All New is Well-Forgotten Old. Paul Cafcae aims to reinvent union songs of the last century with his new single "Banks of Marble", from his upcoming 5th album. The single was inspired by the growing inequality and lack of democratic agency for the people of Canada and draws on historical folk influences from Eastern Europe and North America alike, all while highlighting the talents of Cafcae's bandmates and collaborators.
"Banks of Marble" reflects the tension between the owners and the workers in every part - its lyrics, music, composition, and delivery. The lyrics draw inspiration from the 1949 song "The Banks Are Made of Marble" written by the New York State apple farmer and president of the farmers' union Les Rice and famously recorded by the notorious activist folk singer Pete Seeger.
The musical style is a union of early southern and northern Americana motifs with a dynamic build up throughout the song, alluding to a pot coming to boil, or a fire lighting up from a single spark - both universal symbols of the revolutionary movement. The transition of the song's rhythm section into a marching pattern which is introduced in the final chorus further evokes the feeling of a revolutionary march. An action that the song, perhaps boldly, aims to inspire.