Mark Heard released 13 studio albums in his lifetime (as Mark Heard & Ideola) also 1 album with Infinity Plus Three), and produced and performed with many other artists as well, such as Daniel Amos, Sam Phillips, Pierce Pettis, Phil Keaggy, Vigilantes of Love, Peter Buck of R.E.M., John Austin, The Choir, Randy Stonehill and Michael Been of The Call. Heard produced part of Olivia Newton John's The Rumour, which also included a cover of Heard's "Big and Strong".
On July 4, 1992, Heard suffered a heart attack on stage while performing with Pierce Pettis and Kate Miner, at the Cornerstone Festival, near Chicago, Illinois. Heard finished his set and went to the hospital immediately afterwards. Two weeks after being released from the hospital, Heard had a cardiac arrest and died in August of 1992. Sadly, this happened at a time when Heard's musical career never looked brighter. Not only had he just released three albums (Dry Bones Dance in 1990, Second Hand in 1991, and Satellite Sky in 1992) that many hailed as his best work to date, but he had also just been included on a sampler from Windham Hill's High Street label.
Heard's early work was often marked by strong, poetic lyrics; but musically he lingered in a generic folk/folk-rock style. But Heard continued to experiment musically; his most extreme was perhaps the elaborately-produced electronic rock on the album Tribal Opera, which he released under the name iDEoLA. With Dry Bones Dance, however, Heard's music blossomed into an intense folk-rock fusion, marked by driving rhythms, virtuosic instrumentals, passionate vocals, and interwoven elements borrowed from styles such as Appalachian folk, zydeco, bluegrass, and country (though Heard's music is none of those). Second Hand returned to a more acoustic guitar-based folk sound, but retained the energy and creativity discovered through Dry Bones Dance. His final official album, Satellite Sky, was again more like the latter.
Mark Heard's lyrics are deeply grounded in a Christian view of the world, though explicitly so only half the time. He was often critical and had an eye for emotional pain and spiritual desolation, yet he remarkably avoided cynicism. When his lyrics turned to expressing hope or joy, they were powerful. As a poetic lyricist, Heard cultivated verbal sound (e.g. with internal rhyme), strong images and elaborate personae, while avoiding the cheap punch-line metaphors popular in much contemporary folk music. Some of his images, most notably "bones," can be found repeated and richly varied in their meaning across years of songwriting.
In 1994, many artists came together to record a tribute album called Strong Hand of Love. Artists lending their talents to the project included Victoria Williams, Chagall Guevara, Buddy Miller, Julie Miller, Daniel Amos, The Choir, Rich Mullins, Bruce Cockburn, and the Vigilantes of Love. The project was later reissued as a 2 CD set with additional tracks and retitled Orphans of God.
All Too Soon
Mark Heard Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Head in my hand stranded on some deserted beach
Starlight brushes my shoulder
Tonight I'm suddenly older
All too soon Summer is over
All too soon the planet is colder
All too soon heartbeats are slower
All too soon the willows are weeping
All too soon clockhands are creeping
Moon on the rise
Gold hall of beeswax rolling in space
Wind in my eyes
Caught in a draft of time and place
No crowds -- moon and me only
Surf pounds, I'm suddenly lonely
All too soon Summer is over
All too soon the planet is colder
All too soon heartbeats are slower
All too soon the season is sleeping
All too soon the willows are weeping
All too soon clockhands are creeping
I love this life slipping through my hands
I close my eyes
Ribbon of road hazy ahead in taillight red
Radio on weaving a memory with musical thread
Feelings gush like a geyser
I think I'm older and wiser
All too soon Summer is over
All too soon the planet is colder
All too soon heartbeats are slower
All too soon the season is sleeping
All too soon the willows are weeping
All too soon clockhands are creeping
The lyrics of Mark Heard's "All Too Soon" are introspective, capturing the singer's thoughts and feelings as he experiences a moment of realization about the passing of time. The singer starts by describing the setting of a deserted beach, where he's alone with his thoughts as the sun goes down. Here, he seems to feel the weight of time, as if it's creeping up on him suddenly. He explains how the starlight brushes his shoulder, which could be symbolic of him feeling small and insignificant in the grand scheme of things. The singer then expresses how he realizes that he's growing older all too soon, and that the summer has come and gone quickly. He emphasizes the fast pace of life as he lists different things that are slowing down, such as heartbeats, the season, and clock hands creeping.
In the following verse, the singer describes watching the moon rise and noticing the beauty of the night sky. He seems to be trying to find comfort in this moment by focusing on what surrounds him. However, he suddenly feels lonely and isolated, emphasizing the idea that we are all alone in our experiences of life. The singer then describes a memory that is being built through music, indicating that memories are an important way to make the most of the time we have. The song ends on a bittersweet note, with the singer expressing his love for life but accepting that time is slipping through his fingers.
Line by Line Meaning
Red ball of sun falters until it's out of reach
The sun sets and disappears in the distance
Head in my hand stranded on some deserted beach
Feeling stranded and alone on a deserted beach
Starlight brushes my shoulder
Feeling the gentle touch of starlight
Tonight I'm suddenly older
Feeling like time has quickly passed by and grown older
All too soon Summer is over
The summer season ends too quickly
All too soon the planet is colder
The temperature drops and the planet becomes colder
All too soon heartbeats are slower
Life slows down and heartbeats become slower
All too soon the season is sleeping
The season becomes dormant and lifeless too soon
All too soon the willows are weeping
The trees become sad and mournful too soon
All too soon clockhands are creeping
Time moves too slowly and drags on
Moon on the rise
The moon appears on the horizon
Gold hall of beeswax rolling in space
The moon appears golden and rolls through space
Wind in my eyes
Feeling the wind blowing in your face
Caught in a draft of time and place
Feeling trapped in a specific moment in time and place
No crowds -- moon and me only
Being alone with the moon and no other people around
Surf pounds, I'm suddenly lonely
Hearing the sound of the surf and feeling sudden loneliness
I love this life slipping through my hands
Appreciating life but feeling like it's slipping away
Ribbon of road hazy ahead in taillight red
Seeing a red haze on the road ahead from the taillights of other cars
Radio on weaving a memory with musical thread
Memories being woven together through the music on the radio
Feelings gush like a geyser
Overwhelming emotions are felt and gush out like a geyser
I think I'm older and wiser
Feeling like life experiences have made you wiser and more mature
Contributed by Ellie E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.