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.
Another Day in Limbo
Mark Heard Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Mountains grey as velvet, field for dots of yucca, white and jacarandas,
Facing the sky, as the day burns away, is a desert in mourning,
Sheltering the dead stones, cradle of the lost bones,
Home of eternal comings and goings.
Blinking away the sunrise,
Listening to the wind blow,
Beckoning fire from Heaven when everything seems so stone-cold,
Beating the drums of change,
Another day in limbo.
Pray for the foothills, goatherds, and windmills, and satellite dishes,
Petroglyph talkers meet iron-willed walkers, who grant them no wishes,
Shaking a fist at the air seems to bring on a blackening sky,
In the crackling of embers, old men remember walking in beauty, in the dawns of their lives.
Blinking away the sunrise,
Listening to the wind blow,
Angels with dirty faces face another day in limbo,
Beckoning fire from Heaven when everything seems so stone-cold,
Beating the drums of change,
Another day in limbo.
Pray for the foothills,
Iron horse with four wheels bucks a drunken rider,
Pawns of the porn kings, corn-silk of heartstrings, tattered and blighted,
They sing in the sand for the son of the land, who sought fire in water,
Faith like a kernel, rising up in thermals,
Hope springs eternal once in awhile.
Blinking away the sunrise,
Listening to the wind blow,
Angels with dirty faces face another day in limbo,
Beckoning fire from Heaven when everything seems so stone-cold,
Beating the drums of change,
Another day in limbo,
Blinking away the sunrise,
Listening to the wind blow,
Angels with dirty faces face another day in limbo,
Beckoning fire from Heaven when everything seems so stone-cold,
Beating the drums of change,
Another day in limbo.
The song "Another Day in Limbo" by Mark Heard paints a vivid picture of the foothills and mountains of a desert landscape, and the people and creatures that inhabit it. The lyrics ask the listener to pray for this place, which is both beautiful and rugged, but also often forgotten and overlooked. The mountains are described as "grey as velvet" and home to power lines, rock doves, yucca, and jacarandas. The desert is "in mourning," and serves as a cradle for lost bones and shelter for dead stones. Despite this, it is also a place of "eternal comings and goings," where life persists even in the face of hardship and decay.
The refrain of the song focuses on "angels with dirty faces" who are facing "another day in limbo," a reference to the struggle of living in this harsh environment. They listen to the wind blow, beat the drums of change, and beckon fire from Heaven when everything seems cold and lifeless. The verses highlight different aspects of life in the foothills, from the meeting of petroglyph talkers and iron-willed walkers, to the struggles of goatherds, windmills, and satellite dishes. The song also touches on darker themes, such as the exploitation of pornography and the tattering of heartstrings.
Overall, "Another Day in Limbo" is a powerful and emotional song that invites the listener to contemplate the beauty and struggle of living in a harsh and forgotten landscape.
Line by Line Meaning
Pray for the foothills, home to the drone of power lines and rock doves,
Let us pray for the foothills which are the abode for the humming sound of electric power cables and birds, often gray and white, and have the natural beauty that consists of mountains covered in velvet with sporadic white yucca plants and jacaranda plants.
Mountains grey as velvet, field for dots of yucca, white and jacarandas,
The mountains are as beautiful as velvet and decorated with white yucca plants and Jacaranda plants.
Facing the sky, as the day burns away, is a desert in mourning,
As the day progresses, the sky changes colors, and the desert seems sad, as if it is mourning.
Sheltering the dead stones, cradle of the lost bones,
The desert is a haven for countless lifeless stones and a resting place for forgotten earthly remains.
Home of eternal comings and goings.
The desert is where many people come and go, but it remains forever unchanged.
Blinking away the sunrise,
Just after the sunrise, the person is trying hard to open their eyes fully.
Listening to the wind blow,
Feeling the impact of strong gusts of wind and the sound it makes as it blows through the desert.
Angels with dirty faces face another day in limbo,
People who have had troubled pasts and appear shabby, even though they put up a brave front, know that they are stuck in an indeterminate state of being.
Beckoning fire from Heaven when everything seems so stone-cold,
They sometimes yearn for divine intervention and assistance when everything seems hopeless and unchanging.
Beating the drums of change,
Trying to create a stir and bring about a change in their lives.
Pray for the foothills, goatherds, and windmills, and satellite dishes,
We should pray for the foothills and those who dwell there, including goatherds, windmills, and satellite dishes.
Petroglyph talkers meet iron-willed walkers, who grant them no wishes,
People who interpret ancient carvings meet resolute ones who provide no concessions.
Shaking a fist at the air seems to bring on a blackening sky,
Anger can result in adverse consequences and even darken the sky.
In the crackling of embers, old men remember walking in beauty, in the dawns of their lives.
As they listen to the sound of burning wood, old men remember their youth and how joyful it used to be.
Iron horse with four wheels bucks a drunken rider,
A car has the power to throw a drunk driver off track.
Pawns of the porn kings, corn-silk of heartstrings, tattered and blighted,
The underprivileged people are in the grasp of nefarious leaders, their heartstrings weakening, and their lives impoverished.
They sing in the sand for the son of the land, who sought fire in water,
The underprivileged people sing in the sand, appealing to God, who created them and wants to deliver them, as they recall a legendary figure known for seeking what seemed impossible.
Faith like a kernel, rising up in thermals,
Despite the odds stacked against them, their faith gives them hope, like a seed ready to germinate and take flight with the slightest encouragement.
Hope springs eternal once in a while.
Occasionally, an optimistic outlook can pierce through the hopeless situation and give them hope.
Contributed by Lily E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.