Want You Gone
| Portal 2 Soundtrack: Songs to Test By | |
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| Soundtrack album by Aperture Science Psychoacoustics Laboratory (Mike Morasky) | |
| Released | Volume 1: May 25, 2011 Volume 2: July 1, 2011 Volume 3: September 30, 2011 |
| Genre | Video game soundtrack, dark ambient |
| Length | Volume 1: 73:39 Volume 2: 62:13 Volume 3: 65:54 |
Portal 2 is a physics-based puzzle-platformer game created by the Valve Corporation and released on Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in April 2011. The game, set in the desolate, labyrinthine Aperture Science facility, challenges the player to navigate test chambers created by the artificial intelligence GLaDOS, using a portal gun, a device able to create portals that link two points in space like a wormhole. The game expands on the original Portal by adding new puzzle elements, such as paint that imparts properties to surfaces, plates that can launch the player and objects over distances, tractor beams and bridges made of light.
The game's music includes original scores composed by Valve's Mike Morasky, and two original songs provided by Jonathan Coulton and the band The National. The bulk of the music was released as a freely-available download across three volumes, entitled Songs to Test By, and later in a four-disc retail Collector's edition that included music from Portal.
Jonathan Coulton's song "Still Alive", which is sung by GLaDOS (voiced by Ellen McLain) over Portal's end credits, was considered a large part of Portal's success; in designing Portal 2, Valve desired to incorporate more music into the game, including further involvement from Coulton. Coulton wrote a new song for the game's ending credits, "Want You Gone", also written from GLaDOS's viewpoint. Coulton had discussed with Erik Wolpaw about whether an ending song would be necessary, and how they could create "an emotional moment" comparable to "Still Alive", back in 2009 when Portal 2's ending was not yet determined. Other options were considered, such as several "joke songs" and false endings for the game. Ultimately the game's finale, where GLaDOS effectively "breaks up" with Chell, was set by the last quarter of 2010, and Coulton played the game as it had been developed to that point to generate ideas. Elements of the ending, such as Chell being told to leave Aperture with the door slamming behind her, led to the development of main chorus line "I used to want you dead, but now I only want you gone." Coulton wrote the lyrics and composed the song over the course of several days, with John Flansburgh assisting on electronic drums, and traveled to Valve's headquarters in January 2011 to record it with McLain.
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