Marrakesh Express
| "Marrakesh Express" | ||||||||
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| Single by Crosby, Stills & Nash | ||||||||
| from the album Crosby, Stills & Nash | ||||||||
| B-side | "Helplessly Hoping" | |||||||
| Released | 1969 | |||||||
| Recorded | 1968 | |||||||
| Genre | Rock | |||||||
| Length | 2:38 | |||||||
| Label | Atlantic | |||||||
| Songwriter(s) | Graham Nash | |||||||
| Producer(s) |
David Crosby Graham Nash Stephen Stills |
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| Crosby, Stills & Nash singles chronology | ||||||||
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“Marrakesh Express” is a song written by Graham Nash and performed by the band Crosby, Stills and Nash (CSN). It was first released in May of 1969 on the self-titled album, Crosby, Stills and Nash, and released on a 45-RPM single in July of the same year, with another CSN song, "Helplessly Hoping," as its backing side. The single reached No. 28 on the Billboard Hot 100 on August 23, 1969. It reached the same position on the Easy Listening chart.
"Marrakesh Express" was written and composed by Graham Nash during his final years as a member of the English rock band, The Hollies, of which he was a member from its formation in 1962 till 1968. The band rejected the song as not commercial enough, but it found a home with Nash's new band Crosby, Stills and Nash.
Nash recalled his inspiration for the song occurring during a Moroccan vacation he took in 1966. On the trip, Nash traveled by train from Casablanca to Marrakesh. (Whether this was an express train, he did not specify.) He began the journey in First Class, surrounded by people he found to be uninteresting--as he described it, they were all "ladies with blue hair." Upon this observation, he decided the compartment was "completely fucking boring," so left his seat to explore the other train carriages. He was fascinated by what he saw.
The song mentions "ducks and pigs and chickens," and that, according to Nash, is actually what was there. He recalls the ride by commenting: "It's literally the song as it is--what happened to me."
The instrumentation of the song seeks to embody Nash's lyrics through an Eastern vibe and a "buoyant" flow to resemble a train ride. Stephen Stills was responsible for much of the creative musicianship, adding a vital inclusion of a riff played on two overdubbed electric guitars in a way reminiscent of the sitar. He also added Hammond B3 organ, piano and bass. The song was rounded out by Nash's acoustic guitar, drums by Jim Gordon, and the group's trademark three-part vocal harmony.
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