“What, Me Worry?” by Portugal. The Man

“What, Me Worry?” is yet another song which is apparently premised on the mutually-felt gloom known as the coronavirus pandemic. The “last few years” of melancholy got John Gourley and co. thinking back to the more joyful days of old, i.e. their youth.

Such a sentiment doesn’t necessarily come through in the lyrics though, as in this piece being inspired by childhood. Rather, the focus is on the vocalist adopting, shall we say a foolish level of optimism. Or put differently, underneath all of the metaphors, what is ultimately being put forth is that John is not going to let nothing, as in absolutely, positively nothing put him in a worrisome mood. 

And as for others who may try to take him out of that zone, he’s not privy to entertaining any types of depressing thoughts. So perhaps the easiest way of describing this song, all lyrics considered, is as an extreme exercise in positivity thinking.

Portugal. The Man and “What, Me Worry?”

Portugal. The Man is not, as implied by the stage name, a soloist, nor is this music act from Portugal. Instead what we’re dealing with here is a rock band from Alaska, one that has been in the game since the mid-aughts. 

As of the release of this track on 9 February 2022, the six-member group is made up of the following:

• vocalist Jon Baldwin Gourley
• bassist Zachary Carothers
• guitarist Eric Howk
• keyboardist Kyle O’Quin
• percussionist Zoe Manville
• drummer Jason Sechrist

Gourley, Carothers, Howk and O’Quin are the credited writers of this track, accomplishing that task with the track’s producers, Ryan Tedder and Jeff Bhasker, as well as Tyler Spry and Brent Kutzle. 

And “What, Me Worry?” is a single from Portugal. The Man’s ninth studio album. To note, the title of this song is derived from the fictional Alfred E. Neuman, i.e. the long-standing cover boy of the comedy publication Mad Magazine, which has been using that phrase as his motto since the mid-1960s.

The music video to his song was directed by a pair of artists, Josué Rivas and Aaron Brown, who collectively are known as Los Güeyes.