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.
Language Of Love
Mark Heard Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I look into my loved ones’ faces,
This skeleton key can’t open up their secret places,
I spend a feverish night deciding what I’ll say, but words are not enough to carry days.
All around the world, (it’s the same thing)
Yeah, all around the world, (it’s the blood in the words)
Oh, all around the world, (same pages)
Trying to speak the language of love.
What’s happened to me?
I’m walking in the bones of a mortal?
The message is brief – I’m talking like there’s no tomorrow,
I don’t believe in cinematic confessional scripts,
I find the greater verbs blister my lips.
All around the world, (it’s the same thing)
Yeah, all around the world, (it’s the blood in the words)
Oh, all around the world, (same pages)
We’re trying to speak the language of love,
Trying to speak the language of love.
Up against the tide of unjust years,
Sentimental whispers seem to lose their meaning.
What’s happened to me?
I look into my loved ones’ faces,
Oh, what matters to me?
What matters in the four walled spaces?
I beg my flesh and bone to carry all I feel,
A whirling wheel that words cannot conceal.
All around the world, (it’s the same thing)
Hey, all around the world, (it’s the blood in the words)
Oh, all around the world, (same pages)
Try to speak the language of love,
Try to speak the language of love,
All around the world, (it’s the same thing)
Oh, all around the world, (it’s the blood in the words)
Yeah, all around the world, (same pages)
We’re trying to speak the language of love,
Trying to speak the language of love,
Trying to speak the language of…language…language of love.
Language of love,
Language of love,
Language of love,
Ooh.
The lyrics of Mark Heard's song "Language of Love" express the singer's frustration with the limits of language when it comes to communicating deep emotions and connecting with others. The first stanza describes the singer's attempts to understand their loved ones, but feeling like a "skeleton key" that cannot unlock their secrets, despite their efforts to find the right words. In the chorus, the repetition of the phrase "all around the world" emphasizes the universality of this struggle to communicate love, and the line "it's the blood in the words" suggests that love cannot be fully expressed through language alone. The second verse continues this theme, as the singer laments that even the most powerful, emotional language falls short when it comes to expressing their feelings.
The final stanza brings a slightly different perspective, as the singer turns their attention to themselves and their own search for meaning. They ask themselves what matters most in their own life and feelings, and again find words to be insufficient for capturing the complexity of their experiences. The final repetition of "language of love" carries the sense of an ongoing, universal quest, and the emphasis on this phrase suggests that despite the limitations of language, it remains the best tool we have for expressing our deepest emotions.
Overall, "Language of Love" is a thoughtful, introspective song that delves into one of the most fundamental human experiences: the challenge of connecting with others and expressing our most profound feelings.
Line by Line Meaning
What’s happened to me?
The singer is feeling a sense of disconnect from his loved ones.
I look into my loved ones’ faces,
Despite being surrounded by his family, the singer feels isolated.
This skeleton key can’t open up their secret places,
The singer's perception of himself as a key that can open up the hearts of his loved ones is not accurate.
I spend a feverish night deciding what I’ll say,
The singer is struggling to articulate his feelings.
but words are not enough to carry days.
The singer feels that words alone are not sufficient to express his emotions.
All around the world, (it’s the same thing)
The problem of communication in love is universal.
Yeah, all around the world, (it’s the blood in the words)
Even though the languages may differ, the underlying issue is the same.
Oh, all around the world, (same pages)
Everyone is trying to navigate the complexities of love.
Trying to speak the language of love,
Everyone is attempting to communicate their feelings of love.
I’m walking in the bones of a mortal?
The singer is questioning his own mortality.
The message is brief – I’m talking like there’s no tomorrow,
The singer feels a sense of urgency to express himself.
I don’t believe in cinematic confessional scripts,
The singer doesn't feel that grand gestures of romance are enough.
I find the greater verbs blister my lips.
The singer struggles to express himself with grandiose language.
Up against the tide of unjust years,
The singer is highlighting the difficulties of love over time.
Sentimental whispers seem to lose their meaning.
Romantic language can lose its power over time.
What matters to me?
The singer is concerned with what truly matters.
What matters in the four walled spaces?
The singer is questioning the importance of physical space in love.
I beg my flesh and bone to carry all I feel,
The singer wishes to express his emotions in a tangible way.
A whirling wheel that words cannot conceal.
The singer's emotions are too powerful to be contained in language.
Try to speak the language of love,
The singer reiterates the universal struggle to express love.
Trying to speak the language of…language…language of love.
The repeated phrase emphasizes the central theme of the song.
Language of love,
The singer is searching for a way to communicate his feelings in a way that transcends language.
Language of love,
The singer repeats the phrase to emphasize its importance.
Language of love,
The singer is highlighting the transcendent nature of love.
Ooh.
The repeated sound emphasizes the emotional content of the song.
Contributed by Mateo S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.