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It had something to do with the rain
Leeching loamy dirt
And the way the back lane came alive
Half moon whispered, "Go"
For a while I heard you missing steps in the street
And your anger pleading in an uncertain key
Singing the sound of you that you found for me
When the winter took the tips of my ears
Found this noisy home full of pigeons and places to hide
And when the voices die
I emerged to watch abandoned machines
Waiting for their men to return
I remember the way I would wait for you
To arrive with kibble and a box full of beer
How I'd scratch the empties desperate to hear
You make the sound that you found for me
After scrapping with the ferals and the tabby
Let you brush my matted fur
How I'd knead into your chest while you were sleeping
Shallow breathing made me purr
But I can't remember the sound that you found for me
I can't remember the sound that you found for me
I can't remember the sound
Leeching loamy dirt
And the way the back lane came alive
Half moon whispered, "Go"
For a while I heard you missing steps in the street
And your anger pleading in an uncertain key
Singing the sound of you that you found for me
When the winter took the tips of my ears
Found this noisy home full of pigeons and places to hide
And when the voices die
I emerged to watch abandoned machines
Waiting for their men to return
I remember the way I would wait for you
To arrive with kibble and a box full of beer
How I'd scratch the empties desperate to hear
You make the sound that you found for me
After scrapping with the ferals and the tabby
Let you brush my matted fur
How I'd knead into your chest while you were sleeping
Shallow breathing made me purr
But I can't remember the sound that you found for me
I can't remember the sound that you found for me
I can't remember the sound
Lyrics submitted by superficies
Track duration: 04:09
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Anyway, what I want to say is in reference to a post a few pages back that stated the writer of the song said this was not about a 'real' cat. I've written many songs in my day (aging hippie here), and I know all about writing 'obliquely', ie: veiled writing.
To me, no matter what the writer says, they have at one time experienced a cat gone missing that affected them. It's too real to the actual experience. I seriously don't know how someone could write this without knowing how it really and actually feels.
I love that it's written from the cat's perspective, which makes it all the more heart-wrenching.
My 2c.
The line "I can't remember the sound that you found for me" is an amazing personalification for the cat. Since an owner would usually call his or her cat by its name, in this case, Virtute; the cat is pleaing for the owner to rediscover his own strength and courage. Just like the prequel "Plea from a Cat Named Virtute", I believe this piece is also speaking about the cat asking the owner to be strong. I think the song reflects a more depressing tone in that Virtute the cat has left, and hence the leaving of the owner's strength.
I'm just rambling on now, so don't mind me :)
Nevertheless, the song is beautifully constructed and reflects so much more than the apparent meanings. The song, along with many other songs written by John K. Samson, helped me through many rough patches in my life, and I'm sure it has helped many others as well.
One thing that was left to imagination in "Plea" was whether or not Virtute ever got through to her owner and whether or not his life improved. The crushing truth is that it did not. I've seen some people saying that "Virtute left because she was no longer needed", but the lyrics don't support this. Near the end of Virtute's time with her owner, he never talked to her, and she tried everything she could to just hear her name (a concept unnatural to cats, thus she thinks of it as the 'sound that you found for me'), scratching beer cans etc. Even a scolding would be better than the silence she endures. This is why Virtute leaves. For the first time since she was brought home (either from a shelter or off the street), she is tempted by the outdoors. The world seems exciting, and the pros of an owner no longer outweigh the lure of the turning dirt and the glowing moon. The saddest thing is that it is inevitable. Virtute tried, but the owner is not going to change, and he's just bringing Virtute down with him. She had to leave for herself.
Now she lives in a what is most likely a construction site (it's noisy, the voices of the workers die when they go home, and construction vehicles always seem abandoned after the work is done, just left there till the next day). She is still living there at the time of the song, hence her saying she "found THIS noisy home" (you only refer to something as 'this' if it is present). The tips of her ears have fallen off from a previous winter's frostbite. (I should point out here that it's the TIPS of her ears that fell off, so she can still hear-- obviously, since she calls the site her "noisy home" and knows when the "voices die".)
She remembers the good times often-- the cat fights, the brushing, and the sleeping, but she doesn't go back because she's grown distant from that life because the one thing that was constant through all the good times is gone from her memory. She can't remember the name her owner gave to her-- the sound that Virtute understood as her own and that bound cat and owner together.
And now I'm crying. Great.
When I REALLY listened to it though, and read the lyrics, my heart broke violently. He puts the whole story in such simple terms, but really conveys how it must feel for an animal that runs away; strange new surroundings, and slowly forgetting it's previous life, except for how happy it was.
Even `the sound you found for me` I mean... the name virtue doesn`t even matter, name, nickname, lip puckering kiss sounds, it`s all the same to a cat as it would be to a partner who had a pet name such as sweet pea even though her name was Madeline.It`s just the idea that her partner called her something that was once music to her ears.
The proverbial owner was so consumed with him self that he neglected the only thing that was a real connection, and she got fed up and left. But she still remissnesses... Even though the relationship was not on equal ground, she loved him (probably only because he loved her at one point enough to brush her matted fur), and remembers loving him, however the memory is fading as she moves on with her new exciting life, exploring other possibilities like playing with pidgeons and crawling through abandoned backhoes. It can be taken very literally or very metaphorically.
It`s about moving on, but not forgetting. It`s a classic tragic romance, very sad but also liberating.
MK
Fairly sure that the sound you found for me is her name.
It doesn't mean any less to me that it's a fictional cat. The emotion is still the same for me.
I cried the first time I heard it, too. Someone who pleaded me to feel strong, and cared that much about me, running away and forgetting about me.
I wish I hadn't read that article now. Somehow it makes the song mean less, knowing Virtute isn't a real cat. :(
As an animal lover this song really hits home in that regard, but I think it also works as a metaphor for lost relationships. Sometimes when you leave someone, it seems like it's for the best - you want freedom, and at first you're happy with your new life ("found this noisy home/full of pigeons and places to hide" - Virtute seems to have everything a cat could want in the factory). But as Virtute remembers the simple things that she loved about her former home (just hearing her owner speak her name, "the sound that you found for me"), she realizes all to late that she misses him, just as an ex-lover might realize too late that they miss the one they pushed away.
That's how I see it, at least!