Anatomy of a song

I love the in-between songs on albums; the musical interludes or really mellow songs where it seems half the band aren’t playing. Neko Case has a number of these amazing songs.

That was the genesis of this song, “Hazel Eyes.” It started out as a verse and chorus at practice one night:

I wrote the words for the chorus, Mandi wrote the verses with input from Ben. The song’s focus is on that moment you realize that someone you’re in love with doesn’t love you anymore. It’s not the break-up moment, but just that sudden realization that you try to suppress, until the inevitable happens and the relationship finally falls apart.

The most disturbing thing about the song, though, is the use of the word hazel, as Hazel is my daughter’s name. I really tried to avoid this, but nothing else worked – “brown eyes,” “blue eyes,” “cold eyes,” “you’re an unfeeling jerk eyes…” and the list goes on.

I imagine The Avett Brothers had a similar problem with their song “January Wedding,” because how many people really choose January to get married. February is the only other phrase that works in the chorus; all other months would sound ridiculous. The band felt we were in a similar situation, so they convinced me to keep “hazel,” as that was the best two-syllable descriptor. We also eventually got the whole band involved musically, even adding our newest member, Tamika, as our second vocal.

While not the best quality, I hope these two videos give a little insight into the songwriting process and how songs often evolve from a simple refrain into a finished piece, and how the original idea mutates throughout the process to include other elements unforeseen at the moment of inspiration.

And by the way, we look all goofy in the video below because this was a Halloween show, and we dressed as the Addams Family. (Trust me, it looked a lot better if you were at the show, with a couple of drinks in you.)

The Devil May Care

This one had a bizarre beginning. It was written as winter approached in 2009. Sam and I (Michael) came up with almost identical guitar parts for the verse. It likely spawned from both of us noodling around on something at practice a month or two earlier, but the similarity was astonishing. Sam's verse won out (an additional chord in his made it more interesting), along with a cool little transition thing he came up with during the singing of the phrase "the devil may care." My part evolved into the chorus.

The lyrics came from a cold, gray day, a job I was fed up with, fear of losing said job, the shitty economy, local stores closing, friends underwater financially, my crappy attitude, everyone else’s crappy attitude – really sunshiny stuff! I tried to hide these emotions under the guise of a relationship falling apart, but the second verse pretty much does away with the disguise and speaks more directly to what I was feeling at the time.

However, I also like to laugh, or at least to smile, during dark times, so I named the girl giving advice to the narrator “Janey,” as my little homage to Lou Reed’s infamous Jane in “Sweet Jane” and “Rock and Roll.” I also liked the picture of a 50-something Jane, who has seen it all, doling out life lessons to a younger cohort at a dive bar, in the early hours of a morning that doesn’t hold much promise. 

It's 2:00 am, I'm out again
Thursday night downtown
I just smoke my cigarettes and stare

I've been through all the ups and downs
The good times and the bad
The good times don't come around much anymore

Janey said I should have left long ago
It's my own fault that I stayed
"All those years, you know, they don't fade away"

But if the years don't fade your soul sure does
Til there's nothing left inside
And all you can do is throw your hands in the air

Cause the devil may care

And I can see it going on
This world is meant to do you harm
I'm too tired to win this fight
I'm so sick of the sleepless nights
I throw my hands in the air

Cause the devil may care
But I don't care

It's been so long since I've been proud of anything I've done
The money's gone and I can't find my way

Honesty's lost and loyalty's gone
The sharks have had their say
The water's thick with blood from the undead

I lay around and watch TV, I wander through downtown
Past the boarded homes that closed long ago

It's a hopeless time and no help’s in sight
I'm stuck here all alone
And all I can do is throw my hands in the air

Cause the devil may care

And I see it going on
This world is meant to do you harm
I'm too tired to win this fight
I'm so sick of the sleepless nights
I throw my hands in the air

Cause the devil may care
But I don't care

Mum's this Friday, October 29 - 10:00 PM

Mum's was voted as City Paper's best bar in Federal Hill. Come join us in true Halloween fashion to celebrate!

Beautiful Day

This song began with a drum beat and bass line, and a vocal idea about how responsibility can be a downright drag at times. A lot of people in the band have young kids, and as much as we love them, they can be absolutely exhausting.

We also have full-time jobs that can be pretty demanding. Between the two, you find yourself longing for just one day where you can shut everything off, forget about all of your responsibilities and sleep in.

The “sleeping in” is the real focus of the lyrics. You can read it as being a “sex in the morning” thing, but the lyrics weren’t intended to be that way. This isn’t our “Afternoon Delight,” as, quite frankly, that would be repulsive—take a good look at the photo of the Starland Vocal Band: 

do you really want to envision Larry from The Regal Beagle (http://tinyurl.com/24dq3lk) having sex?

Thought not. If you have to think of it in that way, think of it as more of our Raspberry Beret (http://tinyurl.com/24lhstk). We can live with that one. Otherwise, take it for what it is – a song about giving the finger to the rat race and rolling over for a few more pleasant hours of dreamtime next to the one you love.

Sunrise signals a bright new dawn

But I don’t feel like getting up on my own

Think I’ll turn back over

Close my sleepy eyes

And stay for a beautiful day

Baby, we work so hard

And we deserve to ignore the alarm

Let’s lie here together

Screw the world outside

And stay for a beautiful day

We need a break from the pressure and the worthless stress that beats down on us all week

Let’s damn the consequences leave our bosses to their messes and forget about everything

Cause all I wanna do is wrap you up in my arms and keep you close to my heart 

And stay for a beautiful day

The Name

Michael here, to give you a little history on the band name. First off, choosing a band name flat-out sucks. I’m convinced there are no good band names—all sound stupid depending on your perspective. And unless you want to tie yourself to a genre (Metallathrax Garden), the best bet is to choose a name based on a story.

The Black Marks came about thanks to my mother-in-law. She’s a sweet-as-pie woman, unbelievably good-natured, but very, very religious – like church every day religious. When my not-yet-wife Karen and I decided to move in together (in our 30s!), it took Karen three weeks to tell her mother. Her father, sister and other assorted extended family all new, but none of them were going to mention a thing until she did.

When Karen finally got up the nerve to tell her saintly mother, silence was the response. When further prodded, her mother expressed deep concern and worry, because now Karen would forever carry a black mark upon her soul.

Karen had no idea how to even process, yet respond, to this statement. I think her quote was something like “okay…all right…we’re good, then?” Mine was to file it away in my brain for a potential band name.

Once all the musicians were in place in the band, we went through a slew of horrid names I’m not going to repeat (as most of them were my fault) before settling on The Black Marks. It works because I think every member of the band, except me, is a Black Mark – poor pity-worthy sinners who laughed in the face of Godly law, just like my wife. How do I escape the black mark? Easy. I’m a divorcee, so me moving in with Karen was post-marital, not pre. Thank God for loopholes, eh?

Closer to the Bone

Closer to the Bone

This song is a weird one, because no one is really playing anything straight on it, except the bass. It’s all atmosphere—Chris is using mallets on the drums, Sam and Michael are making a bunch of guitar noise, as is Ben on keyboards. Mandi’s vocals and Carole’s bass are what are holding it together. We recorded a practice video of this as we’ve never been able to hear it properly—all we typically hear is the person sitting next to us.

The song grew out of a Christmas benefit show our friend Sean Marsh puts together every year for a women’s shelter. Of course, the show date coincided with one of the largest snowstorms in Maryland history, so the date had to be moved until after Christmas. As a result, attendance was low. It wound up being a fairly depressing and lonely night, with only about 20 attendees not associated with the performers, despite the great cause. In this frame of mind, the lyrics came forth, incorporating (hopefully) the loneliness and insecurity of the night and the situation too many women find themselves in.

The music of this song is verse/chorus, verse/chorus. No bridge, no extravagance. At the end of the song, the music just hangs in the air—a metaphor for the mental limbo of being unable to separate from the past and move on to a better future.

Here are the song and lyrics:



It’s a mystery
To everyone but me
But oh, if these walls could talk

You’re all action
I’m all fumbling hands
And oh, my quivering voice won’t give it away

I can’t figure it out
Some days you’re gone and some others you’re begging me to stay
Is this the deal that we made ten years ago
When we took those sacred vows on our wedding day?

I didn’t think so
I hope you know so
May god forgive me
Because I can’t take it anymore

Does this pain you?
Are you dead inside?
Am I closer to the bone?

The kids are crying
Do I stay for them?
I know it can’t be for me

You show them moments of kindness
You show them months of misery
You show them just how much I can take
You show them brutality

Does this pain you?
Are you dead inside?
Am I closer to the bone?

Hiya

Welcome to The Black Marks blog. On a weekly basis (hopefully), we will be posting lyrics with the thought process behind them, bios and ramblings on what's happening with the band.

As an introduction, we're a band that formed in the Spring of 2009 in Baltimore, MD. We have three members in their 20s, one member in his 30s and three members in their 40s. Somehow or other, we've managed to incorporate the influences of three decades into a something that sounds like us.

If you're in the Baltimore area, we hope you come out for a show. We'll soon have a free 5 song E.P. up for download on our website (www.theblackmarks.com), and you can listen to our music on ReverbNation, or hopefully on this page (if I can get the widget installed correctly).

Good talking to you and hope you enjoy what's to come.