His first single, "Something With a Ring to It" was co-written with Aaron Tippin.
Randy Travis and Martina McBride have recorded his songs.
In 1998, Collie appeared as Johnny Cash in the short film, "I Still Miss Someone". Shot mostly in stunning black and white, it captures a moment in time during Cash's darkest years of the mid 1960's.
In The Punisher he played Harry 'Heck' Thornton, an assassin who plays Frank Castle a song, "In Time" (written by Collie) before attempting to kill him.
Married with one son, Mark likes car racing, fishing, golfing, and used to ride bulls.
Mark is a diabetic and volunteers often for the American Diabetes Association. He also hosts the "Mark Collie Celebrity Motorsports Festival For Diabetes Cure", held every October in Nashville at the Nashville Speedway.
One of six children, he showed an early interest in piano and guitar and performed often for his family.
Born and Raised in Black and White
Mark Collie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Makes some people go insane
While others quietly pray for rain
That's where we came from
Two boys playing in the burning sun
One with books, one with guns
Mama calls but just one comes
In a crystal sense of wrong and right
We were born and raised in black and white
One learned to pray, one loved to fight
We were born and raised in black and white
We were born and raised in black and white
Brother took to the gospel road
Spent his whole live saving souls
When he looked at me his blood ran cold
He didn't even try
I had no dreams, I had no plans
But a gun felt good in my right hand
The warden asked, 'How come you killed that man'
I said, 'I don't know why'
Welcome home said the hot moonlight
We were born and raised in black and white
One lives to pray, one prays for life
We were born and raised in black and white
We were born and raised in black and white
Someone handed me a cigarette
They offered me my last request
I asked my mortal soul be blessed
By someone close to me
He came to me with trembling hands
He swore he'd never understand
I said it's just what life had planned
It's destiny
Don't waste your tears on me tonight
We were born and raised in black and white
I chose the dark, you chased the light
We were born and raised in black and white
We were born and raised in black and white
The wind blows hard across the Texas planes
Makes some people go insane
While others quietly pray for rain
The lyrics to Mark Collie's song Born and Raised in Black and White paints a vivid image of two boys growing up in the harsh Texas plains. The first stanza sets the scene with the hot winds that blow across the plains, driving some people insane and others to quietly pray for rain. The next two stanzas juxtapose the different paths the two boys take in life. One chooses to follow the gospel road, becoming a peaceful soul who spends his life saving others. The other becomes a criminal who feels at home with a gun in his hand, eventually killing a man and ending up in jail. Despite their different paths, they were born and raised in black and white, with a clear sense of right and wrong instilled in them from a young age.
The lyrics of the chorus embody the central theme of the song – the duality of life and the idea that we all make choices that shape our lives. The chorus suggests that the two boys were born with different life purposes – one to pray and the other to fight. This theme of internal conflict is then played out in the last two stanzas. The singer is facing his execution, and someone offers him a cigarette and his last request. He asks for his mortal soul to be blessed by someone close to him, but when that person comes to him, he is trembling, indicating that he is struggling with the decision to bless the criminal. The singer then suggests that his life was predestined, and he had no choice in the path he took.
Overall, the song conveys the message that every individual has a choice to make and those choices will shape their lives. It also suggests that destiny plays a role in our lives and that even if we make bad choices, they were always meant to be.
Line by Line Meaning
The wind blows hard across the Texas planes
The harsh wind that blows through Texas represents the difficult and tough nature of life
Makes some people go insane
Some individuals struggle to cope with the everyday difficulties of life and crack under the pressure
While others quietly pray for rain
Others try to remain calm and optimistic during tough times and hope for better days to come
That's where we came from
The tough nature of life in Texas is where the artist grew up
Two boys playing in the burning sun
The two boys are playing outside in the bright sun of Texas
One with books, one with guns
One boy enjoys reading and learning, while the other is interested in violence and guns
Mama calls but just one comes
Only one of the boys responds to their mother's call to come inside
The other one runs
The other boy leaves and runs away
In a crystal sense of wrong and right
The artist has a strong understanding of morals and what is right and wrong
We were born and raised in black and white
The artist was raised with a strong sense of morality and that life is defined by good and bad
One learned to pray, one loved to fight
One of the siblings turned to religion while the other turned to violence
Brother took to the gospel road
One of the brothers pursued religion and became a devout Christian
Spent his whole life saving souls
The brother dedicated his life to evangelism and saving people's souls
When he looked at me his blood ran cold
The brother disapproved of the singer's violent ways and was disturbed by them
He didn't even try
The brother gave up on trying to help his sibling turn to a better path
I had no dreams, I had no plans
The artist had no aspirations or goals
But a gun felt good in my right hand
Handling guns brought the artist a sense of power and satisfaction
The warden asked, 'How come you killed that man'
The warden questions the singer about why they took a life
I said, 'I don't know why'
The singer has no real answer as to why they killed someone
Welcome home said the hot moonlight
Returning to their hometown in Texas, the artist is greeted by the strong and unrelenting moonlight
One lives to pray, one prays for life
One person lives to practice their religion while the other simply wants to survive
Someone handed me a cigarette
An individual gives the artist a cigarette, possibly to help calm their nerves before their impending death
They offered me my last request
The singer has been sentenced to die, and the individuals in charge of them offer their final request
I asked my mortal soul be blessed
The artist requests that their soul be blessed before they pass away
By someone close to me
The singer wants someone close to them to bless their soul
He came to me with trembling hands
The person who blesses the singer's soul is nervous and visibly shaken
He swore he'd never understand
The individual struggles to comprehend the singer's actions and decisions
I said it's just what life had planned
The artist believes that their life and actions were predetermined
It's destiny
The artist believes that their fate was determined and that they had no control over their life
Don't waste your tears on me tonight
The singer tells their loved ones not to cry for them as they are about to face their punishment and pass away
I chose the dark, you chased the light
The singer acknowledges that they chose a path of darkness and violence, while their loved ones pursued a path of righteousness and the pursuit of light
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Peermusic Publishing
Written by: COOK, JARVIS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind