Archive for October, 2008
Mark Shepard In Concert At The Space in Hamden CT
Grab a cup of coffee or tea and pull up a comfy chair on Sunday November 23rd from 2-4 pm. You’re invited to join me as I do my first “open to the public” concert in over 2 years.
The Space is a small, vibrant performing arts venue that is perfect for the intimate kind of music I do. There’s plenty of parking and it’s easy to get to.
Bonus! The first 20 people to register online will receive a CD of 13 of my best songs FREE!
Admission is $20 in advance / $25 at the door.
Concert Location: “The Space” 295 Treadwell St., Building H, Hamden CT 06514 203-288-6400
You’re gonna have fun! But don’t take my word for it!
Hear a song from my last Public Performance 4/8/06:
Purest Form of Trance
Purest Form of Trance | 6/9/2001 | Song #314
I hate to admit it, I’m an ordinary man
I spend each day doing the best I can
I’ve come such a long way, and I have so far to go
Just like you I’ve got a couple of scars to show
Some say that it’s all about love, some say it’s all about enlightenment
And I don’t believe it’s an accident we’ve met
Refrain:
Fill my sails sweet wind of Creation
Cause Love is all about transformation
We may fear change, we may fear the status quo
We may be afraid to let our feelings show
But no one’s immune to the siren’s tune
Or the intoxicating pull of this lover’s moon
I embrace this magical distraction,
This Cabernet Sauvignon of mutual attraction
I will not deny it! I would like to try it!
How about you?
The more that I learn about love, the less that I know
Where does it come from? Where the hell does it go?
Sometimes it seems like it’s all part of some cosmic scheme,
A trick of Creation to get us to spread our genes…
Or, is it an invitation to the purest form of trance
Where miracles happen and the clumsy learn to dance?
Refrain:
Lately I’ve been learning a lot about distance…
I have no trouble being alone
I ain’t no Baryshnikov in the ballet of romance
But still I am a man of flesh and heart and bone
I am so receptive tonight to the signals that you’ve sent
That I answer you with the strength of my intent
© 2001-2008 by Mark Shepard. All Rights Reserved
Raven Had A Conversation With The Moon
Raven Had a Conversation With the Moon
12/20-22/2007 |
Song #377
Raven had a conversation with the moon
He asked her “is there a certain tune
I can sing to convince the sun to return
Without getting my feathers burned?”
one …..To…..One….two…..to…..One
Raven was having dinner with a lovely crow
He said, “There are things that we both know but we don’t know how we know, and furthermore there is no such thing as a ‘coincidence’”
And she knew right then that he wanted to get into her…
one …..To…..One….two…..to…..One
Raven had an appointment with a dream
He told her “we are more than what we seem
Perception is projection if you get the drift of what I mean
Let the parts come together without a single seam…
one …..To…..One….two…..to…..One
Raven demanded an answer from the air
I can’t see you so how do I know you’re really there?
And instead of giving an evasive or defensive reply,
She simply… rolled her eyes
one …..To…..One….two…..to…..One
Raven had an argument with the wind
Can you tell me where you begin and where I end?
Are you my lover or just more than a friend?
To which the wind said “baby now that all depends….”
one …..To…..One….two…..to…..One
Raven, had a discussion with a dove
You are of the same stuff that I’m made of
But you are white and I’m black, you are yin to my yang
And he closed his eyes and opened up his heart as he sang
one …..To…..One….two…..to…..One
Raven had a conversation with the moon
He asked her “is there a particular tune
I can sing to convince the sun to go away
She looked at him and said…”not today.”
© Mark Shepard 2008, all rights reserved
She Prefers the Company of Wolves and Crows
She Prefers the Company of Wolves and Crows
(She Does Not Need You)
#378 January 2008
She prefers the company of wolves and crows
She knows the world nose to nose
She is feral, fierce and unafraid of lightening
She wears a different disguise at every sighting
She can taste you at some distance on the breeze
And with one look release you from your dis-ease
She will shout at you to get you to breathe
For your own sake learn to breathe!
She does not need you x3
She can paint you into or out of your existence
What you call intelligence is merely resistance
She demands that you abandon your defenses
See the world through a brand new pair of lenses
She is warrior, healer, mystic, daughter, mother, lover, sister
She is the magical entrance to this world where we are visitors
She’ll break your heart open and you will howl with joy and wonder
She will then offer your spirit up to the thunder…
She does not need you x3
She would prefer it if you turned off all the lights
Make friends with your shadow in the gathering of twilight
Remove your shoes for the ground you walk on is holy
The ground is as Holy as it is muddy
She is not interested in your opinion
She will never submit to your dominion
But she does invite you to dance until you drop
The old routines that caused you to stop…
She does not need you x3:
We are running out of time
Move your body, change your mind
Plug yourself into the divine
And maybe she will give you a sign
Surrender to the force of her persuasion
Her wildness has a certain contagion
She dares you to cross the vital threshold
Do it now before you are too old
She does not need you x3
© Mark Shepard 2008, all rights reserved
Learn More About Clarissa Pinkola-Estes
Commentary:
December of 2007 I was hanging out with a wild woman archetype in the flesh, Lesley Roy. Artist, entrepreneur, designer, former model…founder of the Corvus Art Center in New Haven, CT. Champion of the art of Dr. Ala Bashir…
To make a long story short, Lesley Roy was working on a series of paintings inspired by Women Who Run With the Wolves. It just happens to be one of my favorite books and sources as a storyteller. The Silkie story, I turned into a song. Skeleton Woman I adapted from several other versions.
So Leslie Roy challenged me to write a series of songs to go with her paintings.
This is one of them.
Andrew
September 1977, Song # 8
Glancing around the overflowing room,
Andrew shoves his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans
Clenches his fist around some loose change jingling
He’s sure that he’s a failure at small talk and mingling
So he leans against a helpful wall feeling out of tune
But deep inside he knows he’s different than he seems
And he’s always looking for a girl to know him
Talking to himself, the best and only pal he has
All about how she will be a friend, not a lover
But Andrew wants to love her
He really needs to love her.
But time does come for him to go home
He knows he’s safe inside the headphones
He worships with the Grateful Dead
Cause they know what goes on inside his head
Andrew is a sensitive boy
He needs his music more than any other toy
And he mumbles when the teacher calls
Cause he’s spacing out the walls
Into his drifting chin-on-hand wilderness of kinds
And the master of the rule
Takes Andrew for a fool
But Andrew doesn’t really mind at all
He don’t care, he don’t care, never did
He don’t care now
He don’t care, he don’t care, never will
He don’t care how
Yet the time does come for him to go home
He knows he’s safe inside the headphones
And he worships the Grateful Dead
Cause they really know what goes on in his head
Andrew is a plastic boy
He needs his records more than any other toy
Just before the sun lets itself down
It breaks through the clouds and gives the hills a liquid crown
Andrew’s on his way back from the depths of town
Slaps his Keds into the dust with a frown
And he’s always looking for a girl
Looking for a girl to know him
Talking to himself, the best and only pal he has
All about how she will be a friend, not a lover
But Andrew wants to love her
He really needs to love her.
But time comes for him to go home
He knows he’s safe inside the headphones…
© 1977-2008 by Mark Shepard, all rights reserved
Commentary: Definitely described me as a teenager…totally awkward, in my own world. I’d come home from school and basically disappear into the headphones. I was listening more to Queen, Elton John, Pink Floyd, Cat Stevens, Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell and other 70’s singer/songwriter types where the lyrics mattered. As far as dating went…didn’t really know how to ask a girl out but wanted to. Afraid to pick up the phone. lonely. and definitely screwed up by wanting a best friend or a lover but not getting that at age 16 it’s like not supposed to be a big deal. Wouldn’t re-live that crap for anything. Not a bad song though for a 16 year old songwriter huh? Still blows my mind to hear it. – Mark
Johnny's A Rover
Johnny's A Rover, A Song by Mark Shepard
Johnny’s A Rover
August 1977, Song # 7
Come on now Johnny and kick off your shoes
Sit by the fire and slap off the blues
Evening is turning the day to a joke
And now you deserve a good hearty smoke
Oh but Johnny’s a rover
Oh his stay’s almost over
Oh, Hey, Ho, Hi
Oh, Hi, Ho, Hey
Wake up now Johnny and stifle that yawn
If you don’t hurry yer ship’ll be gone
Shore is a nice place, but it ain’t yer home
So love all the girls and leave ‘em alone
Oh, but Johnny’s a rover
Oh, his stay is over
Oh, Hey, Ho, Hi
Oh, Hi, Ho, Hey
Come on now Johnny and kick off your shoes
Sit on the deck and slap off the blues
Eight bells are ringing, the watch is a joke
And now you deserve a good hearty smoke
Oh, but Johnny’s a rover
Oh, his trick is over
Oh, Hey, Ho, Hi
Oh, Hi, Ho, Hey
related links:
Boredom
Boredom
10/19/08 | Song #384
How many guys tonight will
Buy you drinks and tell you
Just how hot you are
But you know what they want to sell you….
Excruciating Boredom….
I’m not one of the puppies
I don’t care if you like me
Do not need your approval
Raise your bitch shield just to spite me
It just excites me…
Stop looking in the mirror
Peek outside your bubble
Buy me a beer and I will
Let you come a little nearer
Unless of course you are too boring…
Refrain:
I’m here to rescue you from boredom
I’m here to tease you into freedom…
Explore the edge of all your limits…
You know you want it. Now admit it…
You tell yourself you want somebody
Who will treat you like a lady
But what would it be like to be
With someone who took you much less seriously?…
And rescued you from boredom…
Who knows just how you’re wired
Who knows what buttons move you
Who knows just how to lead you
Where you want to go…
Escape with me from boredom…
Refrain:
You can always go suburban
Get yourself a nice safe husband
Give birth to 2 nice children
It’s a story with a happy end…
Excruciating Boredom…
I’m not the guy who you would
Take home to your family…
But when you’re in your eighties
You will remember me
And how I rescued you from boredom…
Refrain :
copyright 2008 by Mark Shepard. All Rights Reserved
Commentary: This song was inspired by the work of Ron Louis and David Copeland, two dating coaches for men who I’ve gotten to know over the years. Ron and I have been talking for sometime about doing a workshop to help painfully shy guys clear their old fear around women programs. Basically Ron’s story is a lot like mine. He suffered from agoraphobia and eventually got fast help with NLP. I don’t know David as well but the bottom line is that these guys created a powerful home study course (which I reviewed on http://www.squidoo.com/datingapproachanxiety ) on how to have fun engaging conversations with women that build attraction through connection and disconnection. They call it “The Advanced Bad Boy Training Course” and it’s main purpose is to give the “nice” guy or the shy, nerdy man the tools to hold his own in conversation with the kinds of women who can totally destroy a guy’s self esteem in seconds.
So, true to my compulsive songwriting habit, I wrote a song from the perspective of this alpha male style approach (vs. the “nice guy” or “boring nervous bonehead” approach) that Ron and David are advocating for men.
BTW for my wonderful feminist fans, this is not in any way about manipulating, or using or taking advantage of women. This is not remotely misogynistic. It’s basically giving guys the tools to play on the same conversational playing field that women enjoy relating on. The reason you find so many of us guys dreadfully dull, boring and even creepy is that we just don’t have a clue how to actually interact with high quality women like you.
So please listen to the song and let me know what you think in the comments section below.
thanks! – Mark
Some other links that might be of interest:
The Game
The Game, A song by Mark Shepard
The Game
June 1977, Song #6
Laughing across the fields and
Through summer’s old leaves
And finally up my sleeves,
The bitter wind mocks me and
Pulls all my ill concealed destinies
Out of my pocket and into the long winter night
But I clutch what dreams I have left
With desperate eyes and pull down my hat
And hold to the lies
Out on the road, out on the road, out on the road
Just another child without a name
Running away, running away, running away
Just another pawn playing the game
I’m still awake when the neon dies
In all the pubs and cafes
I’m traveling by rule of thumb at night
So I can sleep through the days
It’s not that I think I’ll be looked for
Or followed or chased or threatened
Or even missed,
It’s just that it’s part of the game
And it must be done right
If you’re gonna play at all
So just to play fair I will tell you
That no one knows and no one will find out
Why I’m still on the road.
Out on the road, out on the road, out on the road
Just another child without a home
Running away, running away, running away
Just another wanderer out on the roam
So come on and give me a ride
Open the door on the passenger side
I won’t pretend to know you
I won’t even give you a name
I’m just a face and a thank you
And you’re just part of the game
© Mark Shepard 1977-2008. All rights reserved.
Running In Rain
Running In Rain, A Song by Mark Shepard
Running In Rain
June1977, Song #5
Running in rain
And rejoicing in wind-shields
That drives by insisting that
I am insane
I ponder the meanings
That lie in the clouds
Knowing full well that the answers
Lie in the ground
Traveling through the reaches
Of many self made lands
Wandering on the beaches
Formed with mind made sands
Breathing the rain
And moving in solitude
I’m part of the pavement
And part of the sky
Praying to time,
The god of man
I ask to be able
To go where I can
Travel through the reaches
Of many self made lands
Wander on the beaches
Formed with mind made sands
On my way home
I pass children
In their raincoats
Splashing in puddles
And they laugh with me…
But still I
feel the wanderer
Rushing inside
Free on the moment
And soft on high
Moving in rhythm
Of forward thrust
I may change but the rain
Stays the same.
© Mark Shepard 1976-2008. All rights reserved.
No Longer Strangers
March 1977, Song # 4
You have passed another step
In that series of events
That grows around your life
You’ve done reasonably well
Though you’ve had your share
Of hard times and sorrow
You’ve been here for a while
But it’s time to move on
To new mountains and rivers
Refrain:
I think you realize
I think you know, that
We are no longer strangers
We are of the same family
We are no longer strangers
I hope that you are happy
You came to us here
Even though
There were times when you felt
You were being compared
To those who went before you
But don’t think of that now
Cause it’s over and done
And we don’t have much time left
Refrain:
Words fail to express
The feelings I have for you
But I see in your eyes
That you understand
© Mark Shepard 1976-2008. All rights reserved.
If I Were In Love
If I Were in Love, A Song By Mark Shepard
If I Were In Love
March 1977, Song # 3
If I were in love
I might write a love song
If you understood
You might sing along
If I was a lover
the kind that writes poems
You and I might make a home
Beyond the thoughts of older goals
Eyes held into each other’s souls
Together striving towards the whole
If you felt inside
That you had to be free
I would try not to disagree
And if you liked the clear days
and I liked the rain
I would try to accept the sun’s flame
and even on those cloudy days
we’d lock each other in the gaze
That lovers often use to embrace
But when that will be
Is so hard to see
That I will not let it trouble me
So I’ll just keep on living
Till the future is now
And someday we may meet somehow
Beyond the thoughts of older goals
Eyes held into each other’s souls
together striving towards the whole
Commentary: My first love song… – Mark
© Mark Shepard 1977-2008. All rights reserved.
Welcome to Where You Are
January 1977, Song #2
Note: Click the play button below to play it here or “Play in Pop up” to open a separate little window
- I’d like to welcome you to where you are
Needless to say the door is always ajar
I’d like to tell you where I am today
I’ll say it before it slips away
I’m something else besides that person over there
I’m something else besides the face I wear
I am the empty hallways
Filled with empty sound
I am the lonely seeker
A case of lost, not found
But there amidst the bitterness
There is a word that sings of you
There is a word that sings of me
That word is “we”
We are the ones who gain and lose
We fight the battles, get the blues
We are the stones of all foundations
We are the lost generations
We are appointed by some knowing force
To occupy the chairs held now by ghosts
Others will follow when their time has come
It’s all the same for everyone
We vainly try to gain the source
Wasted is the kindness of the host
While our groping minds soon are numbed
By the sight of what we have become
We’re something else besides “those people over there”
We’re something else besides the labels that we bear
We are the empty churches
Filled with empty prayer
We are our mother’s sons
Choking in despair
We stand alone amidst our burned out lives
And you don’t seem to care
That we once cared.
We are the ones who gain and lose
We fight the battles, get the blues
We are the stones of all foundations
We are the lost generations
And you don’t seem to care that we once cared….
Commentary: This was interestingly enough, my mom’s favorite song! I wrote it in the midst of deep existential teen age angst on a church youth group retreat…I was entering into that healthy doubting phase that I’m still in…There’s a nicely produced version of this on my Hesitant Journey Album which at this moment exists in the form of a single vinyl “long playing record” or “LP” I’m hoping to get it transferred to digital format soon. Glancing over these lyrics…I’m glad I’ve let go of a lot of that angst stuff but it was real and honest at the time.
- Mark
© Mark Shepard 1977-2008. All rights reserved.
Formica Bartop Blues
December 1976, Song #1
I will sing for you my buddy
Formica Bartop blues
And you know that we are brothers
We’re standing in each other’s shoes
Refrain:
Let me tell you that
There ain’t no easy winners
In this world of wounds and woe
If you want to get to the top man
Something’s got to go!
Refrain:
And we love to roam dark alleys
With switchblades in our fists
And we want to get from Sally
Much more than a kiss
Refrain:
And these sneakers have seen ’bout a million miles
Of New York’s cracked blacktop
And this body has seen its share of trials
Mostly from those blue bellied cops
Refrain:
Commentary:
This is not really the FIRST song I ever wrote it’s just the first song I ever wrote that I still remember how to play. It’s fun for me to recognize the limiting beliefs…”There ain’t no easy winners in this world of wounds and woe…” Pretty depressing for a 16 year old kid huh? But hey the song is fun. Obviously total fantasy. I wrote it while I was shoveling snow one winter’s day… – Mark
© 1976-2008 by Mark Shepard, All Rights Reserved
Interesting Links: Wikipedia – drinking songs