Portrait (He Knew)
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| "Portrait (He Knew)" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 German single cover | ||||
| Single by Kansas | ||||
| from the album Point of Know Return | ||||
| B-side | "Lightning's Hand" | |||
| Released | May 1978 [1] | |||
| Recorded | 1977 | |||
| Genre | Progressive rock, Hard rock | |||
| Length | 4:30 | |||
| Songwriters | Kerry Livgren, Steve Walsh | |||
| Kansas singles chronology | ||||
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"Portrait (He Knew)" is a song by the American progressive rock band Kansas. It was written by Kerry Livgren and Steve Walsh and was recorded for the band's fifth album, Point of Know Return. The song was also released as a single after the success of "Point of Know Return" and "Dust in the Wind" and charted at #64 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was later released on the live and compilation albums Two for the Show, Live at the Whisky, Device, Voice, Drum, The Kansas Boxed Set, The Ultimate Kansas, Sail On: The 30th Anniversary Collection, Works in Progress, and Playlist: The Very Best of Kansas. It appears in a number of different mixes and lengths: the original album version, the edited single version, a different single edit that appears as a bonus track on the European-only 1999 compilation Definitive Collection, and a new remix by original producer Jeff Glixman, issued as a bonus track on the 2002 CD remaster of its original parent album. It was also released on the DVDs of Device, Voice, Drum and Works in Progress.[2][3][4][5]
The inspiration for the song came from Kerry Livgren's admiration for Albert Einstein. He wrote the lyrics in a time when he was going through a spiritual transitional phase in his life, and after converting to Christianity, he re-recorded the song with his band AD, modifying the lyrics to make them fit the story of Jesus Christ and retitling the song "Portrait II".
