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.
Talking in Circles
Mark Heard Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But I'll sell it to you pretty cheap
I'll gather up all my tears and pour them at your feet
If camaraderie melts like a crayon
Then indifference spreads like a rash
One minute and all your dreams
Can turn themselves to trash
Wind my words around you
I go talking in circles
Spinning like winter wheels
Reeling like a drunken fool
I could swear that we're swimming in the workweek
Deep divers to treasureless wrecks
Throwing punches at hammerhead sharks
That's breathing down our necks
Let's go to the movies or something
Before time gets the best of us both
And we resemble those bitter old souls
We swore we'd never become
And I go talking in circles
Wind my words around you
I go talking in circles
Spinning like winter wheels
Reeling like a drunken fool
There was something you said in the kitchen
Not much but there was something in your voice
And I was thinking that we could stand to get out a little more
Knee-deep in this town like a tar pit
Work harder and deeper you go
Lie in wait for some genius to come excavate our bones
And I go talking in circles
Wind my words around you
I go talking in circles
Spinning like winter wheels
Reeling like a drunken fool
The lyrics of Mark Heard's song "Talking in Circles" reflect a sense of disillusionment, vulnerability and the fear of getting trapped in the monotony of life. The first line "I paint a self-portrait poorly, but I'll sell it to you pretty cheap" suggests that the singer is not good at presenting himself the way he wants to be, but he is willing to make an effort to please others even if it means selling himself short. The verse continues with the imagery of pouring all his tears at someone's feet, which depicts the feeling of being emotionally exposed or vulnerable. The next two lines "If camaraderie melts like a crayon, then indifference spreads like a rash" suggests how easily relationships can get complicated and go downhill if not taken care of. All it takes is one small thing to go wrong - like a melting crayon - for everything to fall apart.
The chorus "And I go talking in circles, Wind my words around you, I go talking in circles, Spinning like winter wheels, Reeling like a drunken fool" reinforces the idea that the singer is struggling to express himself, and his words are going nowhere. The metaphor of "spinning like winter wheels" creates an image of being stuck in one place, unable to move forward. Similarly, the use of "drunken fool" creates an image of being lost, confused and unable to make any sense.
The second verse uses the imagery of "deep divers to treasureless wrecks" and "throwing punches at hammerhead sharks" to contrast the idea of striving for something worthwhile against the reality of the mundane tasks one has to do each day. The lines "Let's go to the movies or something, Before time gets the best of us both, And we resemble those bitter old souls, We swore we'd never become" emphasize the desperation to break free from the rut and avoid becoming what they always feared. The final verse ends with the imagery of being "knee-deep in this town like a tar pit," which suggests that every day feels like a struggle just to keep going.
Line by Line Meaning
I paint a self-portrait poorly
I am not good at portraying myself accurately in my art
But I'll sell it to you pretty cheap
However, I am willing to sell it for a low price
I'll gather up all my tears and pour them at your feet
I am willing to show vulnerability and emotion to gain your acceptance
If camaraderie melts like a crayon
If our friendship fades away easily
Then indifference spreads like a rash
Then apathy and disinterest will rapidly take over
One minute and all your dreams
can turn themselves to trash
In a moment, all your hopes and aspirations can be lost or destroyed
And I go talking in circles
I ramble and repeat myself when I speak
Wind my words around you
I try to manipulate or persuade you with my words
Spinning like winter wheels
I am stuck in the same place, going nowhere
Reeling like a drunken fool
I feel disoriented and foolish
I could swear that we're swimming in the workweek
I feel like we are trapped in a never-ending cycle of work
Deep divers to treasureless wrecks
We are working hard but not gaining anything meaningful in return
Throwing punches at hammerhead sharks
We are fighting against powerful and dangerous forces in our lives
That's breathing down our necks
That are making us feel pressured and anxious
Let's go to the movies or something
Let's take a break from our stressful lives and do something fun
Before time gets the best of us both
Before we become too old and regret not enjoying our lives
And we resemble those bitter old souls
And become like those unhappy and resentful elderly people we never wanted to be
We swore we'd never become
We promised ourselves we would always be optimistic and positive
There was something you said in the kitchen
I remember a specific thing you said to me earlier
Not much but there was something in your voice
There was a tone or inflection in your voice that caught my attention
And I was thinking that we could stand to get out a little more
I think we should go out and explore the world a bit more
Knee-deep in this town like a tar pit
We feel trapped and stuck in our current location
Work harder and deeper you go
The more we work, the more entrenched we become in our unfulfilling lives
Lie in wait for some genius to come excavate our bones
We hope that someone or something will come along and save us from our unhappy existence
Contributed by Matthew E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.