Take a solid, funk-driven early disco groove, gloss on some modern pop sheen and sing about loving love, but not TOO much love. It's Time For Time Out.

First single from the forthcoming album THEATRE.

Written, arranged & produced by Mark CBH 
Recorded Feb 2021 at Groove Place 2, Penarth, Wales 
Mixed by Mark CBH 
Mastered by Katie Tavini

Time For Time Out - SINGLE

From the forthcoming album THEATRE.

Written, arranged & produced by Mark CBH
Recorded May 2021 at Groove Place 2, Penarth, Wales 
Mixed by Mark CBH 
Mastered by Katie Tavini

Let's Get Away - SINGLE

From the forthcoming album THEATRE.

Written by Mark CBH
Arranged & produced by Mark CBH
Recorded July 2021 at Groove Place 2, Penarth, Wales 
Mixed by Mark CBH 
Mastered by Katie Tavini

I Don't Want You; I Need You - SINGLE

This is the video for my single "I'm On A Low" which is an original song I wrote at the end of 2021. I wanted to write something moody and pondering, which reflects the genius sound of John Barry James Bond themes, with a touch of early 90s era Depeche Mode.

The song itself is about how you can get into a state sometimes where you're just DOWN, and nobody or nothing can really help you, and how (crucially) THAT SHOULD BE OK. If you're having a little introspective downtime then the people closest to you should just let you do you, and work it out in your own way.

Sometimes I will play this song live, just on a piano, and I always wonder if it's just too dark and depressing for a live setting, but without fail each time when I finish the song, the whole room is listening intently.

Once in a blue moon I will get to write a lyric that connects with people and it looks like in this case that's what I've achieved.

I truly truly hope you feel the same way. Please Like and SHARE if you do.

The song was written and recorded at home in Penarth, near Cardiff in South Wales.

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Contact / sync: info@grooveplacemusic.com

*LYRICS*
I’m on a low
It’s not you, no
It’s just the way that I’ve been built

Built on guilt
Guilt and sand
It’s a miracle this house could ever stand

And sometimes life leaves me feeling thus
Feeling just a bit non-plussed
No arguments can help me now
So please don’t start
Just leave it out
You only need to know
I’m on a low

I’m in a state
You can’t relate
It’s just my time is never free

Free for me
Me and you
You seem so surprised I think about you too

Yes I know sometimes now and again
It feels this pain will never end
I’m sorry this is less than fun
And we can’t end what we’ve begun
I’m sorry it’s not great
I’m in a state

Yes from the outside I can see
It’s not much fun to be with me
At times like this when you’re alone
Yet I’m right here
Right in this room
But really this is part of me
You want it all?
This comes for free
I just need you to know

I’m on a low
It’s not you, no
That’s all I know
I’m on a low

Written, arranged and produced by Mark CBH
Mixed and Mastered by Jamie Donnelly
Lyrics copyright (c) 2022 Mark CBH - Reproduced with permission

I'm on a Low

This is an original song, written in April 2024, about living by yourself in a big city.

When I was in my 20s I moved from a small English town to the very centre of London, by myself. If you’ve ever moved to a big city as a young adult one of the things you learn very quickly is that now you are a PROPER grown-up and you can do whatever you want, whenever you want.

This is enabling and thrilling and inspiring but it can also have a MASSIVE downside and actually if you’re not careful, things can go off the rails pretty quickly. And if you’ve moved to the city alone, you’ve probably left behind whatever friends and family support network you had at home (if any) - Nobody’s gonna reach in and rescue you like in a movie. This is real life.

This song is about that.

*LYRICS*
This city sells freedoms
Converting them young
The taste is metallic
Like blood on your tongue

Stick to the shadows
And stick to your kind
Stay out of the streetlight
Stray out of your mind

Can’t slow down
Until our hearts both stop
Can’t slow down
Until we drop

D’you wanna drop now?
D’you wanna stop now?
D’you wanna drop?
Wanna stop?
Wanna drop?
Wanna
Stop right now?
We can’t slow down

Held down my employment
Did what they required
Sweating and twitching
So empty and wired

No interventions
There’s nothing to save
No hand of rescue
You just crave what you crave

Can’t slow down
Until our hearts both stop
Can’t slow down
Until we drop

D’you wanna drop now?
D’you wanna stop now?
D’you wanna drop?
Wanna stop?
Wanna drop?
Wanna
Drop right now? 
Stop right now?

Down I go
Down I go
Plunging now
Just falling
Sinking, drowning
Calling
Nobody came
Nobody heard
Nobody

Can’t slow down
Until our hearts both stop
Can’t slow down
Until we drop

D’you wanna drop now?
D’you wanna stop now?
D’you wanna drop?
Wanna stop?
Wanna drop?
Wanna
Stop right now?
We can’t slow down

Written and arranged by Mark CBH
Lyrics copyright (c) 2024 Mark CBH - Reproduced with permission

Can't Slow Down

I’m at a point in my life where it’s horribly obvious that I’m well over halfway through. None of us knows how much time we have left but once you get to this kind of age, you really start to worry about it all running out too quickly.

*LYRICS*
The swirling leaves
A tiny rustling cyclone
Struggling against
The fast approaching ground

The hopeful wind uplifts
Them towards their lofty dreams
All now just out of reach
Since they turned from green to brown

But the breeze soon moves on
The moment is gone
And gravity jolts them awake

And it makes me wonder
What became of those plans?
Those plans I was planning to make

Have I left it too late?
Have I left it too late?
I’ve only just begun
These things I haven’t done
Have I left it too late?
Have I left it too late?
Have I left it too late?

I ran through spring
Without a thought or care for
The gorgeous and endless
Lushness of the trees

I danced all summer long
And I stayed up every night
I scarcely felt the fall
Creeping in, cloaked in the breeze

But this air feels more cold
And this light looks more old
As the sun sets horizons ablaze

And it makes me realise
I’m just counting down
An unknown number of days

Have I left it too late?
Have I left it too late?
I’ve only just begun
These things I haven’t done
Have I left it too late?
Have I left it too late?
Have I left it too late?

All those hopes
All those dreams
What does any of it mean?

All those years
All that past
All these things that never last

All that past
All that past
Why is everything so fast?

Have I left it too late?
Have I left it too late?
I’ve only just begun
These things I haven’t done
Have I left it too late?
Have I left it too late?
Have I left it too late?

Written and arranged by Mark CBH
Lyrics copyright (c) 2024 Mark CBH - Reproduced with permission

Contact / sync: info@grooveplacemusic.com

#newmusic2024 #indiemusic #spokenword

Have I?

*LYRICS*
Goodbye theatre
Hello there pain
It’s just us again

Breaking apart
The shattering and smashing
The splintering and cracking

Hi dispassion
Tedium
Give it up
Then give in

No idea
What’s wrong with me
What’s WRONG with me?
No idea
No clue

No amount of introspection
Moves me in a good direction
Addicted to this disconnection 
Game

Why all the noise?
Solitude’s home
I’m best left alone
Abandoned and lost
Offended affronted
By love that I wanted

No idea
What’s wrong with me
What’s WRONG with me?
No idea
No clue

Paint magic on the wall
Then paper over it all
Who needs ingress
When you’ve got all this mess?

No idea
What’s wrong with me
What’s WRONG with me?
No idea
No clue

No amount of introspection
Moves me in a good direction
Addicted to this disconnection 
Game

No idea no idea no idea
No
No idea no idea
No

Written, arranged and produced by Mark CBH

Lyrics Copyright (c) 2024 Mark CBH - Reproduced with permission

Contact / sync: info@grooveplacemusic.com

No Idea

*LYRICS*
All around us
Evidence
The curse of living
On the fence

All around us
Broken plans
And broken dreams
A broken man

The truth is
Our indecision
Is what put us
In this position
Yeah but go on

Blame my feelings 
Blame them all
Blame them all
For our fall
Culpame
Culpame

Blame my problems
Each one of them
Shortcomings
All these things
Culpame
Culpame

Please

All around us
Emptiness
While we pretend
To love this mess

Second hand or
Giveaway
There’s nothing left
For us to say
Nothing left to say
Nothing left to say

Blame my feelings 
Blame them all
Blame them all
For our fall
Culpame
Culpame

Pausing debating
My thoughts keep me waiting
I should know me
Better than that

But this is where you win against me

Blame my feelings 
Blame them all
Blame them all
For our fall
Culpame
Culpame

Blame my problems
Each one of them
Shortcomings
All these things
Culpame
Culpame

Please

Written, arranged and produced by Mark CBH

Lyrics Copyright (c) 2024 Mark CBH - Reproduced with permission

Contact / sync: info@grooveplacemusic.com

Blame

If I could give my younger self just one piece of advice it would be this: Look after your self-respect.

Why? For a couple of reasons.

Firstly because if you don't look after it, when the time comes for you to actually need it, it won't be anywhere to be found.

The second reason is because when you don't have self-respect, all the ways in which you criticise yourself and put yourself down will all add up in your own mental image of yourself, and this is not healthy at all.

In the end it just leads to burnout and self-loathing, and it all starts from the smallest of seeds. Somebody put this unkind voice in your head - it wasn't you - but when you let it stay there and you never fight back, you're setting yourself up for a pretty crappy ride, mentally speaking.

So.

Look after your self-respect.
x

Here's the song...
LYRICS
Consumed with fatigue  
So far out my league  
And all cos I stupidly think  
I’m unique  

Perpetual neglect  
Of my self-respect  
Has taken its toll  
Well, what did I expect?

Take more blame  
Ignore shame  
But look what I...  
I became  
I became

Learning to hate myself  
To curse and berate myself  
Just to get good  
Just to get better

Feigning incognisance   
Of praises and compliments  
Just to get good  
Just to get better  
For you  
For you

Guess what?  
With burnout  
It actually turns out  
The catalyst right at its heart  
Is self-doubt

Uncomfortably numb  
Is what I’ve become  
After beating myself  
Like some infinite drum  

Diagnosis  
Psychosis  
Losing my mind  
Just focus  
Just focus!

Learning to hate myself  
To curse and berate myself  
Just to get good  
Just to get better

This sabotage  
These habits are  
A social form of camouflage  
This sabotage  
These habits are  
A social form of camouflage  
This sabotage  
These habits are  
A social form of camouflage  
This sabotage  
These habits are  
A social form of camouflage  

Learning to hate myself  
To curse and berate myself  
Just to get good  
Just to get better

Feigning incognisance   
Of praises and compliments  
Just to get good  
Just to get better  
For you  
For you

Music & Lyrics Copyright (c) 2024 Mark CBH
Lyrics reproduced with permission

Contact / sync: info@grooveplacemusic.com


This Sabotage - Guitar Acoustic

Coming to terms with the fact that you're always hating on yourself when you make even the smallest tiniest of mistakes, even when there's nobody around to see it? In fact, ESPECIALLY when there's nobody around to see it.

Uh huh. Me too. Here's a song all about it.

LYRICS
Consumed with fatigue  
So far out my league  
And all cos I stupidly think  
I’m unique  

Perpetual neglect  
Of my self-respect  
Has taken its toll  
Well, what did I expect?

Take more blame  
Ignore shame  
But look what I...  
I became  
I became

Learning to hate myself  
To curse and berate myself  
Just to get good  
Just to get better

Feigning incognisance   
Of praises and compliments  
Just to get good  
Just to get better  
For you  
For you

Guess what?  
With burnout  
It actually turns out  
The catalyst right at its heart  
Is self-doubt

Uncomfortably numb  
Is what I’ve become  
After beating myself  
Like some infinite drum  

Diagnosis  
Psychosis  
Losing my mind  
Just focus  
Just focus!

Learning to hate myself  
To curse and berate myself  
Just to get good  
Just to get better

This sabotage  
These habits are  
A social form of camouflage  
This sabotage  
These habits are  
A social form of camouflage  
This sabotage  
These habits are  
A social form of camouflage  
This sabotage  
These habits are  
A social form of camouflage  

Learning to hate myself  
To curse and berate myself  
Just to get good  
Just to get better

Feigning incognisance   
Of praises and compliments  
Just to get good  
Just to get better  
For you  
For you
For you

Music & Lyrics Copyright (c) 2024 Mark CBH
Lyrics reproduced with permission

This Sabotage - Live Version

This song is kind of about having two conflicting states of mind that are constantly fighting with one another, and maybe even causing each other.

On the one hand, it's about being an over-pleaser, and going flat out to try and satisfy and impress another person, but being resentful that they don't notice or appreciate your frantic efforts.

The other side of the song is that in doing this, you actually end up putting your own needs last and pretending that you want what they want.

The underlying question of the song is this: Do you attract people who are hard to please, because you yourself need to feel worthless?

Who knows.

Anyway, here are the lyrics. Go figure.

LYRICS
From far above the frozen sea
D’you think you’ll ever notice me?
As I give myself constantly

Kept overkeen, kept feverish
But keep devout, keep faith in this
Transfixed upon a deeper wish

..I wasn’t here
Wish I wasn’t here

No matter what I do
No matter how I try
Not brave enough
Or cool or tough
Not good enough, am I?

No matter what I say
No matter what I do
Can’t give enough
To keep this love
Not good enough for you

Acceptance meant much more to me
Than fairness or stability
So now what’s left is killing me

Humiliation has its price
Intoxication has its vice
This situation, is it nice?

…is overrated
Nice is overrated

No matter what I do
No matter how I try
Not brave enough
Or cool or tough
Not good enough, am I?

I hide myself in shadows I find
I keep my own needs outta my mind
Completely always totally blind
To all the
Things that I need

No matter what I do
No matter how I try
Not brave enough
Or cool or tough
Not good enough, am I?

Words and music Copyright (C) 2025 Mark CBH
Lyrics reproduced with permission


Good Enough - Piano Acoustic

This song was originally written as a fairly quick kind of post-punk dance number, fairly high bpm.

Then a weird thing started happening whenever I would practise it or even perform it out and about, slowed down and acoustic - on piano or guitar.

It was only then that the real emotion and nature of the song started to come through. Which just goes to show, even if you write the song yourself you don't necessarily know how it will sound best yourself.

Here's my slowed down guitar-only version. I think it really allows the nature of it to come through.

LYRICS
From far above the frozen sea
D’you think you’ll ever notice me?
As I give myself constantly

Kept overkeen, kept feverish
But keep devout, keep faith in this
Transfixed upon a deeper wish

..I wasn’t here
Wish I wasn’t here

No matter what I do
No matter how I try
Not brave enough
Or cool or tough
Not good enough, am I?

No matter what I say
No matter what I do
Can’t give enough
To keep this love
Not good enough for you

Acceptance meant much more to me
Than fairness or stability
So now what’s left is killing me

Humiliation has its price
Intoxication has its vice
This situation, is it nice?

…is overrated
Nice is overrated

No matter what I do
No matter how I try
Not brave enough
Or cool or tough
Not good enough, am I?

I hide myself in shadows I find
I keep my own needs outta my mind
Completely always totally blind
To all the
Things that I need

No matter what I do
No matter how I try
Not brave enough
Or cool or tough
Not good enough, am I?

Words and music Copyright (C) 2025 Mark CBH
Lyrics reproduced with permission


Good Enough - Guitar Acoustic

This is me recording a rehearsal of my Live Set version of this song.

It's interesting how at this faster tempo the song comes across as quite angry and slightly erratic, whereas the slowed down piano and guitar versions sound quite sad (check my other tracks for these).

Anyway, here's my running through my live version, mistakes and all. How many errors can YOU count?  😆

LYRICS
From far above the frozen sea
D’you think you’ll ever notice me?
As I give myself constantly

Kept overkeen, kept feverish
But keep devout, keep faith in this
Transfixed upon a deeper wish

..I wasn’t here
Wish I wasn’t here

No matter what I do
No matter how I try
Not brave enough
Or cool or tough
Not good enough, am I?

No matter what I say
No matter what I do
Can’t give enough
To keep this love
Not good enough for you

Acceptance meant much more to me
Than fairness or stability
So now what’s left is killing me

Humiliation has its price
Intoxication has its vice
This situation, is it nice?

…is overrated
Nice is overrated

No matter what I do
No matter how I try
Not brave enough
Or cool or tough
Not good enough, am I?

I hide myself in shadows I find
I keep my own needs outta my mind
Completely always totally blind
To all the
Things that I need

No matter what I do
No matter how I try
Not brave enough
Or cool or tough
Not good enough, am I?

Music & Lyrics Copyright (c) 2025 Mark CBH
Lyrics reproduced with permission

Website: https://www.markcbh.com
Contact / sync: info@grooveplacemusic.com

Good Enough - Live Version

What happens when you’re always too needy in a relationship? Is being needy sabotaging the relationship you’re trying to keep going?

This song is about being needy, being too much of a people pleaser, and what it can mean for your relationships. It’s a song about always having to check in with the other person before you do anything. Sure, it may start out as a very gallant and considerate attitude but as time goes on, it’s likely that you actually come to resent the fact that when you act this way, it stops you from doing the things YOU want to do.

More than this, setting unrealistic expectations in your partner’s mind about your level of commitment means that THEY never get used to dealing with or compromising with YOUR wishes, and so you can end up in a relationship that only reflects the desires and wishes of one of the people.

That can lead to a lot of resentment, and this song is about that - It’s about realising that being needy and over-pleasing has created a relationship that doesn’t feel like home for you, and it’s about realising that you are still powerless to stop it. It’s a song about regrets in relationships.

That’s pretty deep for 4 minutes of music. Maybe I’m over-thinking it.

LYRICS
My god what’s this
My gutlessness
It knows no bounds
It makes no sounds

Just silent me
Anxiety
Chokes down each wish
Strangled, dismissed 

Give in
Capitulate a bit
Give up your dreams
Give up your dreams
Give up
Give up
Give up
Give up
Give up
Give up
Give up

Again again again
Every single time
Again again again
This life’s no good
This life’s not mine

Again again again
Every single time
Again again again
This life’s no good
This life’s not mine

It’s my duty
Does this to me
A noiseless drum
An empty gun

A plastic man
Is what I am
No force no drive
No more alive

Resign, concede
Don’t take the lead
Regret and grieve
Regret and grieve
Regret
Regret
Regret
Regret
Regret
Regret
Regret

Again again again
Every single time
Again again again
This life’s no good
This life’s not mine

Approve approve!
Can’t think, can’t move
Can’t stand, can’t sit
Permit permit!
Please validate
Please validate
Apparently
This is my fate

Again again again
Every single time
Again again again
This life’s no good
This life’s not mine
This life’s no good
This life’s not mine
It’s all just been a waste of time 
Oh no

Music & Lyrics Copyright (c) 2025 Mark CBH
Lyrics reproduced with permission

Website: https://www.markcbh.com
Contact / sync: info@grooveplacemusic.com



Needy - Piano Acoustic

Writing these songs is cheaper than therapy. Unless you count all the guitars and plugins and stuff.

Mark CBH

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