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.
It's Not Your Fault
Mark Heard Lyrics
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It's not your fault
I'm a man who follows his own tracks until he's lost
I'll keep on going round and round until I'm found
I get wounded sometimes
It's not your fault
I keep on shooting arrows up until they fall
It's not you, I'll be okay, I'm just a jerk is all
It's alright, it's just my foolishness
It's not your fault
I get helpless sometimes
It's not your fault
I just tend to tug on heartstrings til they break
A thug who wins a kiss and misses finer things
I get angry sometimes
It's not your fault
I let the molehill simmer like Vesuvius
And hole up in Pompeii until all hell breaks loose
It's not you, I'll be okay, I'm just a jerk is all
It's alright, it's just my foolishness
It's not your fault
The lyrics of "It's Not Your Fault" by Mark Heard express a sense of self-awareness and admission of personal faults. The first verse speaks to the artist's tendency to become lost in his own thoughts and to follow his own path until he becomes disoriented. Rather than blaming others for this trait or seeking a scapegoat, he acknowledges his culpability and resolves to keep moving forward until he finds his way.
The second verse references the artist's inclination towards self-sabotage. He recognizes that he can be his own worst enemy, shooting arrows that ultimately fail to hit their mark, but he also understands that these experiences are necessary for personal growth and evolution.
In the latter half of the song, Heard further delves into his personal shortcomings, including his tendency to manipulate or take advantage of others for his own emotional fulfillment, as well as his volatile temper. However, despite these flaws, he refuses to assign blame to anyone else, instead choosing to own up to his behavior and make amends.
Overall, "It's Not Your Fault" is a powerful and introspective song about the complexity of human emotion and the importance of taking responsibility for one's actions and feelings.
Line by Line Meaning
I get lonely sometimes
I feel alone at times
It's not your fault
It's not because of you or anything you did
I'm a man who follows his own tracks until he's lost
I tend to make my own way in life, even if it leads me to getting lost
I'll keep on going round and round until I'm found
I will continue to wander aimlessly until I find my way
I get wounded sometimes
I get hurt emotionally at times
I keep on shooting arrows up until they fall
I take chances and make mistakes, and sometimes things don't work out
They stall and turn, a narrow miss until I learn
I learn from my mistakes, even if it takes a few tries
It's not you, I'll be okay, I'm just a jerk is all
It's not because of you, I am just being difficult
It's alright, it's just my foolishness
It's okay, I am just being foolish
I get helpless sometimes
I feel powerless at times
I just tend to tug on heartstrings til they break
I have a tendency to rely on emotional manipulation, even if it hurts others
A thug who wins a kiss and misses finer things
I may win someone's affection, but I may not appreciate the other good things in life
I get angry sometimes
I get upset at times
I let the molehill simmer like Vesuvius
I let small issues snowball and become huge problems
And hole up in Pompeii until all hell breaks loose
I withdraw completely until things get out of control
It's not you, I'll be okay, I'm just a jerk is all
It's not because of you, I am just being difficult
It's alright, it's just my foolishness
It's okay, I am just being foolish
It's not your fault
It's not because of you or anything you did
Contributed by Xavier M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.