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.
Season Of Words
Mark Heard Lyrics
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Never get brighter and never go off
Just like me and just like you
Average people with average blues
How did it come to this?
What kind of coverage did we give to ourselves
So we wouldn't be lonely?
A SEASON OF TEARS
A HALL OF MIRRORS IN A SEASON OF FEARS
SHADOWS ON YOU
SHADOWS ON ME
SHADOWS ON THE PEOPLE WE WERE MEANT TO BE
We might look and we might pry
With the eyes of a child
But we are not children
Children play and children cry
Simple things summon the tears to their eyes
We might've been so young
But for the constant drone
That's making us old
The usual distractions
Nothing is moving tonight
It's the weeds that grow
In the cracks of the asphalt
Under the streetlights
Souls will come and souls will go
And trying to get ourselves used to the flow
We say goodbye and say hello
And anything else that might help us to cope
I might've felt the rain
I might've seen the sun
But the curtains are drawn
And it's safe to be lonely
In Mark Heard's song Season Of Words, the lyrics describe a sense of loneliness and isolation that is felt by the singer and their partner in a big city. The opening lines describe the night lights on a rooftop that never turn off or get brighter, which is a metaphor for the mundane and repetitive nature of their lives. The singer describes themselves and their partner as "average people with average blues", which suggests a sense of ennui and dissatisfaction with their lives. They question how they got to this point and wonder what kind of "coverage" they gave themselves to avoid loneliness.
The chorus references a "season of words" and a "season of tears", which suggests a time of change and transition that is wrought with emotion and uncertainty. The mention of a "hall of mirrors in a season of fears" suggests the confusion and disorientation that can come with a period of transition. The reference to "shadows" on the singer and those around them suggests a sense of ambiguity and uncertainty about identity and purpose.
The second verse refers to the way that even though the singer and their partner may try to maintain a sense of childlike wonder and curiosity, they are weighed down by the responsibilities and stresses of adult life. The "constant drone" that is making them old could refer to the oppressive nature of city life, or the daily grind of a job or relationship that is no longer fulfilling. The singer longs for the simplicity of childhood, where "simple things summon the tears" to their eyes.
The final verse describes a sense of impermanence and fleetingness in life, where souls come and go and people are just trying to cope with the changes around them. The singer may have experienced the rain and the sun, but the curtains are drawn and they feel safe in their loneliness. The song ends on a melancholy note, suggesting that the singer is resigned to their current situation and unsure of how to break free from it.
Line by Line Meaning
Neon lights up on this roof
The neon lights on this rooftop are always lit and do not turn off, just like us, the average people with average problems.
Never get brighter and never go off
The neon lights on the rooftop never change, staying lit but not any brighter or going off, much like how we struggle with our same problems without much progress or change.
Just like me and just like you
The neon lights are like us and everyone else, all struggling with the same ‘average blues’.
Average people with average blues
We are all just average people with normal problems, not anything too unique or special.
How did it come to this?
How did we end up in this situation, feeling lonely and unfulfilled despite all the things we’ve done to try to surround ourselves with people?
What kind of coverage did we give to ourselves So we wouldn't be lonely?
What methods have we tried to avoid feeling loneliness?
A SEASON OF WORDS
This period of time is one characterized by an abundance of talking, but not necessarily understanding.
A SEASON OF TEARS
This period of time is one characterized by sadness and pain.
A HALL OF MIRRORS IN A SEASON OF FEARS
During this time, everything and everyone is reflecting onto you, and your fears seem to amplify around you.
SHADOWS ON YOU
There are a lot of negative thoughts and emotions on the artist's mind.
SHADOWS ON ME
There are a lot of negative thoughts and emotions on the listener or reader's mind.
SHADOWS ON THE PEOPLE WE WERE MEANT TO BE
These negative thoughts and emotions are shadows on our intended selves, keeping us from being who we are meant to be.
We might look and we might pry
We might observe and learn more about the world around us and the people in it in an attempt to find answers.
With the eyes of a child But we are not children Children play and children cry
We may observe things like children, with a sense of wonder and innocence, but the reality is that we have grown up and must face more difficult emotions.
Simple things summon the tears to their eyes
Children cry over the simplest of things because they have not yet been jaded by life's more complicated aspects.
We might've been so young
We all were young once, but we have grown up and become more cynical and jaded than we were before.
But for the constant drone That's making us old The usual distractions
We age and are worn down by the constant and mundane things in life that keep us busy and occupied, distracting us from the problems we're facing.
Nothing is moving tonight
Despite everything, everything seems to be at a standstill and stagnant.
It's the weeds that grow In the cracks of the asphalt Under the streetlights
The change, if there is any, is just something small and insignificant like the weeds that grow between the cracks of sidewalks and streets.
Souls will come and souls will go
People will enter our lives and then leave, often without saying goodbye.
And trying to get ourselves used to the flow We say goodbye and say hello And anything else that might help us to cope
We try to adapt to this ongoing cycle and make the best of our relationships and the losses we face.
I might've felt the rain I might've seen the sun But the curtains are drawn
The artist might have had some good experiences in their life, but now they feel closed off and alone.
And it's safe to be lonely
While it may not be desirable, it might feel safer to be alone than to risk further heartache and loss through relationships.
Contributed by Xavier O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.