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.
Lost on Purpose
Mark Heard Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Thousand light years from the hot blue of a thousand other dying skies,
Let’s keep on walking past the brick walls spray-painted with skulls of blue,
Matching moving moonlit silhouettes,
Past the playground with the padlock and chain on the gate.
Lost on purpose, hey, lost on purpose,
We could try to figure it out, but we don’t trust us,
We could turn around and go home, but the truth might hurt us.
Skyscraper looks like an x-ray, streetlights look infrared,
Bus fume aphrodisiac slaps at the back of my head,
The night is in your turn-signal eyes, lipstick on your coffee cup,
Gimme a tip for the waitress,
The natives are restless, we gotta get out of this dump.
Lost on purpose, hey, lost on purpose,
We could try to figure it out, but we don’t trust us,
Hey, lost on purpose, hey, lost on purpose,
We could turn around and go home, but the truth might hurt us.
You can smell the electric sky, surplus souls budging in droves,
Trance-dancing to the murmur of the city, the heartbeat of hell, the grindstone of chrome,
Walking in silence in the temples of the dark gods,
Icons with eyes that can’t see, ears that don’t hear and the nerves that never wince with the pain we’re feeling,
Grey dawn filters through steel stalagmites, eight minutes from the dying sun,
Safe from the fury, safe from the fire of the great unlearned,
We sleepless dreamers straddle yellow-chequered chariots,
You and me, we’re the prisoners of the panorama of revolving doors.
Lost on purpose, hey, lost on purpose,
We could try to figure it out, but we don’t trust us,
Lost on purpose, yeah, lost on purpose,
We could turn around and go home, but the truth might hurt us,
Lost on purpose, hey, lost on purpose,
We could try to figure it out, but we don’t trust us,
Lost on purpose, oh, lost on purpose,
We could turn around and go home, but the truth might hurt us, hey.
In "Lost on Purpose," Mark Heard sings about being lost in a cityscape that is both eerie and alluring. He begins by describing the "Twilight star" that "burns cold blue" before contrasting it with other dying skies. The imagery of the "brick walls spray-painted with skulls of blue" suggests a desolate and sinister environment. However, Heard also describes the beauty of the "moving moonlit silhouettes" and the "night in your turn-signal eyes." It is clear that the singer is both captivated and unnerved by the city that surrounds them.
Heard repeats the phrase "lost on purpose" throughout the song, suggesting that the singer is not so much lost as they are intentionally wandering through the city. They could try to "figure it out," but they don't trust themselves to find the way. The chorus implies that there is something unsettling about the truth they might discover if they were to turn around and go home. The repetition of this phrase reinforces the idea that the singer is embracing their lostness as a deliberate choice.
As the song progresses, the images become more surreal and dreamlike. The "skyscraper" looks like an "x-ray," and the "streetlights" look "infrared." The "bus fume aphrodisiac" suggests a heightened senses and a dizzying sensory experience. But the singer also sees the "great unlearned" and feels the "pain we're feeling." They are both trapped and liberated by their wandering, as though they are prisoners of a panorama of revolving doors.
Overall, "Lost on Purpose" is a poetic and evocative exploration of an urban landscape. Through the language of the song, Heard captures both the beauty and the danger of the city, suggesting that being lost might be a way to confront the truth of our surroundings.
Line by Line Meaning
Twilight star burns cold blue; it burns cold blue in my eyes,
The star in the sky looks cold and blue and seems uninviting and distant. It's not the hot, bright star that we are used to seeing. This is what I see in my eyes, and it feels like a metaphor for how everything looks and feels so distant and removed.
Thousand light years from the hot blue of a thousand other dying skies,
This line implies that we are far away, removed from where we usually are. We are in a new place or state of mind, isolated from what's familiar, and lost in some way.
Let’s keep on walking past the brick walls spray painted with skulls of blue,
As we continue on this journey or in this state of mind, we walk past spray-painted art on brick walls. The skulls painted in blue may signify danger, something new, or something very current and modern. It's something we're unfamiliar with, and maybe even a little scared of.
Matching moving moonlit silhouettes,
With this line, we might be walking with someone, maybe a partner or a friend of some kind. We are walking together, side by side, matching our movements as we go along.
Past the playground with the padlock and chain on the gate.
The next location is a playground, but it's closed off with a padlock and chain. It's inaccessible, and we can't enter it. We're observing from the outside, and maybe we wish we could be closer to it. It's like we've been shut out of something that seems exciting or fun.
Lost on purpose, hey, lost on purpose,
This chorus repeats the title of the song. We are not just wandering aimlessly, but it's more intentional than that. We are lost on purpose, meaning we have a reason for being lost. Perhaps we're searching for something or trying to escape our current situation.
We could try to figure it out, but we don’t trust us,
We might know why we're lost, but the truth might be too hard to accept or too painful to acknowledge. It's something we can't or don't want to face. We are reluctant to figure it out or find the root cause of our troubles.
Skyscraper looks like an x-ray, streetlights look infrared,
As we continue on this journey, we observe our surroundings more closely. This line might suggest that things look different than they usually do. The skyscraper might look cold and clinical like an x-ray, and the streetlights may appear to be infrared due to the darkness around us. Everything around us looks different and unfamiliar.
Bus fume aphrodisiac slaps at the back of my head,
The smell of bus fumes may act as a type of drug, almost like an aphrodisiac. It might be somewhat intoxicating or make us feel dizzy as if we're in a sort of altered state. We're affected by the smells and the environment around us.
The night is in your turn-signal eyes, lipstick on your coffee cup,
This line might imply that there is someone else with us on this journey. The night is reflected in their eyes, and there is lipstick on their coffee cup. We might be fascinated by their presence, but we can't fully understand them, and they might be just as lost as we are.
Gimme a tip for the waitress,
Someone in our group requests a tip for the waitress, a small gesture that shows we are aware of our surroundings and trying to take care of the people around us.
The natives are restless, we gotta get out of this dump.
This line implies a sense of urgency. We need to leave this place because it's not where we're meant to be. We're outsiders and might not be fully welcome or comfortable in this environment. It's time to move on to something else.
You can smell the electric sky, surplus souls budging in droves,
As we continue on this journey, we might be experiencing strange sensory perceptions. We can smell the electric sky and feel like we're surrounded by the rush of people in a crowded place. The phrase 'surplus souls' might suggest that these people around us don't know where they're going either or that they are also lost in some way.
Trance-dancing to the murmur of the city, the heartbeat of hell, the grindstone of chrome,
This is a continuation of the sensation that we are in a crowded, noisy environment. The people around us might be lost in their own way, trying to distract themselves from the harshness of reality. There's a palpable feeling of darkness around us.
Walking in silence in the temples of the dark gods,
As we walk alongside these people, there's an eerie sense of silence. It's like we're in some kind of religious temple, but it's dark and foreboding. The people around us might be worshipping or conjuring up something otherworldly or powerful that we don't yet understand.
Icons with eyes that can’t see, ears that don’t hear and the nerves that never wince with the pain we’re feeling,
This line implies that there are statues or figures around us that are supposed to be representative of something, but they're unhelpful because they can't interact with us. They can't see, hear, or respond to the pain we're feeling. It might feel like we're surrounded by meaningless symbols or ideas that can't do anything to help us.
Grey dawn filters through steel stalagmites, eight minutes from the dying sun,
The environment around us continues to change; we might be nearing dawn. The rising sun is almost dead or dying, and it's a cold, steel color. The stalagmites might be a metaphor for the industrial, man-made environment we find ourselves in.
Safe from the fury, safe from the fire of the great unlearned,
We might feel safe in our lost state, away from the dangers of the world. The 'great unlearned' might refer to people who haven't figured out how to escape their pain, their own sense of wandering. We are protected from that here.
We sleepless dreamers straddle yellow-chequered chariots,
At this point in the journey, we might be imagining ourselves as having a type of freedom that we didn't possess before. We are dreamers, and we can ride the yellow-chequered chariots, which might be symbolic of a newfound freedom.
You and me, we’re the prisoners of the panorama of revolving doors.
The final line of the song might suggest that we are still not completely free. We are prisoners of the revolving doors, meaning we're stuck in the cycle of our lives. We haven't found a way out yet.
Hey, lost on purpose, hey, lost on purpose,
The final chorus repeats the song's title, emphasizing that we are lost on purpose, that the journey we're on is not accidental or without intent.
We could turn around and go home, but the truth might hurt us,
As we continue on this journey, we might consider going back to where we started. However, we're afraid of what we might discover if we face the truth. We're not ready to face reality yet, and so we keep wandering and searching.
Lost on purpose, yeah, lost on purpose,
This line might suggest that we're starting to accept our state of being lost. It's intentional, and we're okay with that, for now.
Lost on purpose, hey, lost on purpose,
Again, we're reminded that our wanderings are intentional.
We could try to figure it out, but we don’t trust us,
Despite our acceptance of our situation, we are still not sure what to do next. We don't trust ourselves to make the right choices or to find the answers we're looking for.
Lost on purpose, oh, lost on purpose,
Our final repetition of the song's title signifies that we're still lost and wandering, but we're okay with that for now. We might be lost, but it's happening on purpose.
We could turn around and go home, but the truth might hurt us, hey.
The last line of the song repeats the message of the chorus one final time. We're considering going back, but we're not quite ready to face the painful truths that await. So we keep wandering for now, lost but intentional.
Contributed by Jordan S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Alex Strohschein
I use to dislike this song a lot...but upon further reflection, it's become one of my favourites.