It was recently brought to my attention that these songs were mentioned somewhat recently on a popular Spanish-language podcast! For those native speakers out there, I encourage you to check out this version of the video with Spanish subtitles uploaded by Pablo Ponce. Enjoy! Me ha llamado la atención que estas canciones se mencionaron recientemente en un popular podcast en español, ¡de ahí el aumento en las vistas! Para aquellos hablantes nativos, los animo a ver esta versión del video con subtítulos en español, subido por Pablo Ponce. ¡Disfrutar! ua-cam.com/video/zfm0QXhB4Fc/v-deo.html
"But I can't remember the sound that you found for me" always gets to me once I realized Virtute meant she couldn't remember the name her owner gave her.
"Most of us probably not getting better, but not getting better, together." Gets me so deep in the feels. This coming from an addict in recovery who's also a nurse working in a detox facility. And a guy with a cat too.
I work at a steel yard and spent the last week trying to catch a stray cat. I finally caught her and a friends mom took her in. Virtute was the perfect name but they decided on Precious. I'm just happy she's warm and has a family now.
I've often tried to perform this whole suite together, but to this day can never make it more than a couple lines into "Virtute at rest" without it getting stuck in my throat. Those are some of the most moving lyrics ever written.
I know "Explains" is the overwhelming fan favourite, but good Christ, "At Rest" is perhaps the finest piece of writing I have EVER seen. What Samson does with that handful of lines is inexplicable. From the unreliable narrator, to the anthropomorphism, to the themes of forgiveness and acceptance, to the fact that the cat is both cat and depressed protagonist and has been all along... my god, it's breathtaking. I can't even read the lyrics to the song without bawling my eyes out.
It really started with Confessions of a Futon-Revolutionist: "Leave the apartment to buy alcohol. ... Enlist the cat in the impending class war. Let's lay our bad day down here, dear. Let's make believe we're strong or hum some protest song, like maybe We Shall Overcome Someday."
Robin Timpson I didn't know what this really meant for some years, until my wife pointed out that it was how Virtute hears her name. Now this bloody song makes me cry.
Sometimes you just need to give yourself permission to feel something. They have always helped me validate those feelings and know that it's ok. It can't rain all the time, but neither is the sun always out.
I know what you mean ... I have an indoor cat now for past 9 yrs. and also have had many strays in my life ... which also came sooner or later w/ loss and hearbreak due to illnesses. Can't listen enough to these incredibly beautiful songs. 🐱♥️♥️♥️and 💔💔💔🐱
CAT: BUT I CAN'T REMEMBER THE SOUND THAT YOU FOUND FOR ME Me: *starts quietly sobbing* I miss my chunky Billy boy so much. I love you so much Lord Billsner, you will always be the the best cat ever.
I lost my Miko yesterday. She took her last breath in my lap right as we pulled into the emergency Vet. They said it was congestive heart failure possibly due to a blood clot and that point nothing we could have done would have saved her. I'll never forgot that car ride and the feelings of absolute helplessness as Miko gasped for air and writhed. She was so frightened and confused fighting for her life and then she was gone. I'm balling my eyes out in the bathroom, her favorite room in the apartment, and I'm listening to saga now. I love a Plea but haven't heard the rest of the songs. Thank you for putting this here.
❤️ Dude, I’ve been there. Please take solace you made each other’s lives better. Neither of you would have been the same without one another. You did that.
His Cosmic Fat Boy (dope username and no sarcasm meant). I lost my cat 2 weeks ago. I'm 32 and she's been the only constant in my life for just over a decade. After the first 600 dollars AUD we were told we might never know whats wrong. We spent another 200 on medicine. She never got better but it's okay. Glad you found this song too. Also. I'd say stop naming ur pets after anime but my bab's name on her birth cert was "Girlcat" so who am I to judge lmao
To Maple; You were the best cat I’ve ever had. I thought when you died I would come right after because what was the point without you? You followed me around, came when I whistled, learned how to sit, and always came when I cried. You always wanted to be in the car, to go on joy rides, always rushing to the car door. You were there at such an important point of my life. I have no clue what happened in your past, your clipped ears and street smarts, but I knew when you put your paw to the glass after throwing your bed into your litter box that you were the one for me, we were the ones for each other. I wish I got my driving permit sooner so I could drive you to the beach like I promised before you went missing.I’m so so glad my last words to you were I love you, come home soon. I love you Maple
I miss Maple with you, like I miss my Mocha, and Tascha, and Oso, who all disappeared without explanation. I'm guessing I have lived four times as many winters as you, so that means I've loved a lot of cats. It never gets easier to let one go, and it shouldn't. I don't know why I'm responding other than to tell you that the way you expressed your memories of Maple touched my heart, and I'm crying like a little boy right now. But any moment one of these miniature lions will come sauntering in, saying, "who loves kitty?", and all cares will dissolve. Happy holidays, AJ!
It's been a few years, but I've thought of you. I hope you are OK. My little lions never came back either, but we've got the other eight busily ruining our house and our lives. Again, wishing you happy holidays.
It's "I can't remember the sound that you found for me" that always breaks me. I have my 2 cats now and I'll be sure they never forget the sounds that I found for them
It's because I see myself in it so much. I went through the AA thing, trying to figure out what could be rebuilt and what couldn't. It's raw, yo. But beautiful too, so it's not a sadistic kind of cry.
When I first heard "Plea" I didn't realize it was from the cat's perspective (at first) and thought it was the dumbest song. Turns out I was just the dumbest listener. What a great set of tunes. John K. Samson is one of the best lyricists of my generation. Hard to believe that he was in Propaghandi (which I loved first).
I literally discovered The Weakerthans about two weeks ago ( from the Reply All podcast) and my gosh, this band / his lyrics are so good... I actually emailed a dude I know in Winnipeg and was like 'HAVE YOU HEARD OF THIS BAND?'
As an addict (recovered), this saga hits so hard and makes cry my eyes out. The cat that lived on out porch at the sober house was killed by loose dogs. Her name was Chloe.
I wish I had never found out about Virtute the Cat at Rest. I'm still not over her losing her ears and then that happens. I wish I could go back in time to where she just wants to have a party. I've been crying like a baby for the past half an hour, just as bad as last night. Makes me wanna go snuggle my cats even harder.
Has Vertute actually passed away in the song or is Vertute just resting with her master? I've found the wording can be taken two different ways. At first it implies that Vertute has passed away but at the same time it can also be implied that Vertute is just resting with her master and that if he ever starts to feel sorry for himself she will dig in her claws in him to snap him out of it.
I always interpreted it to mean the memory of Virtute in the master's mind. About letting go of the things you can't hold, putting their memory to rest and being grateful for still having that.
I always heard it as "when the winter took / the tips of my ears found this noisy home" Alternatively, she could have been eartipped by a TNR rescue, where volunteers have feral cats neutered and get them healthy then return them to the 'wild' after clipping the tip of their ear as a sign that they've been TNR'ed so another rescue doesn't pick them up and try and do it again. Either way, Virtute didn't lose her ears.
I believe we are led to believe that Virtute is home, in the master's mind, held by the memories and kept safe from the world. The reality is that we can't really keep safe the things we love. And that's ok.
"most of us probably not getting better, but not getting better together" always hits me. really captures the feelings of being in those kinds of programs
Been in men's rehab facility for nearly 8 months and I think maybe 5 out of 50 guys I've seen pass through are still here, that line hits me hard too, shame this disease takes out so many people
I lost two kitties a couple weeks ago, they got sick but there was not much that could be done at the hospital. I thought I was over it, but these songs (particularly "Virtute at Rest") just broke me and I bursted into tears. However I can't feel nothing but gratitude as it is helping me with my grieving. I'll remember my kitties laying with me, at the afternoon sunbeam.
I wrote a small something on my band’s instagram about how the beauty of John K’s writing is proven best within these comments. Thank you for sharing your grief and joy 🌹Vivat Virtute and all cats, always. “November always finds me nostalgic but recently I’ve been overcome by a layer of sentiment so dense I can’t get to sleep. And when I can’t sleep I find myself on UA-cam looking for videos of The Weakerthans. For me, nostalgia and The Weakerthans come as one and I realise I am at the age where I have listened to them for as long as I have not. Quite sadly, I find The Weakerthans nearly impossible to talk about for my recommendation of their virtuosity is often met with silence or politely brushed aside. And I get it, I really do. They are a band that have to find you at that right moment and in all honesty if someone recommended them to me today I might not make it to the end of one song, such is the distance from more familiar sonic form. But there’s a slow beauty to John K Samson’s writing that once it’s given the right vessel is haunting and will always be somewhere within quietly worrying away. As professor Nick Mount noted in his lecture on Samson’s lyrics, the songs are often written in the imperative mood. They ask of you demands you spend your whole life trying to answer. But the real testament to the value of Samson’s writing is found here in these screenshots taken from comments under the UA-cam entry “The Entire Saga of Virtute the Cat (with lyrics)”. Written across three albums and many more years, the narrative of Virtute is one of love between a cat and a human that was found, lost, then found again in the most plaintive and powerful of places - old memory. The comments show how the story of Virtute is a warm home for people to collectively share the joy of cats known and grieve those now gone. Because the emotion Samson captures is universal, as I said it just has to find the right vessel in. I hope one day I can be half the songwriter. “ Full post: instagram.com/p/ClAPJlDI3FX/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y= @crakeleeds
Does anyone else get to feeling those Big Sad Feelingz sometimes and they wont go away so you come here and listen to these goddamn songs so you can just break down and cry like a baby for a while and then you feel better? Or is it just me?
You're not alone. A lot of people saying they wish he hadn't written Virtute at Rest, but I think the song is magical. Plus, he uses that style where the short song is one long run-on sentence and I absolutely love it.
@@zaneridings3789 Virtute at Rest is the perfect coda to a lovely song cycle that ranks among the greatest feats of storytelling in the history of popular music (and I mean it, I'll put 'em in the ring with Desolation Row or Street Hassle any day). I also think it's just a wonderful song, one of John K's patented four chord folk poems (Sounds Familiar, Illustrated Bible Stories, Bigfoot, etc). I gotta say, some of the comments here are just tragic in their hopefullness. "Virtute isn't dead, she found her owner and they are resting comfortably" or "it's open-ended and left to interpretation." It's about as open-ended as Old fucking Yeller. Virtute has been on the street so long she's forgotten her name and eventually she does what all strays do -- freezes to death, or dies of exposure, or maybe a car or bus. Either way, she exists only in the back of our humble subject's brain by the time At Rest begins.
We lost 2 babies, big pig in 2013, and sweets was in 2018 or 2019 (there were a few years that seemed like one long bad year, so I'm not sure), but what they say about time healing all wounds is nothing but words for a bumper sticker. I'm so sorry for your loss, and even though the pain is unbearable when they leave, don't deny sharing your home with them. You both need each other.
these songs are just completely devastating, especially in sequence like this. "The Serbian deadhead who wears his sunglasses / so no one can see at my eyes" got a good chuckle out of me despite the tears
I had to give my cat away 13 years ago for reasons I won't go in to. Every day I regret that I didn't feel strong enough to be there to say goodbye to her.
"You should know I am with you, know I forgive you Know I am proud of the steps that you've made Know it will never be easy or simple Know I will dig in my claws when you stray So let us rest here like we used to In a line of late afternoon sun Let it rest, all you can't change Let it rest and be done"
I’ve been crying for an hour and a half. I cant sleep even though it’s 1 am because of these songs. I think virtute the cat explains her departure might be my favorite song I’ve ever heard
i have loved these songs forever and have always found them difficult to listen to. Our cat just passed away yesterday and I've never needed these songs more than I have right now. They hurt. And they heal. Thank you, John.
Of course, this trilogy breaks my heart. What is even more heartbreaking are the statistics. In the USA, 85% of cats WHO HAVE OWNERS (i.e., cats who are not strays) are neglected or abused. As a veterinarian, the cats who I see for preventative care, or who are sick or injured, represent only 15% of American cats who have owners/guardians. Thank you to John K. Samson, and to all of you who have been moved by Virtute’s story. You are the 15% who care. God bless you, and keep you. Please do all you can to fight for all pets, and for all animals. Ghandi (in 1931) said, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way in which its animals are treated.” I hope and pray and wish, on a daily basis, that all nations could and would comply. Please, if you can do nothing else, spay or neuter your pets to help prevent the cruelty, though it is often not thought about, perpetrated upon kittens and puppies who are unwanted. ♥️❤️♥️
Thanks so much for compiling this and uploading it. Made it so much easier to share with friends. I also really appreciate how tightly the lyrics are synced with the music! I can tell a lot of attention was paid. 😊
Just the most beautiful songs ever - I found them via Frank Turner, but "Virtute The Cat Explains Her Departure" makes me cry uncontrollably... I've been moved to tears by songs before, but nothing even close to this - just so incredibly and beautiful and heartbreaking...
explains her departure already fucked me up so bad emotionally that when i learned there were more songs i immediately burst out crying?? alyway now im here and im sobbing
thank you. your music has always impacted me in such a positive way. no matter how I was feeling. I married my best friend on the 21St. 12 years (to the day) after we kissed. I have a cattoo that says, "I know you're strong" thank you
Goddamn I should've known what I was getting into here but fuck I'm blindsided anyway. Exactly what I needed and also totally devastating. It's been nearly 4 years since music hit me quite so hard.
im so stumped with school, covid and having relationships with people that I don't know that I want anymore. i feel like I am being killed by apathy quite literally, and that the only way to get better is to stop feeling. Covid killed a family member of mine today. one I knew for quite some time. i have no words. i have no feeling for it. my girlfriend is back at school now and I have no support emotionally. i feel like I have no emotions currently. I'm an engineering technology major so stress from class is constant. i feel... drained. yall have a great day.
@Ehvaen @sparro Hey let me tell you something. I understand you because apathy has been eating me alive since covid and isolations. All I can tell you is that we can beat it by doing things that make us feel alive like running, screaming, doing high intensity activities, singing, talking, crying, feeling strong emotions and doing things and keep doing always different activities. Apathy is also worse than depression because you can’t feel anything but you JUST KNOW that the pain is there so we have to make sure to keep our body and mind alive and aware by doing anything!!! I know it’s hard cause 80% of the time I live perceiving life as a sort of realistic blurry dream and this is making me going crazy I swear but we just must keep on living or else depression, sadness, apathy or isolation will eat us alive!! BTW this comment is for everyone in this comment section i just wanted to share these tips cause we're all in the same boat at the end of the day (Also sorry for my english)
Oh my gosh... I've only ever really listened to Renion Tour from start to finish, and Virtute the Cat Explains Her Departure is one of my favorite songs on it. I didn't know this was a whole series. Mind is blown right now while listening to this. haha
I've seen John play all four live a couple times, and he does the Winter Wheat one last. I think it fits better as the third, but it's awesome either way.
My cat died two months ago she died howling in my arms in pain, and all I could do was cradle her and tell her I loved her and begged her not to go, to hold on, to live. She died anyways. I love her more the words can say, then the world could encompass, she was everything to me my other half and she died in pain screaming. And I think that will haunt me for the rest of my life. But this album this beautiful horrible wonderful songs makes me remember I had 13 years with the best cat in world 13 good years we’re she lived and I loved her and I think she loved me in the ways only animals can love. And I remember 5 minutes of pain, 13 years of love.
I want to get get a tattoo of my cat Dexter that passed in December with the lyrics "I will dig in my claws when you stray" to remind me I never want to be this low/destructive/suicidal ever again Edit: I know I commented previously about a different cat.
I miss my cat, he passed away yesterday due to poisoning. Some evil a**hole murdered my little guy even though he was harmless and friendly. This one's on you B!
And all cater. With all the birds that I can kill. Let their tiny feathers fill disappointment. Lie down. And lick the sorrow from your skin. Scratch the chair and begin. To believe you're strong. 😭😭😭😭
My 12 year old cat Sunny died today on the way to the vet and I miss him so much already. My parents dug out a grave for him and my father went and bought a little tree to plant it on top. Just realized Sunny has always been my youtube profile pic. I'll never change it. I hope I'll see him again one day. Love this song, even if it made me cry again.
Dear John K. Samson, Please, please don't ever write another song in this series. I can't handle it. I know, prequels and side-stories are all the rage, but I can't do it. I'm not up for it. You might be thinking, 'but this is only four songs, and there are five stages of grief.' Well, I'm perfectly happy considering the owner being 'denial' and the cat being 'anger' simultaneously in 'Plea', especially given that the last two songs heavily imply this is really more the owner's voice/projection. You wouldn't write a proper song about your denial while you're still in it, so the self-reflecting song from the anger phase that renounces his denial (those bitter songs weren't helping anything, after all) is where this series starts. So just four songs. It's already a masterpiece that breaks me to enjoy.
Every time I've found out that he's added I knew song since 'Plea From a Cat Named Virtute' I have been emotionally destroyed by it. I for sure cannot handle any more.
It was recently brought to my attention that these songs were mentioned somewhat recently on a popular Spanish-language podcast! For those native speakers out there, I encourage you to check out this version of the video with Spanish subtitles uploaded by Pablo Ponce. Enjoy!
Me ha llamado la atención que estas canciones se mencionaron recientemente en un popular podcast en español, ¡de ahí el aumento en las vistas! Para aquellos hablantes nativos, los animo a ver esta versión del video con subtítulos en español, subido por Pablo Ponce. ¡Disfrutar!
ua-cam.com/video/zfm0QXhB4Fc/v-deo.html
También vienes por roberto mtz y milkman
@@pedrosolis23 si la verdad
"But I can't remember the sound that you found for me" always gets to me once I realized Virtute meant she couldn't remember the name her owner gave her.
Oh god I didnt realize.
Lovely, eh? Then I realized that I have a sound that someone found for me.
WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS THIS MADE ME CRY
Virtute is a girl?
@@iiiiiivviiixiiixxi1612 one of the song titles is “virtue the cat explains her departure” so id assume so
"Most of us probably not getting better, but not getting better, together." Gets me so deep in the feels. This coming from an addict in recovery who's also a nurse working in a detox facility. And a guy with a cat too.
I concur, sir.
I KNOW!!!!!!!!
I work at a steel yard and spent the last week trying to catch a stray cat. I finally caught her and a friends mom took her in. Virtute was the perfect name but they decided on Precious. I'm just happy she's warm and has a family now.
I was really expecting a terrible ending to that story, thank goodness for being wrong, the songs are enough of a bummer.
my old cat was named precious 😢
💯🤘💜
Precious is beautiful too.
I'm about to get a cat. Maybe I'll call it Virtue or maybe I'll just let it reveal it's own name.
“Know I am with you. Know I forgive you. Know I am PROUD of the steps that you’ve made.”
For some reason that never fails to move me to tears
puts me into tears even just reading the lyrics in the comments 😢
I've often tried to perform this whole suite together, but to this day can never make it more than a couple lines into "Virtute at rest" without it getting stuck in my throat. Those are some of the most moving lyrics ever written.
Dammit, got me and I'm still at plea 😅
@@rueburch2856 Jesus, there's another, sadder, one? I only ever heard the first two. Can't handle a "Virtue at rest" tonight.
I know "Explains" is the overwhelming fan favourite, but good Christ, "At Rest" is perhaps the finest piece of writing I have EVER seen. What Samson does with that handful of lines is inexplicable. From the unreliable narrator, to the anthropomorphism, to the themes of forgiveness and acceptance, to the fact that the cat is both cat and depressed protagonist and has been all along... my god, it's breathtaking. I can't even read the lyrics to the song without bawling my eyes out.
It really started with Confessions of a Futon-Revolutionist:
"Leave the apartment to buy alcohol. ... Enlist the cat in the impending class war. Let's lay our bad day down here, dear. Let's make believe we're strong or hum some protest song, like maybe We Shall Overcome Someday."
Holy crap, you are right. I missed that!
"I can't remember the sound that you found for me" holy fuck!
Robin Timpson I didn't know what this really meant for some years, until my wife pointed out that it was how Virtute hears her name. Now this bloody song makes me cry.
For real!!!! Geez!!!
this line literally made me start crying
@@DJDarren80i didn't know this is what it meant 🥺😢😭
I feel like the Weakerthans make me happy being sad. They don't cheer me up when I'm sad. They just make me feel happy to be sad.
Sometimes you just need to give yourself permission to feel something. They have always helped me validate those feelings and know that it's ok. It can't rain all the time, but neither is the sun always out.
I know what you mean ... I have an indoor cat now for past 9 yrs. and also have had many strays in my life ... which also came sooner or later w/ loss and hearbreak due to illnesses. Can't listen enough to these incredibly beautiful songs. 🐱♥️♥️♥️and 💔💔💔🐱
Sometimes that’s just what we need.
I feel that.
That is deep.
CAT: BUT I CAN'T REMEMBER THE SOUND THAT YOU FOUND FOR ME
Me: *starts quietly sobbing*
I miss my chunky Billy boy so much. I love you so much Lord Billsner, you will always be the the best cat ever.
That line will break my heart for the rest of my days.
I lost my Miko yesterday. She took her last breath in my lap right as we pulled into the emergency Vet. They said it was congestive heart failure possibly due to a blood clot and that point nothing we could have done would have saved her. I'll never forgot that car ride and the feelings of absolute helplessness as Miko gasped for air and writhed. She was so frightened and confused fighting for her life and then she was gone. I'm balling my eyes out in the bathroom, her favorite room in the apartment, and I'm listening to saga now. I love a Plea but haven't heard the rest of the songs. Thank you for putting this here.
I'm so sorry for your loss... It's kind of hard for us to live more than those little angels. So unfair.
I'm so sorry for the loss of your dear pet. I hope you can heal quickly.
❤️ Dude, I’ve been there. Please take solace you made each other’s lives better. Neither of you would have been the same without one another. You did that.
His Cosmic Fat Boy (dope username and no sarcasm meant). I lost my cat 2 weeks ago. I'm 32 and she's been the only constant in my life for just over a decade. After the first 600 dollars AUD we were told we might never know whats wrong. We spent another 200 on medicine. She never got better but it's okay. Glad you found this song too.
Also.
I'd say stop naming ur pets after anime but my bab's name on her birth cert was "Girlcat" so who am I to judge lmao
I'm gonna be real with you I can only read your comment halfway through. I hope you're doing alright, and remember that Miko believes you're strong
To Maple;
You were the best cat I’ve ever had. I thought when you died I would come right after because what was the point without you? You followed me around, came when I whistled, learned how to sit, and always came when I cried. You always wanted to be in the car, to go on joy rides, always rushing to the car door. You were there at such an important point of my life. I have no clue what happened in your past, your clipped ears and street smarts, but I knew when you put your paw to the glass after throwing your bed into your litter box that you were the one for me, we were the ones for each other. I wish I got my driving permit sooner so I could drive you to the beach like I promised before you went missing.I’m so so glad my last words to you were I love you, come home soon. I love you Maple
Has Maple come back?
@@EarlofSedgewick No sadly! But me and her adoptive brother will always keep her in our hearts
@@Newmoonraccoon Hope you and yours have a wonderful holiday! Glad to hear another cat has come into your life
I miss Maple with you, like I miss my Mocha, and Tascha, and Oso, who all disappeared without explanation. I'm guessing I have lived four times as many winters as you, so that means I've loved a lot of cats. It never gets easier to let one go, and it shouldn't. I don't know why I'm responding other than to tell you that the way you expressed your memories of Maple touched my heart, and I'm crying like a little boy right now. But any moment one of these miniature lions will come sauntering in, saying, "who loves kitty?", and all cares will dissolve. Happy holidays, AJ!
It's been a few years, but I've thought of you. I hope you are OK. My little lions never came back either, but we've got the other eight busily ruining our house and our lives. Again, wishing you happy holidays.
"I know you're strong" - this gets me every single time. Instant tears. God, I hate myself.
The notion that it gets you, speaks volumes to your actual strength.
Carry on as though normal.
As you were, good human.
It's "I can't remember the sound that you found for me" that always breaks me. I have my 2 cats now and I'll be sure they never forget the sounds that I found for them
Literally same for me. Can't hear these songs without bawling.
@@jenniferparker7588 *bawling
@@doctajuice balwlwling 😭
There is no set of songs that speaks to me more than this.
I can't physically get through Virtue at Rest without breaking down and crying
It is truly a monstrous song. Excellent, of course, but lethal.
same for me but also like, "i cant remember the sound that u found for me" that shit gets me everytime😔☺️
Same here.
It's because I see myself in it so much. I went through the AA thing, trying to figure out what could be rebuilt and what couldn't. It's raw, yo. But beautiful too, so it's not a sadistic kind of cry.
I can't get through half of the first song without doing the same
My cat ran away for a week so “Your anger pleading in a uncertain key” hits so hard
When I first heard "Plea" I didn't realize it was from the cat's perspective (at first) and thought it was the dumbest song. Turns out I was just the dumbest listener. What a great set of tunes. John K. Samson is one of the best lyricists of my generation. Hard to believe that he was in Propaghandi (which I loved first).
I literally discovered The Weakerthans about two weeks ago ( from the Reply All podcast) and my gosh, this band / his lyrics are so good... I actually emailed a dude I know in Winnipeg and was like 'HAVE YOU HEARD OF THIS BAND?'
😂 If i didn’t receive context with this recommendation, I may have missed that detail as well ☺️ music’s great for discovery.
As an addict (recovered), this saga hits so hard and makes cry my eyes out. The cat that lived on out porch at the sober house was killed by loose dogs.
Her name was Chloe.
Chloe at rest…life is hard. Let it rest, all you can’t change. Be well, friend.
I hear you friend.
Saw John in concert in St Catharines, and he ended with Virtute at Rest, and I swear the whole place was in tears. What a songwriter.
Good lord, reading this made me cry
I wish I had never found out about Virtute the Cat at Rest. I'm still not over her losing her ears and then that happens. I wish I could go back in time to where she just wants to have a party. I've been crying like a baby for the past half an hour, just as bad as last night. Makes me wanna go snuggle my cats even harder.
Has Vertute actually passed away in the song or is Vertute just resting with her master? I've found the wording can be taken two different ways. At first it implies that Vertute has passed away but at the same time it can also be implied that Vertute is just resting with her master and that if he ever starts to feel sorry for himself she will dig in her claws in him to snap him out of it.
S Simpson I think she's not with her owner anymore and both have come to terms with living without each other.
I always interpreted it to mean the memory of Virtute in the master's mind. About letting go of the things you can't hold, putting their memory to rest and being grateful for still having that.
I always heard it as "when the winter took / the tips of my ears found this noisy home" Alternatively, she could have been eartipped by a TNR rescue, where volunteers have feral cats neutered and get them healthy then return them to the 'wild' after clipping the tip of their ear as a sign that they've been TNR'ed so another rescue doesn't pick them up and try and do it again. Either way, Virtute didn't lose her ears.
I believe we are led to believe that Virtute is home, in the master's mind, held by the memories and kept safe from the world. The reality is that we can't really keep safe the things we love. And that's ok.
"most of us probably not getting better, but not getting better together" always hits me. really captures the feelings of being in those kinds of programs
Been in men's rehab facility for nearly 8 months and I think maybe 5 out of 50 guys I've seen pass through are still here, that line hits me hard too, shame this disease takes out so many people
I lost two kitties a couple weeks ago, they got sick but there was not much that could be done at the hospital. I thought I was over it, but these songs (particularly "Virtute at Rest") just broke me and I bursted into tears. However I can't feel nothing but gratitude as it is helping me with my grieving.
I'll remember my kitties laying with me, at the afternoon sunbeam.
I wrote a small something on my band’s instagram about how the beauty of John K’s writing is proven best within these comments. Thank you for sharing your grief and joy 🌹Vivat Virtute and all cats, always.
“November always finds me nostalgic but recently I’ve been overcome by a layer of sentiment so dense I can’t get to sleep. And when I can’t sleep I find myself on UA-cam looking for videos of The Weakerthans. For me, nostalgia and The Weakerthans come as one and I realise I am at the age where I have listened to them for as long as I have not. Quite sadly, I find The Weakerthans nearly impossible to talk about for my recommendation of their virtuosity is often met with silence or politely brushed aside. And I get it, I really do. They are a band that have to find you at that right moment and in all honesty if someone recommended them to me today I might not make it to the end of one song, such is the distance from more familiar sonic form. But there’s a slow beauty to John K Samson’s writing that once it’s given the right vessel is haunting and will always be somewhere within quietly worrying away. As professor Nick Mount noted in his lecture on Samson’s lyrics, the songs are often written in the imperative mood. They ask of you demands you spend your whole life trying to answer. But the real testament to the value of Samson’s writing is found here in these screenshots taken from comments under the UA-cam entry “The Entire Saga of Virtute the Cat (with lyrics)”. Written across three albums and many more years, the narrative of Virtute is one of love between a cat and a human that was found, lost, then found again in the most plaintive and powerful of places - old memory. The comments show how the story of Virtute is a warm home for people to collectively share the joy of cats known and grieve those now gone. Because the emotion Samson captures is universal, as I said it just has to find the right vessel in. I hope one day I can be half the songwriter. “
Full post: instagram.com/p/ClAPJlDI3FX/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
@crakeleeds
👏 👏 👏
Does anyone else get to feeling those Big Sad Feelingz sometimes and they wont go away so you come here and listen to these goddamn songs so you can just break down and cry like a baby for a while and then you feel better? Or is it just me?
me too
You're not alone. A lot of people saying they wish he hadn't written Virtute at Rest, but I think the song is magical. Plus, he uses that style where the short song is one long run-on sentence and I absolutely love it.
@@zaneridings3789 Virtute at Rest is the perfect coda to a lovely song cycle that ranks among the greatest feats of storytelling in the history of popular music (and I mean it, I'll put 'em in the ring with Desolation Row or Street Hassle any day). I also think it's just a wonderful song, one of John K's patented four chord folk poems (Sounds Familiar, Illustrated Bible Stories, Bigfoot, etc). I gotta say, some of the comments here are just tragic in their hopefullness. "Virtute isn't dead, she found her owner and they are resting comfortably" or "it's open-ended and left to interpretation." It's about as open-ended as Old fucking Yeller. Virtute has been on the street so long she's forgotten her name and eventually she does what all strays do -- freezes to death, or dies of exposure, or maybe a car or bus. Either way, she exists only in the back of our humble subject's brain by the time At Rest begins.
Support your SPCA/ animal shelter!
Big time
My 15 year old cat passed away seven months ago. I still come back here for a good cry.
My 17 year old cat died two years ago and this still breaks my heart, I don't know why I come back.
We lost 2 babies, big pig in 2013, and sweets was in 2018 or 2019 (there were a few years that seemed like one long bad year, so I'm not sure), but what they say about time healing all wounds is nothing but words for a bumper sticker. I'm so sorry for your loss, and even though the pain is unbearable when they leave, don't deny sharing your home with them. You both need each other.
Damn you have to be a machine to not get sad by "virtute the cat explains her departure"
I miss my recently deceased cat so much. Listening to this was a mistake.
it's still here, you just can't see it❤️
@@aissela-sy9dv I saw her in a coma shortly after posting this. I saw her and Dad. I think she's here, too.
these songs are just completely devastating, especially in sequence like this.
"The Serbian deadhead who wears his sunglasses / so no one can see at my eyes" got a good chuckle out of me despite the tears
I had to give my cat away 13 years ago for reasons I won't go in to. Every day I regret that I didn't feel strong enough to be there to say goodbye to her.
Go now, you are forgiven. With love, from a stranger.
"You should know I am with you, know I forgive you
Know I am proud of the steps that you've made
Know it will never be easy or simple
Know I will dig in my claws when you stray
So let us rest here like we used to
In a line of late afternoon sun
Let it rest, all you can't change
Let it rest and be done"
I wonder if my cat has noticed that he's growing older, while I have changed so little. I'd like to donate a decade or two to my little friend.
Why does this hurt so much
because it's so very true.
Because cats are the only thing God got right.
I’ve been crying for an hour and a half. I cant sleep even though it’s 1 am because of these songs. I think virtute the cat explains her departure might be my favorite song I’ve ever heard
Imposible definir el valor intrínseco de esta saga.
Ta cabrrawn🤣
Bruh... entendi la referencia...
i have loved these songs forever and have always found them difficult to listen to. Our cat just passed away yesterday and I've never needed these songs more than I have right now. They hurt. And they heal. Thank you, John.
Of course, this trilogy breaks my heart.
What is even more heartbreaking are the statistics.
In the USA, 85% of cats WHO HAVE OWNERS (i.e., cats who are not strays) are neglected or abused.
As a veterinarian, the cats who I see for preventative care, or who are sick or injured, represent only 15% of American cats who have owners/guardians.
Thank you to John K. Samson, and to all of you who have been moved by Virtute’s story. You are the 15% who care.
God bless you, and keep you. Please do all you can to fight for all pets, and for all animals.
Ghandi (in 1931) said, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way in which its animals are treated.”
I hope and pray and wish, on a daily basis, that all nations could and would comply.
Please, if you can do nothing else, spay or neuter your pets to help prevent the cruelty, though it is often not thought about, perpetrated upon kittens and puppies who are unwanted.
♥️❤️♥️
Thanks so much for compiling this and uploading it. Made it so much easier to share with friends. I also really appreciate how tightly the lyrics are synced with the music! I can tell a lot of attention was paid. 😊
Well it's a little earlier than my regularly scheduled cry but okay
agonizingly beautiful. I've been coming back to this song series for so many years, to hear that cat tell me the truth.
Genuinely every single time i come to these songs, i leave in tears
But i keep coming back :')
I'm leaving for college in a few weeks and this made me actually cry because I have to leave my cats behind. Absolutely beautiful but insanely sad
Wow I never knew those last two songs existed before today. It rounds out the entire story and Virtute at Rest is just such a beautiful ending.
I really wish virtute at rest wasn’t a thing but I’m so happy it is :( only song that makes me ugly cry
Hadn't spoken to my son, of his accord, for far too long.
Sent him the first part today.
Knowing the rest.
Maybe one day I send the rest.
Did you ever send the rest
Just the most beautiful songs ever - I found them via Frank Turner, but "Virtute The Cat Explains Her Departure" makes me cry uncontrollably... I've been moved to tears by songs before, but nothing even close to this - just so incredibly and beautiful and heartbreaking...
I don't even really care for cats and I break down every time I listen to it.
I don't think I've ever been so moved to years by a dozen minutes of music before.
It's been years since I cried this hard, very good songs
Inherently “sad” music is my favorite music. Of all time. Forever. For every mood.
John K Samson is a horrible man, and I love him so.
emo moment
explains her departure already fucked me up so bad emotionally that when i learned there were more songs i immediately burst out crying?? alyway now im here and im sobbing
😭😭😭😭😭 I’d never listened to them all in a row like this. I am destroyed. ❤️
same.
i only knew of the first two and those were enough to make me cry. this really hurt.
thank you.
your music has always impacted me in such a positive way. no matter how I was feeling.
I married my best friend on the 21St. 12 years (to the day) after we kissed.
I have a cattoo that says, "I know you're strong"
thank you
CATTOO OMG.
I've thought about getting a tattoo like that. Maybe I'll add some scratches and bitemarks too, so I'll remember in case I stray.
I hope you don't mind, but I must get that cattoo
I'm never listening to this again.
How many times have you been back since?
Goddamn I should've known what I was getting into here but fuck I'm blindsided anyway. Exactly what I needed and also totally devastating. It's been nearly 4 years since music hit me quite so hard.
im so stumped with school, covid and having relationships with people that I don't know that I want anymore. i feel like I am being killed by apathy quite literally, and that the only way to get better is to stop feeling. Covid killed a family member of mine today. one I knew for quite some time. i have no words. i have no feeling for it. my girlfriend is back at school now and I have no support emotionally. i feel like I have no emotions currently. I'm an engineering technology major so stress from class is constant. i feel... drained. yall have a great day.
@Ehvaen @sparro Hey let me tell you something. I understand you because apathy has been eating me alive since covid and isolations. All I can tell you is that we can beat it by doing things that make us feel alive like running, screaming, doing high intensity activities, singing, talking, crying, feeling strong emotions and doing things and keep doing always different activities. Apathy is also worse than depression because you can’t feel anything but you JUST KNOW that the pain is there so we have to make sure to keep our body and mind alive and aware by doing anything!!! I know it’s hard cause 80% of the time I live perceiving life as a sort of realistic blurry dream and this is making me going crazy I swear but we just must keep on living or else depression, sadness, apathy or isolation will eat us alive!! BTW this comment is for everyone in this comment section i just wanted to share these tips cause we're all in the same boat at the end of the day (Also sorry for my english)
They are sad, and depressing in the best possible way, but there is always a bit of hope.
Oh god, this is heartbreaking ☹️
ive listened to this saga like 100 times. Every of those times, it gets me :.)
Oh my gosh... I've only ever really listened to Renion Tour from start to finish, and Virtute the Cat Explains Her Departure is one of my favorite songs on it. I didn't know this was a whole series. Mind is blown right now while listening to this. haha
Can't help but cry every single time.
So good! Thanks for bringing these together. I didn't know the Winter Wheat songs were a continuation of this story.
Me neither
I've seen John play all four live a couple times, and he does the Winter Wheat one last. I think it fits better as the third, but it's awesome either way.
Just something in my eye...
Miss you so much bee
Damn you, John. ⭐️
did John quit drinking???
Good for him, I did in 2015 its hard... I quit shooting dope..
I lived to tell the story but John does it better.
Sending a message from the future to past you. I hope you are still living clean.
If you need someone to not drink with you tonight, I'm your man.
"Most of us not getting better, but not getting better together" gives the chills
Let it rest and be done :(
R.I.P. Virtue
This is sheer poetry
This song was my life in 1998-2001 and I didn’t even have a cat then!
Oh dear Lord, that is so sad. Poor Kitty.
So much love for this whole group of songs.
holy fuck ;_____; not een twenty seconds in and I'm fuckin WEEPING.
Really appreciate the collab! This was a very very good deed bud.
Gracias Roberto Martínez
I never thought a song about a dead cat would gut me the way Virtute at Rest just did.
By the last song i was in TEARS
My cat died two months ago she died howling in my arms in pain, and all I could do was cradle her and tell her I loved her and begged her not to go, to hold on, to live. She died anyways. I love her more the words can say, then the world could encompass, she was everything to me my other half and she died in pain screaming. And I think that will haunt me for the rest of my life. But this album this beautiful horrible wonderful songs makes me remember I had 13 years with the best cat in world 13 good years we’re she lived and I loved her and I think she loved me in the ways only animals can love. And I remember 5 minutes of pain, 13 years of love.
Thank you for sharing this. Whoever you are, I love you, too.
Thank you!
beautiful!
i am in tears
Miss u obi.
spoiler alert...
you're gonna fucking cry.
I want to get get a tattoo of my cat Dexter that passed in December with the lyrics "I will dig in my claws when you stray" to remind me I never want to be this low/destructive/suicidal ever again
Edit: I know I commented previously about a different cat.
Gah, I love the Weakerthans so much ❤
love this! great song
thank you, matt
Muy intrínseco la verdad
Vine aquí por Ruperto Mtz en el podcast #Cosas haha
Masterpiece.. I don't even own a cat. Bye💔🐈
how many times do i have to listen to these songs to become sober
I'm not drinking with you tonight. Hope you're doing well friend.
de aqui se inspiro jose madero para hacer la cancion de teo?
I miss my cat, he passed away yesterday due to poisoning.
Some evil a**hole murdered my little guy even though he was harmless and friendly.
This one's on you B!
*hug*
Roberto mtz - cosas :D
Xd
Alguien viene de Cosas?
Real shit. As I lay next my cat...
And all cater. With all the birds that I can kill. Let their tiny feathers fill disappointment. Lie down. And lick the sorrow from your skin. Scratch the chair and begin. To believe you're strong. 😭😭😭😭
😢
My 12 year old cat Sunny died today on the way to the vet and I miss him so much already. My parents dug out a grave for him and my father went and bought a little tree to plant it on top. Just realized Sunny has always been my youtube profile pic. I'll never change it. I hope I'll see him again one day. Love this song, even if it made me cry again.
Dear John K. Samson,
Please, please don't ever write another song in this series. I can't handle it.
I know, prequels and side-stories are all the rage, but I can't do it. I'm not up for it.
You might be thinking, 'but this is only four songs, and there are five stages of grief.' Well, I'm perfectly happy considering the owner being 'denial' and the cat being 'anger' simultaneously in 'Plea', especially given that the last two songs heavily imply this is really more the owner's voice/projection. You wouldn't write a proper song about your denial while you're still in it, so the self-reflecting song from the anger phase that renounces his denial (those bitter songs weren't helping anything, after all) is where this series starts.
So just four songs. It's already a masterpiece that breaks me to enjoy.
Every time I've found out that he's added I knew song since 'Plea From a Cat Named Virtute' I have been emotionally destroyed by it. I for sure cannot handle any more.
I miss my Meemow every day : (