everyone in Aperture with the neurotoxin. Only after she tries to kill you do you see that she is mad at which point escape becomes the objective and killing her only becomes the objective when you end up getting trapped in the chamber with her. As for setting the scene for the sequel, um not quite. Portal had an ending that was as simple as you killing Glados and escaping, Valve changed the ending cut scene to show Chell being dragged back in to the Aperture but Still Alive's lyrics never changed. The lyrics simply saying you killed Glados there was no set up for a sequel in the song.

She begins to grow, and through the discovery of Aperture's, and by proxy her own, past, and her experience dealing with Wheatley from your perspective, she evolves, and while her motivations remain the same, she has very clearly become much more human, which is evidenced by her saving your life when it would have been simpler to let you die, and then releasing you.
Well this goes in to the sub story of Caroline and Glados being the same person. I think that's bull to be frank, Glados was Glados and Caroline was a corrupt personality that managed to infect Glados. Their is a small amount of proof that Caroline may well be Chell's mother so THAT is why Glados ended up saving Chell. As you progressed through Aperture of old Caroline's personality became more evident. Right at the end Glados says 'that you helped her to find where Caroline hides in my brain' at which point she deletes this 'virus / corruption' Glados voice changes and we now have the analytical pure computer mind back in charge. As Glados says 'often the best course is the simplest and killing you is hard' she let Chell go because it was the simplest option. Killing her wasn't.
 

Cogwheel

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PotluckBrigand said:
The guy who did it (I forgot his name and I don't feel like looking it up. Sorry, guy) did an incredible job.
Just so you know, both songs were sung by Ellen McLain, and composed by Jonathan "Guy" Coulton.
 

Windcaler

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I like both but for me Want you gone's chorus seems very forced with to much scale singing (read: any scale singing). There are points in that chorus where I struggle to figure out what the words are unless I read the lyrics.

Still alive didnt really have those issues so for me I feel its a better song, purely because I can understand it. If you listen to Still alive the voice is pretty uniform throughout the song and its the music that makes the song.

Basicly the two songs have different approaches to how the music was formed and I just prefer Still alive
 

Patrick Buck

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When I first heard Still Alive, I freakin' Loved it.
Then I heard Want You Gone, and thought it was better.
Then I heard Still Alive again a few months after, and forgot how damned good it was. At the moment I like Still Alive more. It'll probably change soon.
Both Awesome though.