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a remainder mark

by Polymaths

supported by
Patrick Book
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Patrick Book Talk about going out on a high note. I know this group continues under an equally-impressive creative outlet, but the Polymaths close out their run with an astoundingly complete and compelling last effort. I love this so much. Favorite track: I Want to Listen.
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1.
Each passing day I try to be better And each day I fail, again, it’s maddening And if I could just make the space to remember Maybe I’d stop the ache from happening And If I could just take my time We wouldn’t be burned when I turn on a dime And if I could contain my pride We won’t come unmoored when our natures collide
2.
102A 02:44
Walking down 102A I realize that I’m resigned to Lose the things I did today. They’re just as well forgotten. Pushing through the liminal space, the little lies that we rely on “Here we are. We’re in this place.” – a fault-line on a border We will never be the same Things will never be as they were Let’s get out here And take off down 102A Walking down 102A I realize that I’m astride The seam the grid can’t integrate – a stitch without a warning If we were to run away this may be the perfect place to Cut our ties and watch them fray – We’re leaving in the morning We will never be the same Things will never be as they were Let’s get out here And take off down 102A Let’s go I really wanna go We will never be the same Things will never be as they were Let’s get out here And take off down 102A
3.
Day to Day 03:35
6:05, snow-cast glow Orange lit kitchen window Quiet steps down the hall Sorry for every footfall Sometimes I wish that you could know The perfect loneliness of knowing that I gotta go in the dark ‘cross the empty lot where ragged trailers park We’ve gotten used to living well It’s hard to wake up feeling grateful Is our contentedness a virtue Or a gently numbing spell? I know that you and I find beauty in the day to day Find love, find music in the world we made The day to day light, the day to day tenderness displayed You and I may not fight We’ll stay up and talk all night Sacrificing some rest To the tightness in our chests Sometimes I wish that we would fight To feel the righteousness of knowing there is wrong and right – not for us Just the steady rasp of wool against the rust The crashing waves of push and pull We’re always looking for the answer What if the answer’s not decisive? A repeating decimal I know that you and I find beauty in the day to day Find love, find music in the world we made The day to day light, the day to day tenderness displayed
4.
Meet me at the Archer Library Ivory arches reach to granite sky A campus rejecting artificial water The snow drifts fill fountains; desolate and dry Here we are lost in the stacks again - two errant books Turned around; lost in the stacks again Sometimes it feels good to be marked with a code and scanned and filed away Here we are lost in the stacks again Like the architect who dreamed in white boxes We fix on fields and miss the sky You can’t take the prairie out of the prairies You can’t build a future where modernism came to die Here we are lost in the stacks again - two errant books Turned around; lost in the stacks again Sometimes it feels good to be marked with a code and scanned and filed away Here we are lost in the stacks again We map and we plan and we build systems We print and we bind our best wisdom We walk through the stacks with eyes open And we get lost anyway Here we are lost in the stacks again - two errant books Turned around; lost in the stacks again Sometimes it feels good to be marked with a code and scanned and filed away Here we are lost in the stacks again
5.
You are so beautiful and ostentatious Sailing through life, making everyone blush And I will never get away from your blue eyes until one of us dies: Probably me, tomorrow, when our flirtation dries It’ll be me I know you’re out there Looking at someone better than me And that is what robs me of my ability to look you in the eye Can’t look at your eyes, into them, any more You are too much to everyone To be anything to grumpy little me So I’ll be sitting outside by your blue Cavalier for a while Chastened and cold, pathetic, nursing my pride It’ll be me I know you’re out there Looking at someone better than me And that is what robs me of my ability to look you in the eye Can’t look at your eyes, into them, any more Sometimes it’s simple and sweet for a spell And sometimes I lie to myself and you as well ‘cause I can’t be what you want And you can’t be what I want In the end, that’s OK I know you’re out there Looking at someone better than me And that is what robs me of my ability to look you in the eye Can’t look at your eyes, into them, any more
6.
On the Level 03:48
I’ve been runnin’ around and still I can’t live it down I may never get another job in this town But I’ll be on the level, on the level I’ll be on the level, on the level How did it go down? How did I come to fail? Run out of office riding a rail Did my independence chafe? Not part of the establishment Whispers and rumours wherever I went I crashed the old boys club and they never forgave me Then here came the cronies to take out my knees Never dreamed that they’d succeed, now I’m left to watch them gloat While I clean the kitchen in my house coat I’ve been runnin’ around and still I can’t live it down I may never get another job in this town But I’ll be on the level, on the level I’ll be on the level, on the level The world was at my feet. Why did it have to end? I was admired; I still had friends When the world is at your feet, it’s easy to forget The tiniest movements cause an upset When your face is in a magazine people try to turn the page Denying your value; ignoring your rage But I’m damn well gonna be heard, I’ve got nothing to hide The tale may be sordid, but I never lied I’ve been runnin’ around and still I can’t live it down I may never get another job in this town But I’ll be on the level, on the level I’ll be on the level, on the level
7.
Steady as your gaze that makes me nervous Molecules arrange to form a surface Hardened in a glaze of your volition I don’t want to talk. I want to listen Signals out of phase, at a cross-purpose Sinusoidal waves that leave me speechless Just as well, for now – mute like a statue I don’t want to talk. I want to know you. If I knew my name, I’d sing it gently Sibilant and tame and damp and breathy I know it’s not enough to seek admission I don’t want to talk. I want to listen. If nothing ever changed, I’d want to know you If nothing stayed the same, I’d want to know you
8.
Got a letter in the mail today and it said, “More exams and tests are on their way, so best prepare yourself” And I thought, “Who the hell sends letters anymore?” My life, in the hands of luddites. Who could ask for more? They can pump me full of gadolinium - I don’t care They can watch as magnets circle in the air I want you to know that they may shake my heart and peer and frown surrounded by residents I want you to know I will not back down Though I feel the resonance I may be in the minority when I say My physicians are not gods to me, and neither should they be They are smart, but fallible. At the end of the day, They’re attendants at a car wash; I’m a muddy Chevrolet They can pump me full of gadolinium - I don’t care and they can watch as magnets circle in the air I want you to know that they may shake my heart and peer and frown surrounded by residents I want you to know I will not back down though I feel the resonance So happy new year – same as last year We hold up our pictures to the light Interpret the shapes – decipher smears It’s not clear. It’s not clear. It’s not clear. They can pump me full of gadolinium - I don’t care and they can watch as magnets circle in the air I want you to know that they may shake my heart and peer and frown surrounded by residents I want you to know I will not back down though I feel the resonance
9.
I’ve got something to lose but that is a problem too (All it takes is) One day and one crooked line to ruin a perfect view These days it’s tough to say that things won’t fall apart So I will gather up the string and tie a knot Entropy and fear Entropy and fear – I can feel the Entropy and fear, ‘cause I’ve got something to lose I’ve got something to lose The more I get the more that I have to lose I’ve got something to lose Time past – happiness was finding an open door Now I strive and I grasp, reaching for something more Let’s say I was born on second base and walked to third Where did I get it in my head that I deserved? Entropy and fear Entropy and fear – I can feel the Entropy and fear, ‘cause I’ve got something to lose I’ve got something to lose The more I get the more that I have to lose I’ve got something to lose I’m as cynical as anyone you’re thinkin’ of But I’m not down for nihilism And I won’t let the fear annihilate my love Entropy and fear Entropy and fear – we can beat the Entropy and fear, ‘cause I’ve got something to lose I’ve got something to lose The more I get the more that I have to lose I’ve got something to lose
10.
Under the light of the VLT I see you Looking alive as you play Coins fall away You are so beautiful you know In the VLT’s blue glow Under the light Only the stains in carpet lie between us How could I break your gaze? Who would look at me that way? It’s clear enough to see My heart is playing me Under the light I’ll be dreaming of Your Led Zeppelin t-shirt All night And I’ll be wondering How you came to be near It’s not right The shadows are too deep – under the light After three pints of four-dollar beer I’m swaying That joke must have killed And I’d dance if you will But your partner is a screen pecuniary dreams Under the light I’ll be dreaming of Your Led Zeppelin t-shirt All night And I’ll be wondering How you came to be near Its not right The shadows are too deep – under the light
11.
Talk 04:04
Finding new horizons in backseat driving I can micromanage the slicing of a lime I don't like driving but I can steer just fine My exhortations are stale and asinine ‘Cause I talk and I talk - please don't listen when I talk and I talk - please don’t listen The pulse of an extrovert trapped in an introvert – no one's more tired than me ‘Cause I talk and I talk - please don't listen to me All my best intentions are ash in my mouth Better to be silent than remove all doubt I’m learning slowly in spaces between sighs You find it tiring. I see it in your eyes ‘Cause I talk and I talk - please don't listen when I talk and I talk - please don’t listen The pulse of an extrovert trapped in an introvert – no one's more tired than me ‘Cause I talk and I talk - please don't listen to me “Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet” Would be just as useful “Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet” Can you hear what I’m trying to say? ‘Cause I talk and I talk - please don't listen when I talk and I talk - please don’t listen The pulse of an extrovert trapped in an introvert - no one's more tired than me ‘Cause I talk and I talk - please don't listen to me
12.
Each passing day I love a little deeper I walk these cold streets with warmth in my heart. Each passing day we move a little closer Even those days when we are apart In the evenings at home, when I’m happy and safe, anxiety gives way to calm The bitterness abrades my skin, but you are my balm Will you wrap me up in your arms And tell me that everything is going to be OK? Each passing day I love a little deeper I walk these cold streets with warmth in my heart. Each passing day we move a little closer Even those days when we are apart When I’m boarding that plane for a week far away, your parting smile is my shield The indignity of air travel won’t bring me to heel Will you call me when I’m about to yield And tell me that everything is going to be OK? Each passing day I love a little deeper I walk these cold streets with warmth in my heart. Each passing day we move a little closer Even those days when we are apart

about

Thirteen years after Home Again, Polymaths continue to layer searching melodies over a shifting blend of synth-inflected rock, country, and pop performed by singer-songwriter Craig Fink, original Polymaths member Matthew Blackwell, Mason Pitzel (These Estates), and Rhiannon Ward.

Written between 2006 and 2018, a remainder mark finds Polymaths focused on the details of days that accumulate into a life: the creaking floorboard in a hallway when you’re trying not to wake a loved one; the stray comment that ruins a good mood; long problem-solving conversations with a partner; moments when all the contingencies of life come exploding into view.

This is Polymaths’ final album, but Mason, Matthew, and Craig continue as Belonging (belongingrock.bandcamp.com) and are joined by Rhiannon in Spruce Island (spruceisland.bandcamp.com).

credits

released November 4, 2022

Matthew Blackwell - Guitar, Bass
Craig Fink - Vocals, Bass, Guitar, Keyboards
Mason Pitzel - Drums, Guitar
Rhiannon Ward - Vocals

Lyrics by Craig Fink; Music by Polymaths
Recorded and mixed by Mason Pitzel
Mastered by Chris Goosman, Baseline Audio
Album art by Mason Pitzel

Special thanks to Patrick Barks, Jake Bergen, John Cameron, and Erin Passmore for contributions to Polymaths projects over the years

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Polymaths Edmonton, Alberta

Heartfelt songs from prairie people.

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