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.
What Kind of Friend
Mark Heard Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
What kind of friend would do you in, when the bomb goes off and the shelter’s his?
What kind of friends do friends become when the musical chairs get down to one?
What kind of friend could I become?
What kind of friend am I?
What kind of friend would tell you lies to spare you from the bitter truth?
And what kind of friend could stoop so low as to shield your eyes from the mirror’s gaze?
What kind of friend could I become?
What kind of friend am I?
And what kind of friend survives the night in a frightened sense of self-defence?
What kind of friend can take the ache of losing face for friendship’s sake?
What kind of friend do friends become when the heart says “kill” and the soul says “love”?
What kind of friend could I become?
What kind of friend am I?
Mark Heard's song What Kind of Friend is a thoughtful and introspective exploration of the nature of friendship. The song poses a series of questions, each one highlighting a different aspect of the complex and often contradictory relationships that we have with our friends.
The song begins with the question "What kind of a friend could pull a knife when it’s him or you and his kids need shoes?" This line speaks to the difficult choices that we sometimes face in our friendships, highlighting the tension between our loyalty to our friends and our own self-preservation. The following lines continue to build on this theme, asking what kind of friend would turn on you in a crisis or lie to spare your feelings. The overall effect is to create a sense of uncertainty and ambivalence about the nature of friendship, suggesting that there are no easy answers to the questions it poses.
As the song progresses, the focus shifts to the singer's own relationship with their friends. They ask themselves "What kind of friend am I?" and wonder what kind of friend they could become in different situations. These questions lead to a sense of introspection and self-examination, as the singer confronts their own flaws and inadequacies as a friend.
Overall, the lyrics of Mark Heard's What Kind of Friend are a poignant and thought-provoking reflection on the complexities of friendship. The song challenges us to think deeply about the nature of our own relationships with our friends, and to consider what kind of friends we aspire to be.
Line by Line Meaning
What kind of a friend could pull a knife when it’s him or you and his kids need shoes?
What kind of friend would resort to violence out of desperation for his family's well-being?
What kind of friend would do you in, when the bomb goes off and the shelter’s his?
What kind of friend would betray you in a time of crisis where his own survival is concerned?
What kind of friends do friends become when the musical chairs get down to one?
What kind of people do friends turn into when they're fighting for their own survival and resources?
What kind of friend could I become?
What kind of person could I turn into if tested in difficult circumstances?
What kind of friend am I?
What kind of person am I as a friend and how would I act in various scenarios?
What kind of friend would tell you lies to spare you from the bitter truth?
What kind of friend would deceive you to protect you from the harsh reality?
And what kind of friend could stoop so low as to shield your eyes from the mirror’s gaze?
What kind of friend would try to hide your flaws and prevent you from facing the true reflection of yourself?
What kind of friends do friends become when a blind eye turns on the damage done?
What kind of people do friends turn into when they choose to ignore the harm they have caused?
What kind of friend could I become?
What kind of person could I turn into if tested in difficult circumstances?
What kind of friend am I?
What kind of person am I as a friend and how would I act in various scenarios?
And what kind of friend survives the night in a frightened sense of self-defence?
What kind of friend would be able to withstand a situation of danger and act in their own self-preservation?
What kind of friend can take the ache of losing face for friendship’s sake?
What kind of friend can accept humiliation or embarrassment for the benefit of preserving the relationship?
What kind of friend do friends become when the heart says “kill” and the soul says “love”?
What kind of people do friends turn into when they're torn between their emotions and their morals?
What kind of friend could I become?
What kind of person could I turn into if tested in difficult circumstances?
What kind of friend am I?
What kind of person am I as a friend and how would I act in various scenarios?
Contributed by Peyton C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.