We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Encanto

by Paris Street

/

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $7 USD  or more

     

  • Full Digital Discography

    32
    releases

    Get all 32 Paris Street releases available on Bandcamp and save 45%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of The Fade, I Want To Write A Song About That, Brief Feelings, Copenhagen, London, Everything And Less, Sparks, Mostly, and 24 more. , and , .

    Purchasable with gift card

      $89.61 USD or more (45% OFF)

     

1.
The Shore 03:28
lyrics
buy track
The oscillating airport drone Frog croaks and grackle chirps Salsa from speakers in the greenery The jacuzzi’s whir Somewhere there’s the shore Eroded but persistent Despite everything
2.
Lonely Paradise 05:01
lyrics
buy track
Could it be so straightforward? Could it be that precise? Such a waste to be pining In this lonely paradise Don’t admit – don’t acknowledge Try not to disengage Still so close to the could’ves But too weak and too meek to make a change What’s the point in distressing If there’s no one to be with? No distinction – nothing special In the end, who is really missed?
3.
The Previous Visit 03:04
lyrics
buy track
You needed to piss so you walked in the ocean I stood by the rocks in my ill-fitting trunks With exhausted legs that were struggling to keep up I had a month but you only had two days So we whizzed along at a breakneck speed Exploring as much as we could between stops at the beach From the east to west coasts Atlantic to Carib Into the interior To see that James Bond thing I never watched the Brosnans So I thought it was just okay But I was not the one leading the way At a rooftop bar with octopus salad Plantains and snapper and of course mojitos By the jewelry store my father managed long ago Up at the fort where a memory was triggered By the pungency from inside a sentry box You let me linger a bit before we continued our walk From the east to west coasts Atlantic to Carib Dodging highway iguanas It was the darnedest thing And at the rainforest We saw the parrots go Just before you had to catch your flight home And I’d be stuck leading the next way on my own
4.
The Resort Bar 04:09
lyrics
buy track
At the resort bar Facing the sea Two success stories Next to me They’re talking real estate Their golf game Over cheeseburgers and fries No croquettes or plantains in sight Such a shame From the airport to the resort gates To the golf course and nowhere in between Up and down the waterslide Successfully skirting reality But I’m here, too It was part of the plan Am I out of place? Do I just think I am? There are B & B’s There are motels Local options unexplored Up the hill or by the shore Well, oh well But at least I skip the golf course, right? At least I venture out beyond the gates Who the hell am I to judge or assume They didn’t try the plantains? From the airport to the resort gates To the golf course and nowhere in between You should really try the waterslide And successfully skirt reality But at least I skip the golf course At least I venture out beyond the resort gates At least that’s what I tell myself At least I had the croquettes and the plantains
5.
I Almost Ran Over A Pig 03:31
lyrics
buy track
I almost ran over a pig In the neighborhood where I once lived Shuffling in and out of the road By the street below my old home Now all littered with debris Walls covered in graffiti Where I ran wild once as a kid I almost ran over a pig
6.
What Would It Take? 01:53
lyrics
buy track
What would it take to get you to come here? How can I convince you that it would be The best choice you could make To drop everything right away And catch the next flight down to be with me What would you miss if you left now? If you ditched the grind of life for a couple days? And instead spent your time In a rum-filled paradise Far from the conventional malaise This is for you – I’m sincere It’s not at all because I’m lonely here
7.
An Intersection In Bayamón 02:07
lyrics
buy track
There’s a man Selling water, Cokes, and Powerade He’s the one And the only Who can move within this maze Of metal parts and plastic And the signs of life within Wondering if they’ll ever Get to move again Traffic lights Are not working At rush hour’s peak A left turn in This mayhem’d be A medal-worthy feat There’s no plan but pushing forward Despite its hopelessness No alternative, no plan B No way out of this cursed mess Amid the futileness of car honks He calmly shuffles by With no fear of impact The laws of motion don’t apply
8.
Boquerón 05:05
lyrics
buy track
Looking out at the water, calm and clear Seems it’d be effortless to walk from this short pier Out to the sailboat that is gently passing by In this gentle afternoon, this gently wistful time I’ve no idea whether it’s high season or low If tourists make their way here I do not know A fruit juice seller is calling it a day Otherwise I’m the only one here at this bay There is proof that I have been here before Stashed away in some closet or some drawer Two photographs in fading Kodachrome Two moments captured over forty years ago A family on the beach – a husband, wife, and child Another in the womb, to be born in a short while Then once again after the three turned into four Returning to the same spot, smiling by the shore I guess that I should feel some sort of reverence Should linger here and maybe stay for the sunset But it’s not my memory – to call it so would be a reach In the end, for me, it is just another beach So I take a picture so I can send it to my mom Take it all in one more time before heading on The sailboat’s out of view and the juice stand is closed I leave the beach, the bay, the calm, gentle tableau
9.
Mayagüez 02:32
lyrics
buy track
Mayagüez A mellow night, good company Happiness A thankfully familiar seat A welcome smile A simple gesture means so much So worthwhile Leaves me genuinely touched By the warmth of all around me A graciousness that is abounding Drifts along all my surroundings And mingles with the breeze Mayagüez Far from scammy resort fees Far from stress A perfect night, great company Whose kindness is so resounding Exuding warmth that’s all around me And found within all my surroundings After oh-so-much, so much rebounding From the unthinkable and confounding With a perseverance that’s astounding I’m oh-so glad to be around it There’s no place I’d rather be
10.
Oscar 02:52
lyrics
buy track
Oscar was a taxi driver – maybe he still is He told me of his family – of his wife and kids On the way to the cruise port Near the place where I was born He always was available when I needed a ride Offered up his services, even at odd times He bought me rum on Thanksgiving, knew I was far from home He sent me off with a warm hug, that was three years ago So much has changed since then (Quite an understatement) I’m back now and all I’d like Is word that he’s alright Oscar, wherever you may be, may your life be well lived I hope you’re with your family – with your wife and kids

about

Things to do in Isla Verde at 10pm:

1) Walk the beach. There’s never a wrong time to walk the beach.

2) Hit up the bar at whatever hotel you’re staying. Get to know your fellow tourists, and marvel at their inability to properly pronounce the local beer (Medalla), even though it’s stupid easy.

3) Hit up the casino at either the Embassy Suites or the Courtyard.

4) Catch some live music inside the El San Juan hotel, which I assume is a thing (I’m basing this solely on the billboard I’ve walked past nearly every day for the last 3 months).

5) Swim in the ocean after hitting the bar, and/or winning/losing at the casino (you will most likely lose – ain’t no loose slots here), and/or catching some live music. A little drunken nightswimming never hurt anyone.

6) Hang out at the nearby 24-hour convenient store/coffeeshop/bakery/bar that’s surprisingly hopping all the time.

7) Chat with some nice locals and ex-pats over at the Café 101 bar next to the currently-shuttered Ritz-Carlton. They’re open til 6am, so pace yourself.

8) Like, cherish your time with whichever friends or loved ones you’ve chosen to vacation with.

I didn’t choose any of these options. At 10pm, in Isla Verde, by the ocean, by the bars, by the casinos, by the nightlife of this beautiful island of enchantment, I made music. For 16 straight days. Then I paused for Thanksgiving. Then I got back to it.

What a waste.

---

It was not all in Isla Verde. There were a couple days in Mayagüez, on the western side. After Thanksgiving, there were 3 days in Ponce. In December, there were return trips to Mayagüez, then to Aguadilla, and Manatí (where the slots actually are a little looser). But most of the music-making – in particular, recording the vocals – was in Isla Verde.

Those places are just where I rested my head after those 10pm music-making sessions. During the day, I traveled to pretty much every city on the island, from Aguada to . . . oh, let’s assume Yauco is at the end of the Puerto-Rican-city alphabet. At the end of the day, I’d think, “Okay, what happened today?”, then try to fit the answer around a melody. A nearly-impossible left turn attempt in Bayamón. A gal who smiled at me in just the perfect way while at a restaurant in Mayagüez. A stop at the calm waters of Boquerón. When I couldn’t come up with words, I’d write an instrumental and name it after the town I spent the most time in that day (Lares, Gurabo, Humacao). When I couldn’t come up with words, but knew that the song I was working on just had to have some lyrics, I’d turn to the past, which would bring me back to Isla Verde, then a short ways over to San Juan
.
---

This is my third time in Puerto Rico. During my second time here, at the end of 2016, I walked one morning from Isla Verde to the San Juan neighborhood of Santurce, to the hospital where I was born (and that would be my first time here). Also during that second time, a friend joined me for a weekend, and we explored Old San Juan, then headed off to the rainforest, then off to Ponce, then off again to see the giant radio telescope south of Arecibo. During the last weeks of that second time, I befriended a taxi driver who helped me get around town while dealing with some bureaucratic red-tape garbage that still gives me a headache when I think about it. His name was Oscar.

All that found its way into these songs. As did the shoreline by my hotel in Isla Verde. As did the coquis that sing their mating call throughout the night. And as did a pig that I almost hit with my car in Rio Piedras, another San Juan neighborhood, the one where I grew up before my family decided to move to Florida.

---

It was not my intention to record a song a day, much less an album (or two), while here. I brought my usual gear that I travel with – my laptop, headphones, an audio interface, and a microphone – and was prepared to use it mainly to work on the mixes for a separate batch of songs that would hopefully form the basis for the next Paris Street album. I’ve yet to get started on those mixes. Instead, here’s an altogether-different album (or two).

That next album was (and still might be) going to be a little different from the last couple year’s-worth of Paris Street releases, for three reasons:

1) It was going to move away from synths and DAWS and focus more on actual analog instrumentation.

2) It was going to feature more collaborators.

3) Lyrically, it was going to start moving away from the ‘get drunk and screw around’ trope that I felt had reached its conclusion with last year’s 'You' and 'You (Too)'.

So, of course, all the music on 'Encanto' was made on the laptop, using a digital audio workstation called LMMS. It’s all performed by me, the first truly-solo Paris Street release in a while, which I consider a bad thing. But the lyrics are indeed different. It’s more personal. It’s more concise (the word count, unlike with this post, is much lower than usual). It’s a sexless album, with by-far the lowest alcohol content of any Paris Street release. I consider that a good thing.

One out of three ain’t too bad.

--

Three more things, not in order of importance:

1) This album is not and never was intended to be some sort of anthropological record of Puerto Rico in the final months of 2019. There are no bird sounds or field recordings or any such nonsense to make you think, ‘wow, he really is there, man’. I did not bring in local musicians to help Paul Simon things up. These are simply the melodies that popped in my head at the time, at 10pm, and the words that I chose to wrap around those melodies.

2) 'Encanto' has 10 songs, part of my general rule that no albums should be longer than that (my 100-song compilation album, 'Curtains', is exempt from this rule). I finished 20 songs while in Puerto Rico, which includes those instrumentals that I named after small towns. Those songs will be found on . . . sigh . . . 'Encantoo', which will be out on 21 February.

3) There is a gigantic, destructive elephant in the room, one that is alluded to in multiple songs but never mentioned by either it’s regular, descriptive noun or it’s randomly-chosen proper name. In the conversations that I had during the time I was writing and recording these songs, that noun and that name were never mentioned, only alluded to. I opted to do the same with these recordings (of course, if I had recorded these songs this month – with a new disaster bringing back memories of an all-too-recent other – then that might have been different).

Thanks for reading. Enjoy.

cp.
Isla Verde, 10pm or so, 21 January 2020

credits

released January 23, 2020

Written and performed by Carl Polgar.

Original recordings: 12 November to 02 December 2019, in the cities of Carolina, Ponce, and Mayagüez.
Overdubs and vocals for tracks 1-7: 12 December to 22 December 2019, in the cities of Carolina, Aguadilla, and Manatí.
Vocals for tracks 8-10 recorded in Sacramento, California, 28 December to 30 December 2019.

Cover photo: Punta El Medio on the previous visit, November 2016.

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Paris Street image

Paris Street Sacramento, California

Catchy shit

contact / help

Contact Paris Street

Streaming and
Download help

Report this album or account

If you like Paris Street, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Featuring Riley Pinkerton (aka The Rat Queen) from the theatrical NYC rockers, Castle Rat.
listen now