A song about an imaginary cat made me cry today. Weird huh? The song is called “Virtute The Cat Explains Her Departure” by Canadian indie outfit The Weakerthans. The album is curiously called “Reunion Tour” (at no point did they disband since the last album) and was one of my favourite albums of 2007.

If, like most Australians, you aren’t familiar with them, think The Mountain Goats crossed with Death Cab For Cutie. Their songs are certainly catchy, but what makes this band special is singer John K. Samson’s self-conscious, melancholy yet forcefully literate musings. His lyrics seem to meander, but are amazingly concise, and every three minutes you are taken on an emotional journey.

On the surface, the songs are catchy, alt-pop foot-tappers, but once you delve into the meanings behind the lyric, there is no turning back. And this is what happened to me today. I must have listened to this album 100 times since I bought it, and whilst some songs hit me right away, this one was a bit of a creeper.

Virtute actually made an appearance on their previous album “Reconstruction Site” - the song is called “Plea From A Cat Named Virtute” and involves the beloved pet offering consolation and advice to an obviously dejected and increasingly neglectful owner.

As you’d expect then, “Virtute The Cat Explains Her Departure” sets the scene with Virtute’s escape. Then, after a particularly brutal winter during which she loses the tips of her ears, she reminisces about her old home and how she would “knead into your chest while you were sleeping, shallow breathing made me purr.” Finally, she comes to the sad realisation that she can no longer remember the name her owner had given her. Its an amazingly powerful song, and Samson’s vocals just tear at the heart-strings. I may have to skip past this song the next few weeks.

Samson is a welcome anomaly in modern music. It makes me wonder what my cat thinks of me…