Crowded Bed & Both Sides

Here are a couple of new recordings I just put up on my YouTube page. These songs were written within a month of each other, and about a month after my ex-wife and I split up.
I always wanted to do a concept album about that 7-year relationship using all of the songs I wrote about her (my most prolific period of songwriting), with these two songs as the bookends. It would have started with Crowded Bed, and then ended with Both Sides, with everything else sort of chronicling our relationship on a timeline.

It would have included “I love you, Baby” songs, “I fucking hate you” songs, and of course, “I fucking hate myself” songs.

Good stuff!

Then, a lot of time passed, and now I cannot remember why I wanted to devote so much energy to such an idea. We get along okay nowadays, but she still tries her damnedest to pretend the 7 years of her life that we were together never happened.

I have since looked at all of the songs that I wrote for her and want to detach her from them all. I mean, they’re good songs; why waste them now?

Some day, I’ll tell you all my concept for the “Me and Whoever” album I have had for some time.

Anyway, these two songs will be interlinked forever, and so I present them as a matching set. I hope you enjoy.

Oh, and one important note: “Crowded Bed” is one of three piano songs I have posted. I am not a real piano player, and I could have played guitar instead, but the song was designed to be played on the piano, and so I wanted to give it a go. You might notice me sticking my tongue out while I’m playing. That’s my “concentrating real hard” face.

Also, Both Sides sounds so much better in my head than what I can do with just an acoustic guitar. I imagine loud, angry guitars screaming in cacophony, sort of like the intro to The Cure’s, “The Kiss.”

Anyhow, There are plenty of videos up on my YouTube page, so please feel free to browse around. All comments are welcome. Thank you!

–
Crowded Bed
–

Crowded Bed
by: Joel C. Marckx
2001/05/27

Two people get together and they know they’re meant to be
They never mind the weather and the waves out on the sea
They can make it through the day without a scuffle or a fight
They can work it out and not care about who’s wrong or right
They don’t worry about what’s been said
I lie alone in this crowded bed, and I wonder what that’s like

Some couples live their lives and remain honest and true
No quick backdoor affairs, no secrets kept from view
One never has to worry why the other is out all night
They’re true to the end and know that everything is alright
They mean every word that’s said
I lie alone in my crowded bed, and I wonder what that’s like

I wonder why it’s been so hard for me
I wonder why I feel like I’ve been set free
I wonder why I’m not as happy as I should be
I wonder why the day has ended, but the moon still isn’t shining down on me

Two people get together and stay happy year after year
Each day seems to get better, their dreams are still perfectly clear
They got it right the first time
They look forward to each night
They would do it all over again
I lie alone in this crowded bed, and I wonder what that’s like

–
Both Sides
–
Both Sides
by: Joel C. Marckx
2001/05/05

–
Baby, if you call on me I won’t turn you away
But I can’t conceive of living with you every single day
I love you, and you know it’s true, but I can’t possibly stay

All I ever wanted was for you to love me true
I tried to give my all and do what you wanted me to do
Now I’ll try to convince myself it’s better that we’re through

I never wanted to think of you as my ex-anything
But time has passed, and now you are my former everything
I searched around the darkness and I could feel nothing

There’s two sides to a story, and there is no wrong or right
Two people get together and they want to hear both sides
I lie alone in my empty bed and I wonder what that’s like

So, Baby, if you crawl to me, I won’t kick you away
But I can’t conceive of arguing my side another day
What is there to fight for when there’s nothing left to say?
And just knowing what we’re losing hurts me more than any words

Wish

This has nothing to do with Mother’s Day.

Here’s a song I wrote a while back. I wanted to share one of my piano songs with you all, just for the sake of variety, and because I needed a reason to practice them.

I have an old Wurlitzer electric piano from the 1960s that is in fairly decent shape, considering that it has never had a tune-up, or even been tuned. It’s in all original condition–for good or ill.

Anyway, this song was written for someone I never should have ever looked twice at. She was married, and there were other complications that I won’t go into now. But we did have a pretty solid flirtation, and I wrote a few songs for her before going our separate ways. Songs like this one–Like Spring, and this one–Rusty Nail, among others.

I have no idea where she is now. Kinda wish that I did, tho.

But then, as special as she may have been at that time, in retrospect, she was really just a distraction from the fact that my marriage had just ended.

Anyhoo, I always loved this song, but it never sounded right on the guitar, and I do not play the piano as often as I should, and so, it just never got let out for air. In fact, NO ONE has ever heard this song before. Not even Liam.

Anyway, here it is–Wish.
I hope you enjoy it.
I have plenty of other videos up on my YouTube page, so please feel free to browse. All comments are welcome!

Thanks for stopping by, and happy Sunday!

–
Wish
by: Joel C. Marckx
2001/06/06

–
You are the single most beautiful woman
That I have ever seen
Your simple words have amazing power
And influence over me
You are so elegant, intelligent
And I feel that not a moment spent has been wasted
Perhaps squandered
For there are no moments now

–
If I only get two hours, I would swim in your eyes
And make no wish for air
And if I only get five minutes, I would tell you all
That I have wished to share
You are everything I wish to find in Heaven
And if I only get ten seconds
I would say I love you
And I wish to find you now

Life Without Proper Internet

At first, I thought it was liberating, but now, as I type this on my iPhone, I grow weary of limited technology. I have gotten soft in my old age.
It was nice to pry myself away from the big glowing screen; to read books, and spend more time playing guitar with my son. And when I did sit in front of the computer, I actually got more work done on my novel.
I hate being addicted to anything, and when I find that I am controlled by anything, I quit. I used to do a lot of drugs when I was younger, and when it got to be a habit, I quit. Just like that.
Same with cigarettes, and alcohol, and coffee, and women. When I am ready to be done, I am done.
But, due to our new society, the Internet is such a harder beast to conquer. I still need it for so many things. And then, there’s this whole blogging thing, which I feel controls me too much as it is.
I have fantasies of going off the grid one hundred percent and shedding all of these electronic shackles, but I think I just need to know what is happening in this world too much.
Next month, I expect to have a new job which will help me to afford proper Internet again in the near future, and I’m sure that I will get sucked back into the whole electronic, narcissistic world.
I do enjoy reading everyone’s blog, and I will continue to do so as long as I have access.
But I really hate the feeling of being controlled!!!

The Traveler

I am not a fan of country music; certainly not modern pop country music, but I have never been one to deny my roots.
I grew up in Northern California, near Central California, which is the center of Oakie-dom. I never did understand why so many Californians had hillbilly accents until it was pointed out to me that all the Oakies that came here during the Depression never left. Duh! (My Mom says that they can all go back home, now).
Musically, I grew up listening to my parents’ John Denver records…and John Stewart, and Kris Kristofferson, and Mickey Newbury, and countless other like-minded artists.
As I got older and developed my own tastes, I listened to a lot of Grateful Dead, Neil Young, and Bob Dylan; which all included plenty of country and folk music.
It’s in my blood.
So, while I am a rocker at heart, and I think that modern country music is an abomination, I still tend to write songs with a countryish flair to them.
This one is called “The Traveler”, and it is one if my personal favorites. It’s more folksy than country, but it is a bit different than my usual fare.
It’s an old song, but not a very old song. I tend to not pay much attention to anything written before 1997, and this was written in 2000.
TMI.
Anyway, here it is. I hope you enjoy it.
There are plenty of other songs on my YouTube page, so please feel free to browse around. As always, all comments are welcome.

Thanks,

joel

The Traveler – by Joel Marckx

Blue Moon Baby

Some folks have asked me about the title for my novel-in-progress–“Blue Moon Baby.” Well, it all started with a song I wrote back in 1998.
The song itself was just another song back then (15 years ago??? Holy Crap!!). Sacramento was going through a particularly rainy winter and spring, and my future ex-wife and I were sick of it all and wanted to get away for good. Thus, a song was born.
Well, fast-forward another 6 or 7 years, and I started to get an idea for a novel, and this song was the center of it all.
What’s the connection, you ask? Well you’ll just have to wait for the novel to complete itself.
Until then, here is another video made from my iPhone of me playing the very song in question.
I hope you enjoy!!
I have plenty more of my songs up on my YouTube page, so please feel free to browse them all. As always, all comments are welcome.

Thanks for stopping by!!

joel

http://youtu.be/Brta7sPsqFQ

So Conditional & Pristine

Here’s a couple more songs of mine, performed and recorded on the fly in Super Lo-Fi.
I write a lot of long songs, and these two are recent attempts at writing shorter songs. Before these, I don’t think that I have ever written anything shorter than three-and-a-half minutes long.
I will be posting some much longer songs in the near future, so stay tuned.
I have many videos up on my YouTube page, so please feel free to peruse them all.
All comments are always welcome.
Thanks for listening!

joel

http://youtu.be/C5X4GIfnxRg

http://youtu.be/emzCp5O42Gw

Brand New Day

Here’s another video. This is one of my favorite songs of mine. It is also one of the saddest songs I have ever written, yet still has a hint of optimism somewhere in there.
It’s a hard song for me to sing (well, they all are, really), so I hope you can all make out the lyrics.
I have plenty if other videos up on my YouTube page, do please feel free to browse around. And, as always, all comments are welcome.
I hope you enjoy!
Thanks for listening.

joel

http://youtu.be/gHIzRQaBzPA

You and I

Here’s a song I wrote a couple years ago, or so. I still consider it a new song because only a few people have heard it yet.
I included the lyrics in a piece of flash fiction I wrote a couple months ago of the same name. You can find that post here…https://jcmarckx.wordpress.com/2013/03/09/you-and-i/
Anyway, I hope you like it. There are plenty of videos up on my YouTube page, so please feel free to browse around.
As always, all comments are welcome.

Thanks for listening!

http://youtu.be/ZcUmbOGZBkU

The Raven

The Internet is defunct! Jesus, he was a handsome man.
Yes, I am still without proper Internet for my home computer, so I cannot post my usual stuff for a while yet.
I can bring you another song of mine, however, and tonight I bring you one of my most recent creations: “The Raven.”
I am proud to say that I am the only person ever to come up with that original title. Don’t bother–I checked.
Anyway, it’s another super Lo-Fi video taken off my iPhone, but it sounds decent enough.
I have posted several new songs on my YouTube page, so please feel free to peruse them all.
As always, all comments are welcome.
Thanks for listening!!

Joel

http://youtu.be/QRXUMCxB9i8

Rusty Nail

Well, I kinda fell off the face of the Earth there for a bit. Hard times have fallen upon the Marckx household and I could not pay the Internet bill. Now all I have is my 3G with limited data, so I won’t be blogging much, but I’ll post something from time to time.
It’s been kinda liberating, actually. Instead of stressing over what I would post each day, I actually read a book (Pigs in Heaven, by Barbara Kingsolver), and made a bunch if progress on my own novel.
But today I bring you something a little different. Here is a video I made of myself playing one of my own songs. Recorded on my iPhone and uploaded to YouTube, this is my first attempt at such a thing. I hope you like it. If it doesn’t totally suck, I’ll do more in the future.
So, here goes. Thanks for stopping by. And candid and honest comments are most welcome, please!

Joel Marckx – Rusty Nail