Dancing At the Policeman's Ball

Prior to Mark Heard's final three CDs, Dancing At the Policeman's Ball was Mark's biggest "hit." It was featured in the movie Dakota starring Lou Diamond Phillips. Although not a dance song, it was featured in the scene of a policeman's dance.

As I posted recently, Mark said that:

"Policeman's Ball" is speaking about the isolationism to which I've referred earlier - how we as Christians can get so caught up with our own circles that we again forget about our responsibility to sense what is going on with human beings out there in the "secular world."

Dancing At the Policeman's Ball

You hit the floor at the sound of the band
With a partner in your hand
Restless and breathless you dance the night away
Did I hear you say it is your aim
For every night to be just the same
And you hope the city outside's gonna be okay

Dancing at the Policeman's ball
Dancing at the Policeman's ball
Move your feet while the city sleeps
Dancing at the Policeman's ball

I saw you smile when I heard you say
"A life o' crime just does not pay,
And criminals are heading for a big fall!"
And when I asked to see your badge
You said, "Man, I don't need to flash no badge -
Can't you see I'm dancing at the Policeman's ball?"

Dancing at the Policeman's ball
Dancing at the Policeman's ball
Move your feet while the city sleeps
Dancing at the Policeman's ball

In precinct five, ten people died
In precinct six, it was twenty-five
Nobody taking the law to the streets tonight
Did I hear you say it is your aim
For every night to be just the same
And you hope the city outside's gonna be okay

Dancing at the Policeman's ball
Dancing at the Policeman's ball
Move your feet while the city sleeps
Dancing at the Policeman's ball

Written by Mark Heard © 1982 Bug 'n Bear Music ASCAP

Pastemusic.com is the only place I am aware of that carries the CD.

Nothing Is Bothering Me

Here is a satirical Mark Heard song with a serious message. Mark explained what he meant in the liner notes of his Victims of the Age album:

On this album, "Nothing is Bothering Me," "Dancing at the Policeman's Ball," and "Everybody Loves a Holy War" are all satires touching on problems. The first one is about the lie we can live as people by not seeing what's happening in the world around us. We have no right to interpret our complacent experiences as "the way things are" in this world. The other two are dedicated solely to Christian problems. "Policeman's Ball" is speaking about the isolationism to which I've referred earlier - how we as Christians can get so caught up with our own circles that we again forget about our responsibility to sense what is going on with human beings out there in the "secular world," And "Holy War" speaks satirically of the danger of believing that God is the author of our opinions, or our political leanings. Wars are always being fought between the "holy" and the "holy." Neither side realizes he can't win. Each side believes he has won already.

Nothing Is Bothering Me

No news is good news but news is here to stay
Tightening the thumb-screws from day to day
I hear the tale of a distant fray
War is hell but it's half-a-world away

I'm alright
Nothing is bothering me
I'm just trying to keep the weight of this world
From dawning on me
We get the picture from week to week
The rich get richer and inherit the meek
Long since started preying on the weak
Am I the guilty party if I turn the other cheek

I'm alright
Nothing is bothering me
I'm just trying to keep the weight of this world
From dawning on me

Hey now emotion - is that you again
Don'tcha know that warmth and devotion have passed as a trend
Jesus is knocking but don't let him in
He might come like a thief and steal away your sin

I'm alright
Nothing is bothering me
I'm just trying to keep the weight of this world
From dawning on me

Written by Mark Heard
© 1982 Bug 'n Bear Music ASCAP

I have posted Everybody Loves A Holy War before and I will post Dancing at the Policeman's Ball soon.

Stuck In the Middle

Being a logical, rational person comes naturally for me. From my expertise as a chess player to my legal training, my mind is geared toward acceptance of scientific truths. I am probably unique in that I see no conflict between evolutionary theories of science and a faith that accepts the likelihood of a supernatural creation. Science can answer the question of how we got here; but it is up to philosophy and faith to attempt to explain the why.

Here is how Mark Heard explained his journey and conflict between faith and reason (from the liner notes to Stop the Dominoes):

You referred earlier to your days as a skeptic. Is skepticism a sin, or does it seem to you a plague of sorts to those so minded?

Skepticism doesn't have to be viewed as a liability . Unfortunately, most of the time Christians see it that way. I have had hard times in the past because of that -- my questions were equated with sin by most of the believers around me, and that caused still more questions, like, ''well, shouldn't God's people be concerned enough about me to help me instead of crossing their arms and waiting for me to see things their way?" It bothered me for a long time. When a person has no rational basis for his faith, or feels that he has lost that rational basis, it is quite painful . It's hard to believe with your heart if there is conflicting information in your mind. To ignore the mind and brush off the questions is wrong, and is more an Eastern idea than a Christian one. So finally I figured, "well, if Christianity can't stand up to questioning, it's not the truth, and if it's not worth scrutiny, it's not worth believing." So my skepticism continued and led me to look deeply into the matters in question. Most of my answers came from quiet study. Skepticism was an asset to me in that it forced the roots of my faith to grow deeper.

Like Mark Heard, I have decided to forge my own path. And like Mark, I'm Stuck In the Middle.

Stuck In the Middle

It's a funny world we live in
It's funny every day
Half the world prays like the preacher
The other half don't even pray
So no one understands you
If you pray in your own way

Now I'm stuck here in the middle
Everything is in a jam
Stuck right in the middle
Doors on both sides seem to slam
No one seems to want me
Only God will take me like I am

Well my brothers criticize me
Say I'm just too strange to believe
And the others just avoid me
They say my faith is so naive
I'm too sacred for the sinners
And the saints wish I would leave

Now I'm stuck here in the middle
Everything is in a jam
Stuck right in the middle
Doors on both sides seem to slam
No one seems to want me
Only God will take me like I am

Written by Mark Heard
© 1981 Bug and Bear Music (ASCAP)

Domino Theory

Back in February, I posted on of Mark Heard's songs One of the Dominoes. From the song:

Heaven help a seeker of truth
In an age of lies
Gonna make himself believe
That the truth is whatever he buys
Gonna buy what the world says to buy
In a monotone
Gonna cry when the whole world cries
And the truth is known

Heaven heaven help me
I'm one of the dominoes
Chain reaction coming
Blow by blow

Some economic blog commentators that I read have been mentioning a kind of economic "Domino Theory" of their own. A series of cascading financial failures through derivatives and debt instruments that will lead to potentially horrific economic losses. I'm not sure I'm smart enough to understand all this stuff. I'm trying to educate myself on macroeconomic theory and wade through the complexities. Hopefully, I've made the right decisions.

Heaven heaven help me. I'm one of the dominoes.

How Many Tears

This song, from the Dry Bones Dance CD, sure sounds like an anti-war song.

How Many Tears

Gunmetal grey for golden rules
White hot steel for the comfort of fools
Molten wills in iron hands
Forge new sons for the Motherland

How many tears will fall down
How many tears must fall
How many tears will stain this ground
How many tears must fall

Hidden mounds in jungle dust
Youthful voices forever lie hushed
Poets and peasants know the truth
But what in the world can one man do

How many tears will fall down
How many tears must fall
How many tears will stain this ground
How many tears must fall

A mother’s eyes ache with her hatred
Her lips they are crippled with fear
She waits for the news that she don’t want to hear
How many tears
How many tears
How many tears must fall down

Ain’t no funerals
Ain’t no prayers
Ain’t no blood in the Government Square
Reign of terror
True and tried
Dries the eyes before they’ve cried

How many tears will fall down
How many tears must fall
How many tears will stain this ground
How many tears must fall
How many tears
How many tears will fall down

Written by Mark Heard © 1990 Ideola Music

The song can be heard at Rhapsody.com. It is song #8 at the link.

You Could Lie To Me

Here is a Mark Heard song that seems to have some relevance to our times. From Stop the Dominoes:

You Could Lie To Me

You could lie to me with a ring of truth
And I would not understand
You could lead me on to the pits of Hell
I'm a less-than-perfect man

Oh - Who's gonna warn me
Oh - How can I tell
Oh - It's so easy
Believing the lies you tell

You could take my heart, turn it into stone
And I might not even know
You could season me until my feelings are gone
And the pain is felt no more

Oh - Who's gonna warn me
Oh - How can I tell
Oh - It's so easy
Believing the lies you tell

I do not see the casualties
I don't know what might have been
You're making friends out of my enemies
And enemies of my friends

Oh - Who's gonna warn me
Oh - How can I tell
Oh - It's so easy
Believing the lies you tell

Written by Mark Heard
© 1981 Bug and Bear Music (ASCAP)

eMusic Spotlights Mark Heard

Taken from Mark Heard: Orphan of God:

Mark Heard: Orphan of God

by Michael James McGonigal

When one of my editors asked me to write a column on the talented singer, producer and songwriter Mark Heard, I was elated to learn that so much of his discography had recently been added to eMusic’s catalogue. Frequently compared to the likes of Townes Van Zandt, Tom Petty, Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan, Heard’s stature has increased steadily since he passed away from heart complications fifteen years ago.

Bruce Cockburn called Heard “America’s best songwriter,” while the alternative adult contemporary music magazine Paste argued in a lengthy 2003 feature that “no artist has crafted three consecutive albums with both the lyrical radiance and the musical vibrancy to rival Dry Bones Dance, Second Hand and Satellite Sky.” I wouldn't go quite that far myself, but those three records really are exceptional — poetic, slice-of-life stuff by any standard. Heard is an original, an iconoclastic figure who presaged the work of artists like Chris Rice and Jeremy Enigk. In a two-sentence biography on All Music Guide he is casually called “brilliant.” Heard’s 1982 long-player Victims of the Age album was ranked in the top third of CCM magazine’s list of the all-time greatest Christian albums. And yet Mark Heard remains something of a cult figure.

Heard came of age in contemporary Christian music’s infancy — the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. CCM had yet to become a multi-million dollar industry, and in many ways was still a holdover from the so-called Jesus Rock movement of the ‘60s. Rear-guard CCM artists often questioned the nature of faith, but newer singers like Amy Grant had begun to proffer a simpler, more saccharine approach to mixing faith and music. Heard must have known that, in this context, his work had power and deserved to be heard by as wide an audience as possible — certainly by as many people who purchased Bob Dylan’s 1980 album Saved. “I'm not looking for votes, and my music isn't only for Christians,” Heard told New Christian Music in 1984.

The fact that Heard had songs with titles like “Everybody Loves a Holy War” might clue you in to his approach. In a series of amazing advertisements for his 1979 album Appalachian Melody, Heard wrote that “most Christians would say that the music should in some way glorify God… [however] one assortment of notes on the scale can't glorify God more than another. Neither can certain assortments of words... If you are an up and coming Christian singer and you have to sing for a Christian audience, you'd better throw as many words like "saved" or "hallelujah" or "sweet Jesus" as you can, otherwise your spirituality will be discussed behind your back. But anybody can [simply] say the words. Like Groucho says, 'Say the secret woid, the duck comes down, you win a hunnid dollas.'”

Heard’s early work is in the folky vein; he was often compared to James Taylor, and not always favorably. In his later recordings, he veers towards flat-out rock in a country-tinged Tom Petty-ish style that also encompassed Appalachian folk, Tex Mex and zydeco on that great Dry-Hand-Sky trilogy. Even his best albums feature the gated drum sound, reverb-saturated vocals, U2-ish guitar leads and other elements of mainstream ‘80s rock production. His voice is strong, though, especially on his sadder ballads. But what really propels his work is his way with words. Take “Fire” from Dry Bones Dance: “Oh, to find love's hiding place/ We are beggars and bootleggers/ Fading embers caught out in the rain/ Wondering what's it take to burst into flames/ And meanwhile hammers fall on anvils of grief/ Molten souls in madmen's cauldrons.”

Heard was struck down during his creative peak, and his spirit and wit are as much missing from contemporary Christian music as his exceptional songcraft. In that series of ads for Appalachian Melody, Heard said he liked “to write songs about things which cause me to glimpse the worth of God. Sometimes that might be the ocean, sometimes it is love for my wife, sometimes it can be absurdly simple things… We shouldn't search for a spiritually symbolic rationalization for [every] activity we enter into. It is not evil to enjoy a good laugh or a hike in the Sierras for what they are.” Having suffered the banalities of one too many well meaning but excruciatingly boring CCM acts (not to mention anemic praise and worship performances), these words still ring loud and true for me, nearly thirty years after the fact.

I am going to add a few words to the bolded quotes above. I have had (and even still have) the same complaint about Christian music played on the radio. Almost all of it comes down to variations of: "Jesus loves me this I know; for the Bible tells me so." Before getting an e-mail notifying me of this review of Mark Heard's work, I had been thinking about this very issue this week and had been thinking about writing about it anyway.

I realize there is a time and place for simplistic Christian songs; and America is increasingly moving toward a business model of exploiting niche markets (of which Christian music is one). There was a time when a Christian artist couldn't make a decent living producing strictly Christian music. But, on the other hand, the drive for a Christian artist to become monetarily successful requires that they conform to certain social norms within that Christian audience they are trying to convince to buy their music. That means -- all too often -- that they must water down any lyrics that might challenge the Christian audience of long-held orthodoxies. True artists move society forward by challenging their prejudices. Religions, by nature, are conservative -- or even reactionary -- forces on society. Contrarily, art almost always is a progressive force that changes and shapes perceptions toward societal evolution by showing injustices because of conservative ideas.

Back when I was in high school, there were Christian musicians like Randy Stonehill who challenged us about being susceptible to the American culture with its fixation on Fast Food and cosmetic appearances. Where are all the Christian artists today that challenge us to move toward changing our culture? Almost all of them are giving us the message to conform to the culture around us (at least the dominant Christian culture with all of its trappings combined with economic orthodoxies). Sometimes I wonder how Jesus himself would react to a McDonald's inside of a church? (Thoughts of Jesus whipping the moneychangers come to mind.)

(By the way, I would like to point out that the one time I got to see Mark Heard perform live, it was as an opening act for Randy Stonehill. I got to meet Mark after the show and talk to him for a few minutes.)

Anyway, I guess one of the reasons I liked Mark Heard's music so much was that I am the kind of person who likes to be challenged mentally. Even St. Paul wrote: "When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things." 1 Corinthians 13:11. But I feel like too many Christians today in their emphasis on conformity also create an insulated culture that resembles child-like reasoning in areas of science, politics, economics and law. . .even when that means serving mammon rather than God.

I Just Wanna Get Warm

This song is another one by Mark Heard that has a kind of Cajun style to it. It appears on his Second Hand CD and again on the High Noon compilation CD released after his death. You can listen to the song at Rhapsody.com. It is song number 8 on the Second Hand CD.

I Just Wanna Get Warm

The mouths of the best poets
Speak but a few words
And then lay down
Stone cold in forgotten fields
Life goes on in this ant farm town
Cold to the lifeblood underfoot
All talk and no touch
And I just wanna be real
I just wanna be real

The colors here are monochrome
Studies in one shade of grey
The good times and the hard times
Cut from the same grey cloth
And all the fires that crackle here
Consume but do not burn
All light and no heat
And I just wanna get warm
I just wanna get warm

The days they rattle past me
Like a tunnel round a train
Landscapes and heartaches
I don't know what I feel
All I know is my condition
Is worse than I can tell
The small talk and the slow burn
And I just wanna be healed
I just wanna get well

There are things I should remember
But I have forgotten how
I'm all tied up with no time
Trying do too much
And the thoughts that I've avoided
Are the ones I need right now
Like a warm wind and love's hand
And I just wanna be touched
And I just wanna be real
And I just wanna be well
And I just wanna be healed
And I just wanna be warm

Written by Mark Heard
© 1991 Ideola Music/ASCAP

Rise From The Ruins

Since I am on the western edge of Cajun Country, I guess it is only fitting that I use a Mark Heard song that uses a Cajun style.

Rise from the Ruins

Nobody asks to be born
Nobody wishes to die
Everybody whiles away the interim time
Sworn to rise from the ruins by and by
The engines are droning with progress
The pistons are pounding out time
And it’s you and me caught in this juggernaut jaunt
Left to rise from the ruins down the line

We will roll like an old Chevrolet
The road to ruin is something to see
Hang on to the wheel
For the highway to hell needs chauffers
For the powers that be

Go and tell all your friends and relations
Go and say what ain’t easy to say
Go and give them some hope
That we might rock this boat
And rise from the ruins one day

Ever try to carry water in a basket
Ever try to carry fire in your hand
Ever try to take on the weight of the everyday freight
Til you find that you’re too weak to stand

Why so pale and wan, fond lover
Why so downcast and desperately sad
We can walk, we can talk
We ain’t yet pillars of salt
And we will rise from the ruins while we can

Written by Mark Heard © 1990 Ideola Music

You can listen to the song here at Rhapsody.com.

The song is found on the CD Dry Bones Dance

No End In Sight

This movie is only showing in New York City and Washington, DC currently. To find other cities where it will be showing and their opening dates, go to the No End In Sight movie homepage and click on "theatres."

The movie shows how incompetently the Bush Administration handled the Iraq war. Many people argue that we should not have gone at all. Perhaps so, especially given what we've seen happen.

Donald Rumsfeld famously said: "You go to war with the army you have, not the army you want or wish to have at some later date." It is also true that you go to war with the army you need, not the army that is the cheapest possible.

See my post "Some Folks' World," which was written several months ago.

Eye of the Storm

Eye Of The Storm

When it's dark outside you've got to carry a light
Or you'll stumble and fall like tumbling dice
It takes a steady step, it takes God-given sight
Just to tell what is the truth, what is wrong, what is right

In this world
Thunder throbs in the darkness
Out in the eye of the storm
The friends of God suffer no permanent harm

When the night sky glows with the red fires of war
And the threat of annihilation pounds at your door
You don't have to pretend that you got nerves of steel
To believe that the love of the Lord is actual and real

In this world
Thunder throbs in the darkness
Out in the eye of the storm
The friends of God suffer no permanent harm

When the daybreak comes with a trumpet blast
And the true fruit of faith is tasted at long-last
When the darkness dies and death is undone
And teardrops are dried in the noonday sun

In this world
Thunder throbs in the darkness
Out in the eye of the storm
The friends of God suffer no permanent harm

Written by Mark Heard
© 1983 Bug ´n Bear Music

You can only get the album Eye of the Storm at iTunes.com as a music download. It only costs $9.90, though. That's pretty cheap.

You can the song Eye of the Storm on Mark Heard's Greatest Hits CD, however.

Sounds So Simple

In my previous post, I referred to a song by the musician Pat Terry. He is still active as a songwriter and performs now and then.

His LP Humanity Gangsters never caught on with the Christian audience, but lyrically it was very progressive in Christian terms (it probably helped that Mark Heard produced it). The concept behind the album title is explained in the liner notes:

Could you comment on some of the songs on your album, "Humanity Gangsters?" ... Could you summarize your thoughts about it?

Yes, I wanted to find a title that said something about the theme of the album in a graphic kind of way. In one of the songs there is a line that says, "Humanity Gangsters, there stealing our compassion away," and I think that puts the idea behind the album in a nutshell. It's like were being robbed of all the things in life that are beautiful and we don't realize it. So, the album is just a kind of plea for people to be aware of that battle, and to find their own individual ways to fight it. I think it's also an album about faith that walks hand in hand with reason ... faith with substance.

The song Sounds So Simple is a song that appears to contrast unbelief with the often shallow thinking of Christians.

Sounds So Simple

Love is alive up in heaven tonight
And life goes on in this crazy mixed-up world
If we could bring some down
Well, I know it would be alright
Sounds so simple
Don't it girl

The rest of the world
Now they don't believe it
And I don't blame them
For the example we gave
It's hard to understand
Much less receive it
When the way they see it
Is through the way we behave

The sleeping masses
They just go on dreaming
While we keep swimming
On our surface world
I'd like to dive into the depths
And come up screaming
Sounds so simple
Don't it girl

Love is alive up in heaven tonight
And life goes on in this crazy mixed-up world
If we could bring some down
Well, I know it would be alright
Sounds so simple, don't it girl
Sounds so simple, don't it girl
Sounds so simple, don't it girl

***Update***

Pat Terry e-mailed me back after I informed him of the post. Here is what he said:

Fred,

Thanks for dropping a line, and for posting "Sounds So Simple" on your blog. It's been a long time since I'd looked at those lyrics. I think I'll pull it out and start performing it some when I go out and play. Thanks for the reminder.

Unfortunately my albums have not been re-released on CD or any other current media. I'm working on it and hope I can work out a licensing deal that will allow me to make them available. Word Inc. owns the actual master tapes. I appreciate your interest.

All the best,

Pat Terry

Pat also has a MySpace site where some of his new material is played. Here is the site:

The Real Pat Terry

The Pain That Plagues Creation

How could I have forgotten this song on Earth Day. What a great environmental song this could be: Mark Heard's The Pain That Plagues Creation. But Al Gore has presented a new opportunity to post it in honor of his Earth Concert.

I don't think that Mark's song, which is found on the the rare Eye of the Storm CD, was meant primarily to be a environmental song. ("The Pain," I think it's clear, was meant to refer to the fallen nature of mankind in the Christian context.) But it certainly could have a secondary environmental meaning.

The Pain That Plagues Creation

As this planet falls around the sun
Trapping us in the orbit
Creation groans in unison
Like a race of frightened orphans

The darkness of this raging storm
Is covering up our portals
But a yearning for the light
Is bourne in the heart of every mortal

Day to day we ache
With the pain that plagues Creation
Night to night we lie awake
And await its restoration

Heaven knows our lonely ways
Heaven knows our sorrows
And Heaven knows things that we don't know
And the joy of eternal tomorrows

But through this glass we dimly see
This world as it was made
Oh and the good we know
Must surely flow
From the heart of a kind Creator

Day to day we ache
With the pain that plagues Creation
Night to night we lie awake
And await its restoration

So hold on in this restless age
And do not fear your shadow
Your alternating tears and praise
Are prayers that surely will matter

Day to day we ache
With the pain that plagues Creation
Night to night we lie awake
And await its restoration

Written by Mark Heard
© 1983 Bug ´n Bear Music

House Of Broken Dreams

Does this sound like an appropriate song to describe my life in recent years? (See Seven Years Of Bad Luck and Live Like You Were Dying posts.)

House Of Broken Dreams

Hear the whistle blow
It echoes down my soul
It's something I have always known
Nothing sounds so sad
A cry to the unknown
The fundamental sigh of all who've gone this way before

Lay me down to sleep
Come and comfort me
I'll sleep in peace
In a house of broken dreams

I'm old enough to know
That dreams are quickly spent
Like a pouring rain on warm cement
Or fingerprints in dust
Nectar on the wind
Save them for tomorrow and tomorrow lets you down again

Lay me down to sleep
Come and comfort me
I'll sleep in peace
In a house of broken dreams

Give me the reasons to go on
Soften the sorrow that shatters and bends
And mend broken dreams

Sentimental hearts
Hungry for the past
Penniless at the wishing-well
Memories will last
And cover certain scars
Acquired in the daily grind of being what we are

Lay me down to sleep
Come and comfort me
I'll sleep in peace
In a house of broken dreams

Written by Mark Heard © 1990 Ideola Music

This song can be found on the CD High Noon.

Strong Hand of Love

The song Strong Hand of Love was Mark Heard's biggest "hit." I just found a MySpace page today that will play the entire song online.

If the song doesn't load up when the page first loads, you can just click on the Song title in the upper right hand corner.

Here are the lyrics from MarkHeard.net:

Strong Hand Of Love

Down peppers the rain from a clear blue sky
Down trickles a tear on a youthful face
Feeling in haste and wondering why
Up struggles the sun from a wounded night
Out venture our hearts from their silent shrouds
Trying to ignite but wondering how

We can laugh and we can cry
And never see the strong hand of love hidden in the shadows
We can dance and we can sigh
And never see the strong hand of love hidden in the shadows

Young dreamers explode like popped balloons
Some kind of emotional rodeo
Learning too slow and acting too soon
Time marches away like a lost platoon
We gracefully age as we feel the weight
Of loving too late and leaving too soon

We can laugh and we can cry
And never see the strong hand of love hidden in the shadows
We can dance and we can sigh
And never see the strong hand of love hidden in the shadows

Written by Mark Heard © 1990 Ideola Music

Mark Heard's Evening at the Coliseum

Today, instead of a song, I am reprinting some of Mark Heard's liner notes from his album Ashes and Light. The thoughts here should give you some insights to his thought processes. Compare the way he looked at the Coliseum to almost any other popular Christian artist. It is clear from this interpretation of Roman architecture that he was far more introspective and observant than most Christian artists today.

ROME

I spent the evening hours wandering through the ruins of Old Rome, photographing and thinking. It was a beautiful sunset, behind small cumulus clouds, and I was reminded of evenings spent on the islands off the Georgia coast. As the tourists hustled away, tucking guide maps into the pockets of their Hawaiian shirts, I decided to have a light supper of salami and cheese, with a cinnamon flavored soda to wash it down.

It was already dark by the time I finished the meal and headed for the hotel. After a harrowing street crossing episode on the roundabout encircling the Coliseum, I halted briefly to catch my breath, and as I stood in front of the Coliseum I noticed it was not closed in any way, though it was devoid of touring inhabitants. I decided to go walk around inside, despite misgivings about the safety of such a thing. Walking under the bleachers in the portico, I was stunned by the fact that it was not unlike being at Dodger Stadium late at night long after the completion of a game, and half expected to see snack food prices chiseled into the marble in Latin. I had a scare - I nearly tripped over a cat that was eating scraps someone had dropped among the newspapers littering the smooth, almost asphalt-like floor surface. I was to discover that there were literally hundreds of cats living in the labyrinth of the ruins. Their occasional cries and mating sounds were a strange cacophony indeed, and I scuttled on inside to the boundary of the arena and sat on a fallen marble pillar.

During the hour and a half that I sat there, my mind wandered in a number of different directions as my eyes darted around catching street light reflections from the marble finishing still present on some of the seats. I wondered at the grandeur of the architecture. The care of the artisans involved is plainly seen. The workmanship exhibited in the structure, though in various stages of ruin, was exquisite, and I felt I owed appreciation to the hands that had carved, sanded, chiseled and mortared so long ago; they could not guess that history books two thousands years after their deaths would record their feats, as well as the subsequent fall of the civilization they knew as their everyday environment.

Peering through the darkness at the arena itself, I recounted the things I'd read about: the opulence once exhibited there; the terrible games played there; the Christians who lost their lives in that circumference of marble-coated mud and straw bricks. What an awesome juxtaposition of symbols. How very strange to be able to sit as an uninvolved observer, blessed with the retrospect of history, and feel both the passion of the artisan and the pain of the persecuted.

Questions arose in my mind. "Must one ignore the atrocities done to human beings here, in order to appreciate the gift of creativity bestowed on men - architects, artists, sculptors - by the Creator? Is one to cast out of his mind forever the blessings of the existence of aesthetic potential for mortals made in God's image, in order to truly hate and despise the evil done in this arena, indeed the evil directed at God through the persecution of His children?"

I was reminded of the tension the Reformers felt: There were at that time beautiful pieces of statuary standing in small towns as icons. The atmosphere in which the Reformation was spawned found such iconic symbols theologically revolting. Some of the Reformers even went around to the villages knocking down and defacing the statues, and John Calvin had certain stained-glass windows taken out of the cathedral in which he officiated in Geneva. The fervor of the times demanded action. That action was not against the validity of art, but against what the art represented. In the minds of the Reformers, the statues were symbols of a thoughtform they considered erroneous. It was not the face value of the articles that was despised, but the ideas which were connected to the articles by way of symbolism. (Many of these pieces have been saved and reside in museums today.)

As I glanced again at the marble seats of the Coliseum, I was reminded of stories I'd heard about most of that marble being pillaged by Michaelangelo and his contemporaries during the Renaissance. It was needed elsewhere, and sentiment took a back seat to "progress" in those days, much as it does today.

The cats were still at their night noises while I wondered at the complexity of making value judgments about the world as we know it. To decry the intrinsic value in created things because of their marring by evil would not be fair - we would lose perspective on the true and intended value of beauty and the creativity of God, and of man after His image. To forget the evil and allow the cloud of familiarity to obscure it's awesome ugliness would be unfair as well. We live in a fallen world, but one in which the original face of the creation and its intended purpose may still be seen, and we must not let either fact obscure the other.

Someone once told me that she did not like the works of Vincent Van Gogh because he was such a confused man. But Argumentum ad Hominum cannot change objective things like beauty, though subjective criteria for an entity's value to man may be influenced by it. Indeed, bad art often gains popularity because of a friendly and agreeable image projected by the artist, especially in modern electronic media where image subverts truth in favor of a quick caricature that can be comprehended by viewers and readers at the lowest levels of consciousness. They may like the work of someone they consider likable, even though the artistic standards of the work are not very high.

Perception is more strongly influenced by our preconceived notions than we might realize. People will say that the smoke from a wood fire or a barbecue smells good. They will say that the smoke from a crematory's chimney smells bad, but only if they know what it is, because the actual smells are not that different.

If we knew more about any individual whose art we admire, his deficiencies and his failings, we might lean towards denying the value of his expressions, be they art or conversation. Intimate knowledge of character and subsequent disillusionment with the person are phenomena we know all too well. But we must be careful not to judge conscientious work by imperfect creatures as invalid. In so doing, we deny the very validity of the creative expression which was intended by God for much joy in the human spirit, including worshipful joy.

My thoughts were interrupted by a cat bursting suddenly out of the darkness and rubbing against my leg with an explosion of purring energy, and it took me a few minutes to get the hair on the back of my neck to lay down flat again. When I was finally breathing normally, I thought on: "This stadium has been considered an evil place by some, because of events that were known to transpire here. The Reformers tore down beautiful statues because of what they symbolized. Opponents of creative new forms of art or music today decry the medium because of the lifestyle that has at times, unfortunately, accompanied it. Could Nero's next-door neighbor have listened, appreciatively enthralled by the notes emanating from the violin, unaware of the fire in the city? My friend didn't like even Van Gogh's best work because of the inner turmoil it represented. Christians in the first Century abstained from meat that had been offered to idols before being put up for sale. Did Paul eventually convince them otherwise? Were they then patient with those who were not easily convinced? Do arguments based on intrinsic value do any good when opponents see only the symbol and proponents see only the entity itself? Is it possible to carry on a love/hate relationship with this world in which we live? Is it possible to see both sides of a coin simultaneously?"

I felt my bare arms getting chilled in the night air, and stood up to stretch. The silver, nearly full moon was moving ever so slowly just over the top edge of the ancient stadium. I took one last look around the moonlit interior of the wonderful and horrible place, and felt an appreciation and a sorrow. Then I turned to go. The cats continued their symphony as I walked through the arches back onto the street and faced a world of zooming Fiats, amusing hotel clerks and anonymous-looking magazine stands.

From the liner notes of his album Ashes and Light

Music Video: Nod Over Coffee

Mark Heard's Nod Over Coffee from his Second Hand CD (with Pierce Pettis).



Found another one with the original song in it:



Lyrics:

Nod Over Coffee

All the unsaid words that I might be thinking
And all the little signs that I might give you
They would not be enough
No they would not be enough

So we nod over coffee and say goodbye
Smile over coffee and turn to go
We know the drill and we do it well
We love it, we hate it
Ain't that life

Ain't that the curse of the second hand
Ain't that the way of the hour and the day

If I weren't so alone and afraid
They might pay me what I am worth
But it would not be enough
You deserve better

So we nod over coffee and say goodbye
Do whatever has to be done again today
Get in the traffic and time will fly
Look at the sun and pray for rain

Ain't that the curse of the second hand
Ain't that the way of the hour and the day

The dam of time cannot hold back
The dust that will surely come of these bones
And I'm sure I will not have loved enough
Will not have loved enough

If we could see with wiser eyes
What is good and what is sad and what is true
Still it would not be enough
Could never be enough

So we nod over coffee and say goodbye
Bolt the door it's time to go
Into the car with the radio on
Roll down the window and blow the horn

Ain't that the curse of the second hand
Ain't that the way of the hour and the day

Written by Mark Heard
© 1991 Ideola Music/ASCAP

Music Video Tribute: Heart of Hearts

Bob Bennett does a tribute with Heart of Hearts from Mark Heard's Victims of the Age album.



Lyrics:

Heart of Hearts

Tears in the city
But nobody's really surprised, you know
My heart's taking a beating
Existence is bleeding me dry, you know

But way down in my heart of hearts
Way down in my soul of souls
Way down I know that I am a fortunate man
To have known divine love

The world is in shambles
I'm just a young man but it's been getting
a little bit old to me
I'm already aching
The years have been taking
a little bit of a toll on me

But way down in my heart of hearts
Way down in my soul of souls
Way down I know that I am a fortunate man
To have known Divine love

Two in the morning
The siren is a warning that
everything is not quite alright
The city is sleeping
I'm down on my knees in the night
tonight

But way down in my heart of hearts
Way down in my soul of souls
Way down I know that I am a fortunate man
To have known Divine love

Written by Mark Heard
© 1982 Bug 'n Bear Music ASCAP

Another Day In Limbo

Boy, does the title of this Mark Heard song sound like my life right now. I have two job interviews this week, I am looking for a new house and my life is so full of topsy-turvy changes. And for Earth Day, this Mark Heard song juxtaposes natural beauty (trees, mountains) with technology and its effect on our landscapes (power lines, satellite dishes, "iron horse with four wheels").

Oh, who other than Mark Heard could use "jacaranda" in a song and make it seem like it ought to be there?

Another Day In Limbo

Pray for the foothills
Home to the drone of
Power lines and rock doves
Mountains grey as velvet
Field for dots of yucca
White and jacaranda
Facing the sky
As the day burns away
Is a desert in mourning
Sheltering the dead stones
Cradle of the lost bones
Home of eternal comings and goings

Blinking away the sunrise
Listening to the wind blow
Angels with dirty faces face
Another day in limbo
Beckoning fire from Heaven
Everything seems so stone-cold
Beating the drums of change
Another day in limbo

Pray for the foothills
Goatherds and windmills
And satellite dishes
Petroglyph talkers meet
Iron-willed walkers
Who grant them no wishes
Shaking a fist at the air
Seems to bring on a blackening sky
In the crackling of embers
Old men remember
Walking in beauty in the dawn of their lives

Blinking away the sunrise
Listening to the wind blow
Angels with dirty faces face
Another day in limbo
Beckoning fire from Heaven
Everything seems so stone-cold
Beating the drums of change
Another day in limbo

Pray for the foothills
Iron horse with four wheels
Bucks a drunken rider
Pawns of the pawn kings
Corn-silk of heartstrings
tattered and blighted
They sing in the sand for the son of the land
Who sought fire in water
Faith like a kernal rising up in thermals
Hope springs eternal once in awhile

Blinking away the sunrise
Listening to the wind blow
Angels with dirty faces face
Another day in limbo
Beckoning fire from Heaven
Everything seems so stone-cold
Beating the drums of change
Another day in limbo

Written by Mark Heard © 1992 Ideola Music/ASCAP

Victims of the Age

And for a Mark Heard song that showcased his lyrical poetry, Victims of the Age was also the title of the album on which it appeared. The music and lyrical content was far ahead of its time for Christian radio. (Actually, it probably still is.) Billboard magazine reviewed it as one of that year's best albums.

Victims Of the Age

Asphalt ocean roars
At islands with rubber wheels
City kid can't keep on even keel
Neon world says, "Gotcha"
Heart says, "No, no no"
Don't be swimming in the undertow

Caught between these voices
The sirens and the sage
One too many choices
For the victims of the age

Radio says, "I love you"
Street says, "That's a lie"
Billboard says, "Give anything a try"
Sidewalks don't say nothing
Streetlights don't ask why
Could stars be screaming in the evening sky?

Caught between these voices
The sirens and the sage
One too many choices
For the victims of the age

Written by Mark Heard
© 1982 Bug 'n Bear Music ASCAP

Victims of the Age can be found on his Greatest Hits (electric) album.



There is also a clip from the song that you can listen to at Amazon's website. The album cover for Mark Heard's Greatest Hits CD is essentially the cover from his Victims of the Age album.