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.
The Way of Men
Mark Heard Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
How is it so our thick little hearts leave the narrow path for the broad?
Leave the narrow path for the broad?
We could fly on the wings of eagles, we could see with the eyes of love,
We could laugh with a childlike lack of concern, for the world would have nothing to fear of.
But fear, we have plenty, and countless are the ways that we deceive,
By evening the widows will grieve.
So, sing…sing a song for the ones who mourn,
Light a candle for the world war torn,
Find hope in the Lord if your soul is worn,
And say a prayer for the ways of men,
Say a prayer for the ways of the men.
Oh, you wandering souls that are huddled against the harsh wind,
It does no good railing at the evil gale,
Men have died while the devil grin,
Men have died while the devil grin.
So take courage, you pilgrim kind, when the good that you do is mocked,
For the day, it will come when the proud will fall and the ground that they walk on will be rocked,
And the ground that they stand on will be rocked.
Sing…sing a song for the ones who mourn,
Light a candle for the world war torn,
Find hope in the Lord if your soul is worn,
And say a prayer for the ways of men,
Say a prayer for the ways of the men.
Sing…sing a song for the ones who mourn,
And say a prayer for the ways of men,
Say a prayer for the ways of men,
Say a prayer for the ways of men,
Say a prayer for the ways of men.
In "The Way of Men" by Mark Heard, the singer expresses a wish that the ways of men were the same as the ways of God. He laments how people's thick hearts often lead them away from the narrow path of righteousness and towards the broad way of sin. He reflects that if we could all see with the eyes of love and experience the carefree joy of a child, the world would be a better place. However, fear is a major obstacle that prevents us from living in this way. The song highlights how we deceive ourselves with countless distractions and material possessions, and how we often forget to pray for those who suffer from the consequences of our actions. The song encourages us to sing and light candles for the world's war-torn and mournful souls, and to find hope in the Lord when our own souls are weary.
The message of the song is ultimately one of hope, as the singer urges us to keep doing good even when our efforts to make a positive difference seem to fall on deaf ears. He encourages us to take courage and keep fighting against the evil in the world, knowing that eventually, the proud will fall and they will be rocked to the ground. In saying a prayer for the ways of men, the singer hopes that someday we might learn to live in a way that is in harmony with the ways of God.
Line by Line Meaning
I wish that the ways of men were the same as the ways of God,
I hope that humanity could adopt more godly values
How is it so our thick little hearts leave the narrow path for the broad?
Why are we so easily tempted away from doing what is right?
We could fly on the wings of eagles, we could see with the eyes of love,
If we could rise above our base instincts, we could see the world with a much clearer and more positive perspective.
We could laugh with a childlike lack of concern, for the world would have nothing to fear of.
If we truly followed godly principles, we could find peace and be carefree.
But fear, we have plenty, and countless are the ways that we deceive,
We are held back by fear and often resort to deceit in pursuit of our goals.
A peace can be heard on the breath of each morning, by evening the widows will grieve,
We have the potential for peace and harmony, but violence and tragedy are still all too common in our world.
So, sing…sing a song for the ones who mourn,
We should express compassion for those who have suffered losses.
Light a candle for the world war torn,
We should proactively seek to bring light to the darkest corners of humanity.
Find hope in the Lord if your soul is worn,
Even in the face of adversity, we can find solace in a higher power.
And say a prayer for the ways of men,
We should seek guidance and improvement for all humanity.
Oh, you wandering souls that are huddled against the harsh wind,
To those who are lost and struggling in difficult times,
It does no good railing at the evil gale,
there is no point in lamenting about the negativity of the world.
Men have died while the devil grin,
The forces of evil are often present even in the most tragic of events.
So take courage, you pilgrim kind, when the good that you do is mocked,
Despite naysayers, we should remain steadfast in our pursuit of doing what is right.
For the day, it will come when the proud will fall and the ground that they walk on will be rocked,
Eventually, those who are arrogant and haughty will face their comeuppance.
And say a prayer for the ways of men,
We should continue to hope for betterment and progress for all humanity.
Say a prayer for the ways of the men.
We should pray for men to adopt more virtuous values.
Sing…sing a song for the ones who mourn,
We should use music to bring comfort and solace to those who are grieving.
And say a prayer for the ways of men,
We should continually seek to improve the nature of human behavior.
Say a prayer for the ways of men,
We should continue to hope and pray for our fellow humans to become kinder and more empathetic.
Say a prayer for the ways of men,
We should focus on making the world a better place one person at a time.
Contributed by James C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.