Gary Marks “Castles” and “I Guess It Never Stops”
Americana Highways is premiering these two video from Gary Marks recently released album Crossroads: “Castles” and “I Guess it Never Stops.” “Castles,” first recorded in 1977, was engineered and mixed by Bob Schumaker in Berkeley, California. “I Guess it Never Stops” was recorded in 1988, and was engineered by Mary Ann Zohorsky and mixed by Moira Marquis.
Musicians on “Castles” (1977) are Gary Marks on vocals and piano; Bill Douglass on acoustic bass; Kurt Wortman on drums and percussion. Musicians on “I Guess It Never Stops” (1988) are Gary Marks on vocals, drums, 12 string guitar; Stef Burns on acoustic lead guitar; Tony Saunders on bass;
As Gary tells us about “I Guess It Never Stops,” “I wrote this song in 1988. Political lies, corruption, corporations were eating the planet alive. Almost forty years later — same story, bigger stakes. We keep tearing down the place we live in and calling it progress. Future generations aren’t going to ask what happened, they’re going to be living in it. I called this song “I Guess It Never Stops.” I meant it as a warning in 1988. In 2026, I’m hoping my “guess” is wrong.”
And regarding “Castles,” Gary says, “I wrote ‘Castles’ in 1976, right after Nixon’s presidency imploded. He was a president so addicted to power he didn’t care about laws, or fair elections, or the country he was supposed to protect. Exactly fifty years later, we’re living with Nixon 2.0. This country is starting to look like one of the ones they warned us about in grade school — a country with no heart, no care about future generations. The last line of the song still holds true: ‘Lack of compassion has in the past sunken castles like yours beneath the sea.”
The warnings on “I Guess It Never Stops” are alarmingly more prescient than ever: “We’ve been called back to Eden because we’ve done something wrong out there, We were supposed to learn something but we just multiplied the fear.” With “Castles” the “no Kings” protest sign footage underscores the relevance four decades later. “Now it’s gotten so that you yourself don’t know what you do.” Whew. It’s disappointing to realize these songs are more relevant than ever. But they make good choices to get in the mood for the next protest and for listening to on your way to the ballot box.
Discover more information here on his website: https://www.garymarksmusic.com
Enjoy some of our previous coverage here: Song Premiere: Gary Marks “Sky High”
