John Mark Heard (1951-1992) was a record producer, singer, and songwriter o… Read Full Bio ↴John Mark Heard (1951-1992) was a record producer, singer, and songwriter originally from Macon, Georgia.

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.

She's Not Afraid
Mark Heard Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

She was trapped in a photograph, when times were better,
Saying, "Cheese," with a frozen laugh, when times were better,
But now she wishes she could thaw that scene,
Make it real, not just some camera's dream,
And bring back the places, and the feelings, and the faces from the graves where they've been.

She's not afraid of the sticks and stones,
She's not afraid of the thunderstorms,

She's not afraid of the smart-bombs blowing the world in little pieces,
But she's afraid of a life alone,
She's afraid of an empty home,
She's afraid that her faith has flown,
Afraid of losing memories,
Afraid of losing memories.

She was the captain of her maiden flights, when times were better,
Skywriting with the smoke of life, when times were better,
And now she wishes she could beat her wings, and sail back on a innocent breeze,
Bring back the feeling of believing in the decency of anything.

She's not afraid of the sticks and stones,
She's not afraid of the thunderstorms,
She's not afraid of the smart-bombs blowing the world in little pieces,
But she's afraid of a life alone,
She is afraid of an empty home,
She's afraid that her faith has flown,
Afraid of losing memories,
Afraid of losing memories.

How she wishes she could strangle time, put it in a prison for stealing her blind,
Bring back her riches from the rubble of her wishes, where she's let them lie.

She's not afraid of the sticks and stones,
She's not afraid of the thunderstorms,
She's not afraid of the smart-bombs blowing the world in little pieces,
But she's afraid of a life alone,
She is afraid of an empty home,
She's afraid that her faith has flown,
Afraid of losing memories,
Afraid of losing memories,

Afraid of losing memories,
Afraid of losing memories.

Overall Meaning

" She's Not Afraid" is a song by Mark Heard that deals with the fear of loneliness and loss of memories. The opening lyrics paint a picture of an individual who was once happy, but is now stuck in a place where they cannot go back. The reference to the photograph is significant, as it represents a moment in time that has become frozen and cannot be changed. The lines "And bring back the places, and the feelings, and the faces from the graves where they've been" show how the person desires to relive the emotions they once felt in that moment.

The fear of being alone is a recurring theme throughout the song. The individual is not afraid of physical harm but instead the thought of being in an empty home. The imagery used in the line "She's afraid that her faith has flown" suggests that the person has lost their sense of hope and optimism in the face of the possibility of loneliness. When the song says "Afraid of losing memories," it highlights the fear of forgetting the happy moments that once existed.

The final lines of the song express a desire to change the past and bring back what was lost, but realizing that it is impossible to do so. The metaphor of time being in prison and stealing everything from the person amplifies the loss further.

Line by Line Meaning

She was trapped in a photograph, when times were better, Saying, "Cheese," with a frozen laugh, when times were better, But now she wishes she could thaw that scene, Make it real, not just some camera's dream, And bring back the places, and the feelings, and the faces from the graves where they've been.
She used to capture moments of happiness through photographs with a fake smile, but now she wants to relive those moments and bring back the emotions and people who are no longer there.

She's not afraid of the sticks and stones, She's not afraid of the thunderstorms, She's not afraid of the smart-bombs blowing the world in little pieces, But she's afraid of a life alone, She's afraid of an empty home, She's afraid that her faith has flown, Afraid of losing memories, Afraid of losing memories.
She isn't afraid of physical dangers like harsh weather or explosives, but rather the prospect of being lonely, losing her beliefs, and her cherished memories.

She was the captain of her maiden flights, when times were better, Skywriting with the smoke of life, when times were better, And now she wishes she could beat her wings, and sail back on a innocent breeze, Bring back the feeling of believing in the decency of anything.
She used to be free-spirited and adventurous, but now she wishes to relive that life of innocence and happiness where she believed in the greater good.

How she wishes she could strangle time, put it in a prison for stealing her blind, Bring back her riches from the rubble of her wishes, where she's let them lie.
She wishes to control time to relive the moments she let slip away and recapture those fleeting moments of joy that have now turned into ruins.

Afraid of losing memories, Afraid of losing memories, Afraid of losing memories, Afraid of losing memories.
Her fear of losing her cherished memories is so profound that she repeats this line again and again.

Contributed by Hunter J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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