Still Alive is the closing song of Portal, the puzzle game released by Valve in 2007, performed in character by GLaDOS, the artificial intelligence who oversees the Aperture Science test chambers. Written by Jonathan Coulton and sung by Ellen McLain, the song became one of the most recognisable pieces of game music of its era and circulated widely through videos, covers and soundboards. The short Aperture Science line works on its own because it instantly signals the game's world, making it a lasting shorthand for Portal, artificial intelligence and darkly comic science.
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GLaDOS says Aperture Science in this short clip from Portal's ending song Still Alive. Creators use it for science, lab and gaming edits and memes.
This short clip captures GLaDOS singing the words Aperture Science in her calm, robotic voice during the closing song Still Alive from the original Portal game. The delivery is flat, precise and slightly unsettling, with a synthesized tone that makes the familiar company name sound both cheerful and sinister. Hearing it instantly brings back the test chambers, the unseen experiments and the feeling of being watched by an artificial intelligence. For viewers who know the game, it works as a knowing joke about corporate science, while for others it simply sounds like a strange, memorable announcement from a machine.
