'' is a
2003 album by
The Weakerthans .
A song cycle about grief, regret and loss, the album is thematically framed by three tracks, "(Manifest)", "(Hospital Vespers)" and "(Past-Due)", which set three different
Sonnet s about a terminally ill hospital patient to the same melody.
Other songs examine the album's themes from different angles -- "Plea From a Cat Named Virtute" is written from the perspective of a
Depressed person's
Cat , "One Great City!" is about Samson's love-hate relationship with his hometown of
Winnipeg , and "Our Retired Explorer" imagines a dinner date between
Michel Foucault and a hopelessly nostalgic member of
Ernest Shackleton 's expedition to
Antarctica .
Guest musicians on the album include
Sarah Harmer and
Christine Fellows .
Free
MP3 downloads of the songs "Plea From A Cat Named Virtute" and the title track have been made available on Amazon.com.
All songs by
John K. Samson .
#"(Manifest)" (1:45)
#"The Reasons" (2:50)
#"Reconstruction Site" (2:45)
#"Psalm for the Elks Lodge Last Call" (2:45)
#"Plea from a Cat Named Virtute" (3:49)
#"Our Retired Explorer (Dines With Michel Foucault in Paris, 1961)" (2:23)
#"Time's Arrow" (2:53)
#"(Hospital Vespers)" (1:41)
#"Uncorrected Proofs" (2:42)
#"A New Name for Everything" (4:04)
#"One Great City!" (2:55)
#"Benediction" (3:28)
#"The Prescience of Dawn" (4:37)
#"(Past-Due)" (2:10)
