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.

The Night I Swore I'd Leave You

from Beneath a Balcony by Marc M Cogman

/

  • Streaming + Download

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

      name your price

     

  • Buy the Full Digital Album

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    For those of you who want the genuine article. This the disc sold off the stage at Marc's shows - 11 songs with a beautiful digipak full of photos, lyrics and credits. With purchase comes an automatic digital download of the album.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Beneath a Balcony via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $10 USD or more 

     

  • Full Digital Discography

    8
    releases

    Get all 8 Marc M Cogman releases available on Bandcamp and save 25%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Dead Messengers, Nothing is Fantastic, Ink and Hollow Bones: The Albatross Demos, Albatross, Kill the Messenger: Live & Rarities (2006-2009), Anthems, Beneath a Balcony, and Welcome to the Danger Show. , and , .

    Purchasable with gift card

      $52.49 USD or more (25% OFF)

     

about

The last song written for Beneath a Balcony, tracking was already underway for the album and nearly complete when I finished this song. This is one of the reasons for the unconventional instrumentation. Due to its reliance on hand-percussion and other odd textural elements (such as the autoharp), it’s been performed live only a few times. My good friend Buffy Hublebank provides the backing vocals.

Easily one of the saddest songs I’ve ever written, I considered scuttling the song for fear of it being just too depressing. Considering the overall tone of my body of work, that’s saying something. Now that my first marriage is well-behind me, it’s easier to admit what inspired these lyrics. Looking at it now, I think of it as a sort of cautionary tale, an example of what I always find to be a compelling narrative element – the “near-epiphany” – in which a protagonist seems primed to turn an important corner but falls just short.

lyrics

On the night I swore I'd leave you, I go out driving in my car, running circles for an hour round an empty parking lot. And I know you're back home sleeping, with the television on, but I just sit here, wide-awake, wondering if you'll even call. But you won't call. And I'm done trying with you, and lying to you, because I know the truth, it's not all right. On the night.

On the night I swore I'd leave you, I think about when we began - how a single day away from you was more than I could stand. Now I'm contemplating history and what it means to be a man, feeling weaker every moment, with the future in my hands. And I'm through pleading with you and bleeding for you when I what I need is the truth: can we make this right? On the night.

On the night I swore I'd leave you, I think about a brand new start. And someone else to pull me close and melt the splinter in my heart. Maybe the bird who brings me bottles, or the green-eyed girl on stage, someone unaware of all the stupid choices that I've made. And I'm through pleading with you and bleeding with you, because I know the truth, we won't survive.

No we can't survive. We ain't gonna survive. You do this one more night, and I'll leave you next time. I swear I'll leave you next time. I'll swear I'll leave you next time. Some other night.

credits

from Beneath a Balcony, released August 4, 2009
Marc M Cogman - acoustic guitar, vocals, autoharp, percussion, harmonica
Frogs - electric bass
Giulio Carmassi - B3 Hammond organ
Justin Siegel - drums
Buffy Hublebank - backing vocals

Produced by Justin Siegel and Marc M Cogman

Recorded at Radar! (Los Angeles, CA) by Justin Siegel and Eddie Jackson and Black Truffle Studio (Los Angeles, CA) by Giulio Carmassi

Mixed at Radar! (Los Angeles, CA) by Eddie Jackson

Mastered at Archon (Sherman Oaks, CA) by Aris Archontis

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Marc M Cogman image

Marc M Cogman Oklahoma

contact / help

Contact Marc M Cogman

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this track or account

If you like Marc M Cogman, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Beans joins the show to discuss his album release, "ZWAARD".

listen now