Marc Martel is Canadian musician and singer. He was born in Montreal, Canad… Read Full Bio ↴Marc Martel is Canadian musician and singer. He was born in Montreal, Canada. He's a member of christian-rock band called "Downhere"

"One of my earlier memories of music is my mom sitting at the piano late at night, playing us to sleep with Beethoven's 'Moonlight Sonata,'" Marc says. With a father who preached and led worship and a mother who led the church choir and played piano, Marc was raised in a music-intensive environment.

His parents instilled a love for music in him that followed him throughout his childhood through eight years of piano lessons, through Disney duets he would sing with friends, through hours he spent alone teaching himself guitar all the way to a small college in Saskatchewan, where he formed the band Downhere with his roommate Jason Germain and a few close friends in 1999.

"Our friendship was always based around music," Marc says. "We really hit it off musically... we realized we shared a lot of the same taste in music, while also bringing different influences."

Downhere developed their sound while touring on behalf of the college, which would send them out on the road with production, lighting, sound, and even a vehicle and trailer. After four years of college, the band left their Canadian roots behind and relocated to Nashville, TN, where they signed with Word Records. Downhere has since gone on to win multiple Juno Awards and a Dove Award. They have released 10 albums, including their latest release, On the Altar of Love, which reflects a different approach to songwriting than their previous releases.

"For me it used to be all about being musically complex and artsy," Marc says. "And then I had a real perspective-shifting experience. At one of our shows there was a little girl standing front-center with her mother. When I said the next song was "How Many Kings," her face lit up as she looked up at her mom and grabbed her hand. She sang along to every word. I thought to myself, 'I've got to write more songs like THAT.'"

In September 2011, Marc entered a competition to join Roger Taylor, original drummer for the legendary rock band Queen, on stage for the Queen Extravaganza Live Tour. Throughout his career with Downhere, concertgoers have often approached Marc insisting he sounds just like Freddie Mercury, legendary singer of the rock band Queen.

"I don't think I've done a show in the last five or six years where five to ten people haven't come up to me and said, 'Hey, anyone ever tell you that you sound like Queen?' or 'that guy from Queen' or 'Eddie Mercury,'" he says laughingly. "In the list of great rock signers, he is considered one of the best if not the best and it's always just a huge compliment when people tell that to me."

It seems that Downhere concertgoers aren't alone in their thinking, as Marc's entry for the Queen Extravaganza contest, a video of Marc singing along with the Queen classic "Somebody to Love," generated more millions of views on YouTube after being up for only a few days.

Whether it's onstage with Downhere or on a computer screen, Marc has a message and a voice that has captured millions for the past decade. Through music, Marc is after the one thing people are always looking for a connection.

"There is always time for exploring new soundscapes and interesting arrangements…but the song has to connect with people or there's not much point to it. I'm really trying to stay in that magic equilibrium now as I write, the union of intriguing artistry combined with strong human connection."

The Remake
Marc Martel Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Every man let you down
You don′t mind because you're
Working on the remake
And in a little while
You put him back in his place
Well, there′s nowhere else to go
But down

And you got high hopes
You got high hopes
You got high hopes for the remake
Yeah

Swoop down from a cloud
Bear you away
Beyond the crystalline palisade
Lay you softly on the very bed
That you made
Well there's nowhere else to go
But down

And you got high hopes
You got high hopes, you do
And you got high hopes for the remake

You got high hopes
You got high hopes, you do
And you got high hopes for the remake

For the remake
For the remake

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Marc Martel's "The Remake" are open to interpretation, but it seems to be about a person who has been disillusioned by men and their behavior. Despite this, the person seems to be unfazed and is working on a personal project, which could possibly be a "remake" of themselves. They have high hopes for this remake, which could be a way for them to create a new and better version of themselves. This is emphasized by the line "You put him back in his place," which could mean that the person is taking control of their life and giving themselves a sense of purpose.

The imagery in the song further emphasizes this sense of transformation. The line "Swoop down from a cloud / Bear you away / Beyond the crystalline palisade" depicts the person being lifted up and taken away from their past, possibly towards a better future. The line "Lay you softly on the very bed / That you made" could indicate that the person is taking responsibility for their life and their decisions, and that whatever transformation they are going through is entirely their own making.

Line by Line Meaning

Every man let you down
You have been disappointed by every man in your life so far.

You don't mind because you're
You are unfazed by their betrayal because

Working on the remake
you are focused on remaking your life and moving forward.

And in a little while
In a short amount of time,

You put him back in his place
you regain control of any situation by putting the man in his place.

Well, there's nowhere else to go
You have hit rock bottom and

But down
the only direction left to go is down.

And you got high hopes
Nevertheless, you have high hopes that

You got high hopes
things will get better and

You got high hopes for the remake
your life will be successfully remade.

Swoop down from a cloud
A powerful force comes down from above to