Mark Shepard: A Life In Song

Posts Tagged ‘Mark Shepard’

Here’s the studio version of Rich Man, thought it would be appropriate for Thanksgiving. Sending it out to all my friends new and old who have made such a positive difference in my life this year (and it’s been just a weee bit of a challenge for a lot of us.) Please share with someone you love!

Click here: To see my home video version of this song

I’m A Rich Man | 4/8/09 | Song # 395

I don’t have a lot of money at the moment in the bank
But I am so abundant that I easily give thanks
I got a soft, warm bed to sleep in and a roof over my head
Got fresh cream for my coffee and butter for my bread
Well the sky is free for breathing and the ground is free to walk
I got a voice for singing and words with which to talk

I’m a rich man, I’m a rich man, I’m a rich man, I’m a rich man
I’m a rich man ‘cause I have you for friend.

I’ve got the sun to warm my body and the moon to soothe my eyes
Every day that passes helps to make me realize
Life is full of moments that we sometimes do not notice
The blossom of a dandelion rivals any lotus
There is so much wealth around us, abundance that surrounds us
That sometimes it’s a challenge to maintain our focus

I’m a rich man, I’m a rich man, I’m a rich man, I’m a rich man
I’m a rich man ‘cause I have you for friend.

When things don’t go as planned we can shout out our demands
Shake our fist at heaven or Uncle Sam
But good times ebb and flow it’s impossible to know
What you’ll reap before you ever sow
So patience my dear friend we will break if we don’t bend
This is the beginning not the end!

I’m a rich man, I’m a rich man, I’m a rich man, I’m a rich man
I’m a rich man ‘cause I have you for friend.

Well the world is full of magic and the world is full of pain
Learn the lessons from the tragic or repeat it all again
We never know who we will meet as we move through our days
All I know is it’s a treat to share the path with you a ways
Well this song may be too simple and it may be too sweet
But this song helped me through a day when I was in defeat

I’m a rich man, I’m a rich man, I’m a rich man, I’m a rich man
I’m a rich man ‘cause I have you for friend.

Please Note: this song is dedicated to (in no particular order) Karen Clark, Andy Ross, Beverly Sastri, Gene Moore, Joe Mennonna, Milli, Joanne Dunsing, Michelle Huse, Maureen Carney, Bethany Bryant, Michael Bower, Dorothy Cochran, Martha Evarts, Adrienne Thomason, Rob Bronson, Michael Guerin, Melanie Rudolph, Terry Maguire, Martha Maguire, Chris Gaunya, Claudia Lampert, Art Mollengarden, Julie Braun, Renee Ginnetti, Matthew Browning, Phoebe Browning, Elisabeth Mammon, Gessi Schultz, Valeria Roncoli, Mark Carranno, Peaches Quinn, BJ Frazier, Kim Kasperian, Angelus Perez, Renee Baldo, Rob Friedman, Peter Hawes, Bill Sadick, Dee Devore, Kathy McAfee, Marie Cox, Dorothy Ruggiero, Jeff Tottenham, Deanna Cherrone, Lorna Patterson, Karen Gregaitis, Michael McDermott, Bill Wright, Sandy LaBrecque, Joe Schroder, Todd Rolland, Frank Rosa, Rosemary Nichols, Norko & Gerry Greene, Joe D’Ambrose, Secret Agent Man Mike, my sister Lynn, my Dad, my children and

All my groovy Twitter Followers and Friends: (BTW Follow Me On Twitter! )

Here’s just a smidgeon of my beloved Tweeps: @P10S @KenShimizu @JujuMama @lifecruise @txvoodoo @marenhogan @urbancrafter @UltimateWAHDads @ReikiAwakening @purplehayz @megaRmease @GaryLoper @spiralgypsy @LaurieStJ @KimberWitch @CafeNirvana @ravenpearlink @Evangelic_Diva @PoeticHeart34 @VisionarySpirit @srndur @raedelsol @k0zm0zs0ul @gbrast @create2inspire @MrsPelephant @RT_steve_jobs @tionex @whitelotus01 @CouncilmanTech @terrillwelch @PaintsNature @kiltweaver @MermaidsMuse @poetryc

anyone else out there who has touched my life in a positive way. I truly wish you all the best. Thank you for your love and support!….(and patience) )

I’m A Rich Man by Mark Shepard is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Click here: To see my home video version of this song

Please leave a comment below and share this with your friends

It was the Fall of 1989 and there were increasing demonstrations at the Berlin Wall. In the second week of November it started coming down. At the same time a friend was doing a documentary about the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington DC. The contrast got me to thinking about walls. Good walls and bad walls, walls that hold us and walls that divide us int two… well watch the video. Lyrics are below. Please share this with as many people as you can. Thanks! – Mark

Walls   | Song# 143  |  11/22/1989

There are good walls and bad walls
Walls that hold us and walls that divide us in two
There are walls that shatter our grand illusions
And walls that obstruct the view
There are walls as old as Gilgamesh
And there are walls with fresh new paint
There are walls that stretch a thousand miles
And walls that can make a grown man faint….

Refrain:
There’s a wall in Washington filled with names
Of loved ones who have gone
And there’s a wall in East Berlin, crumbling now
May we dance together on its remains

There’s a silence bigger than a prairie sky
In a darkness cut with stars
There’s a child singing her own sweet tune
As she learns to question why

Refrain:

There are dreams we’ve lived and dreams we’ve lost
And hope that refuses to die
And around the world the Watchman’s fires
Send sparks dazzling into the sky

Refrain:

And as the new year gathers nigh
We rise to sing Auld Lang Syne
Lest old acquaintance be forgot
Let’s sing it out one more time

Copyright 1989-2009 by Mark Shepard all rights reserved
Permission to reprint in full with no changes granted with this info intact

A love song…anybody got a picture that would go with this? Let me know in the comments below.

What Would it Be Like? | Song # 349 |Jan. – Feb. 2006

What would it be like to be your lover
And have the love we make fill up the day?
What would it be like to make you “suffer”
In the most intimately pleasurable way?

What would it be like to kiss your fingers
More thoroughly than they’ve been kissed before?
What would it be like to be the singer
Whose voice and words touch you to your core?

Refrain:
I want to touch you, I want to fill your mind
I want to break your resistance open wide
I want to focus you and breathe you up my spine
Beyond the petty cages of our lives
Beyond the confines

What would it be like to share a secret
With a simple look across a crowded room?
What would it be like to cross the threshold
On a winter’s night illumined by the moon?

What would it be like to make you dinner
And to knead your aching muscles for dessert?
What would it be like to kiss your temples
And soothe away your troubles without words?

Refrain:

Bridge:
Beyond the confines of who we used to be
Out to the edges of our sensuality
Where a man and a woman can set each other free…

What would it be like to touch your shoulder
In a way that turns you totally a round
What would it be like to whisper something
In your ear so softly there’s no sound?

What would it be like to paint your picture
To memorize the features of your face
What would it be like to take you walking
And show you something new, some secret place

Refrain:

What Would It Be Like by Mark Shepard is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Please leave a comment below! thanks – Mark

Just got word that another awesome review of “Letters To Daddy, Jr” has been published!

Here are some highlights:

The concept of an all-kid musical, of course, has been tried before. But the genre is ripe for an update, and Letters To Daddy, Jr. offers a straightforwardness and sincerity rarely seen in today’s musical theater. Creators Mark Shepard and Jill Jaysen have owe a lot to the example set by You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown, but in some ways their take on preteen angst is more believable…

the dedicated young cast is so engaging, and Shepard’s upbeat score so heartfelt, that it’s impossible not to suspend disbelief and go along for the ride…

Read the whole review

This was recorded live in April of 2006 at Watering Pond Yoga Studios in Guilford, CT. Thanks again to Dorothy Cochran & Michael Bowers for all your support!

Rain On A Tin Roof | Song #101 | April 1988

Lull me to sleep like a warm Spring rain
on a tin roof darling
Rise and shine to the clean dawn tune
of the Robins and Starlings

I’m getting that feeling like I’m gonna want
to live forever
And I’d kind of like to know
If we could spend that time together…

Refrain:(X2)
Hey oh, Hey ah
Hey oh, Hey ah
Hey oh, Hey ah

I want to dream with you
Like a rock, like a roll, like a river ride
Can’t you see that being with you
Is something rarefied?

You are the distant jet plane
Flash of light across dark skies
You are the wind of my love
You are the sight of my eyes

Refrain:

I was gonna bring you bacon and eggs
and English Muffins in bed
But I started singing in the shower
So I wrote this song for you instead

Hope you don’t mind but singing about you
Makes me feel so fine
And the rain on the tin roof
Drums along and hums along in time

Refrain:

Commentary: This is one of my all time favorite songs to perform live because it’s easy for audiences to sing along. It’s also one of those classic “feel good” songs that can help to shift a person into a place of hope and optimism. Let me know what you think in the comments below!

Rain On A Tin Roof by Mark Shepard is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

I See The Blue Breaking Through | Song # 401 | 10/7/09

Now what? We begin to begin again
Now that the rain has decided to end
And our hearts are certainly on the mend

(Can you comprehend?)

How good it feels to look up and see
Blue sky begin to break through and The
Clouds of grey beginning to blow away

Gravity. Sometimes drags you down
Relax. Stretch out upon the ground
Look up. And watch the blue break through

Refrain:
I see the blue breaking through
Do you catch a glimpse of it too?
What’s it like to be brand new?

I can’t say I knew it would work this way
Had a moment when I had to keep fear at bay
But at the end of a very long day

(I have to say we found a way)
To have fun while we got the job done
And I want to thank everyone
Who joined in and helped us with our play
(hip hip hooray)

Refrain:

So what’s next?
Where do we go from here?
Climb with me up to where the air is clear
And watch the blue break through for you…

Refrain

Commentary: This song arose out of a conversation I had with Playwright and Director, Jill Jayson of Center Stage Theatre Company reflecting back on the intense week of rehearsals and 4 performances of “Letters To Daddy, Jr” with 19 amazing elementary school age actors. Saturday We did 2 performances in Westport CT. It poured rain all day. But that did not dampen anybody’s spirits! The rain let up just as we had to break down the set and pack it into a half dozen parent’s cars for the NYMF performances in Manhattan on Sunday. Sunday dawned clear and beautiful and everyone and every thing got to New York City by 9 am! We set up. We did a run through for lighting cues. We checked the sound. The kids did two great shows (although by the 4:00 pm show you could tell they were tired (I know I was exhausted!).

Then we had to break down the set and pack it all away in all the different cars and head back.

It’s all a blur now but, Tuesday morning Jill and I were discussing future projects and while we were speaking the sun broke out of the heavy clouds and blue sky began to show through…I said to Jill, “I see the blue breaking through…”

“There’s a new song!” she said.

So here it is still in a bit rough form but you get the basic idea. Can you imagine 19 kids belting out the chorus?

I just want to send out a special thank you to Jill Jayson, and the Parents of all the cast members! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

Copyright by Mark Shepard

I See the Blue Break Through by Mark Shepard is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Please leave a comment below!

Letters to Daddy, Jr. is chock full of life’s lessons without ever being preachy – in fact it’s all done with humor and bright and catchy soft rock tunes that the kids obviously relish singing especially the wonderful “Together We Can Change The World”. Oscar E. Moore (read the rest of the review here)

Well. We did it. Somehow Director Jill Jayson managed to get 19 seven through eleven year old kids and their parents AND the entire Center Stage set packed up Saturday night in half a dozen cars…

Early sunday Morning in Manhattan we found the theater, unloaded the sets and the props and the musical instruments and the sound equiptment…

Then set it all up, ran through the show for lighting cues, checked the sound… and all of a sudden it was 1:00 pm and time to start the first show.

The kids were wonderful and as always full of surprises and the kind of earnest intensity that performing live in a real theater creates.

But don’t take my word for it, check out the full review of Letters To Daddy by Oscar E. Moore!

Fly, Fly, Fly (version 4)  |  #324  |  11/11/02

I’ve seen a flock of geese fly on a windy night
Like Christmas lights across the moon
I’ve heard a mocking bird sing everything

in the world Except for his own tune
I’ve seen blank horizon fill with thunderclouds
Whirling in the August sky
The wind on my skin is the house I live in
Let me teach you how to fly

Refrain: Fly, fly, fly, fly, fly

If you want to see, well then, you’ve got to look
If you want to hear just listen
If you want to learn you’ve got to pay attention
Every failure gives a lesson
If you dare to be who you want to be
You will be judged by some
But if you stretch your wings and open up your heart
You just might reach the sun

Refrain:

There are so many things I want to learn
So many things I want to know
So many places that I want to see
That I’m packed and set to go
I choose you to be my traveling companions
Brothers, sisters, friends
We lift up today into a sky
That beckons to the end!

this is the fourth version of this song which started out as “Ride, Ride, Ride” and eventually graduated to flying…

please leave a comment below or share this with the buttons above.

Thanks for listening!

-Mark

Fly, Fly, Fly by Mark Shepard is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Just got great news! The awesome version of Letters To Daddy that was adapted by Jill Jayson of Center Stage Productions in Westport, CT has been invited to be performed at the New York Musical Theater Festival a.k.a. NYMF

In case you don’t know what NYMF is, it is considered the “Sundance Festival” of Musical Theater. Many of the recent TONY award winners have premiered at NYMF. So it’s kind of a BIG deal. No. It is VERY DEFINITELY A BIG DEAL.

As it turns out, I will be part of the show, accompanying on guitar. I’m excited!

Here’s an article from Broadway World with all the details:

LETTERS TO DADDY JR. To Get Special Presentation at Manhattan Movement and Arts Center

Get Tickets To Letters To Daddy, Jr. (a NYMF Special Event)
Seating is Limited so get your tickets Now!

Sunday, October 04 at 1:00 & 4:00 PM

at Manhattan Movement & Arts Center
248 West 60th Street
New York, NY 10023
The theater is located between Amsterdam and West End Avenues.
Take the 1, A, B, C & D to 59th Street/ Columbus Circle.

In case you can’t make it into NYC on October 4th for the NYMF performances of Letters To Daddy, Jr., There will also be a Westport CT performance on Saturday Oct 3, at 1 pm & 7 pm

Seabury Center
45 Church Lane, Westport, CT

all tickets to the Westport shows are $15
Call 203 341-9659 for reservations (seating is extremely limited so reserve ASAP!)

Just figured out how to make an audio player to play every one of the songs on Ocean of Dreams…they should play one after another all by themselves. Ain’t technology grand?

To download your free copy of Ocean of Dreams, just add your e-mail address to the from at right or below (you’ll get a secret link which will take you to a secret page where you can download all the songs or just the one’s you can’t get out of your head).

Fill in your e-mail address and get instant access to the entire Ocean of Dreams CD =====>

.

Ocean Of Dreams | 5/28/08-6/22/08 | Song #382

Sometimes I feel so fragile
That the merest hint of a breeze
Could pick me up and scatter me
Across the ocean of dreams…

Sometimes I cannot find
The strength to smile
And I am filled with dis-ease
Then a look from you
Could shatter me
Across the ocean of dreams

Across the ocean of dreams (X3)

Sometimes I feel like I’m made of glass
Sometimes I feel like I’m never gonna last
And I want to see you…one more time…before I go
Yes I want to see you…one more time…before I go

Across the ocean of dreams (X3)

And then I remember
As I stumble through the shards
That I assemble myself
From my dreams
And I decide what they mean…
(and it lifts me up)

Across the ocean of dreams (X3)

Sometimes I feel like I’m made of glass
And I was born To allow the light to pass
Right through me To illuminate your eyes
Let the light through me to illuminate the skies

Across the ocean of dreams (X3)

Sometimes I feel so powerful
That I can smash right through
Any obstacle that blocks my way
Or obscures what is true…

Across the ocean of dreams (X3)

Sometimes I feel like I’m made of glass
And I was born to allow the love to pass
Right through me to illuminate your eyes
Let the love through me to illuminate the skies
Let the love through me to illuminate your eyes
Let the love through me to illuminate the skies

Across the ocean of dreams
(X3 high intensity, then 1x soft and low)

Commentary: This song brings to light a process of healing and transformation that epitomizes the NLP process. It starts with a frank acknowledgment of pain and struggle. Then, in the middle of the song the very image of fragility, feeling like glass gets turned on it’s head. Instead of it being about being fragile or brittle or broken it becomes a powerful thing. The ability to be transparent. Glass may be fragile but it also allows light to pass through it. So what starts out as a defeat, as a giving up song becomes a song of empowerment and victory. This song reminded me once again that the very writing process that songs emerge from is inherently healing for me. The next step ( the one that has eluded me for 30 years) is to share it congruently with other people who can get value and healing from listening or singing along.

Please share this song! You can e-mail it, or post it to social bookmarking sites or even embed it in your own blog with the little widget thingys at the top of the page.

To find out how you can get instant access to Ocean of Dreams as well as the 12 other songs I wrote in 2008 for free please register in the box at right ====>

Ocean of Dreams by Mark Shepard is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Happy 4th of July everybody! A little reflection on the infinite topic of “Freedom” from my Eyes On The Horizon CD. Leave a comment below!

Listen to this one in the headphones to Hear Joe Mennonna’s awesome piano accompaniment!

 

 Freedom: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Freedom (It’s a long Road)
12/12/2000 |  Song #312

Freedom is a word
That is very often heard
But just as often much misunderstood
It might mean nothing left to lose
Or that you get to choose
Between two leaders, neither of them good

It might mean that you have no plans
Or that you cut loose when you dance
It might mean you have the guts to speak your mind
It could mean you have no regrets,
Beliefs, possessions, pets
Or that you always pay your bills on time

Refrain:
It’s been a long road
That I’ve been walking down
That I’ve been lost and found on
It’s been a long road
That I’ve been walking down
But now I hear the sounds of…
Freedom

I choose not to be a slave
To the assumptions you have made
And I accept the consequences of my choice
I will make my own mistakes
I will find out what it takes
From now on I will heed my inner voice

I pledge allegiance to my self
For the sake of my own health
Not a country or a point of view
If I declare myself to be
A human being free
Well you know, that gives your freedom back to you

Refrain:

Bridge: Freedom. Freedom.

Freedom is a bird
That is seldom seen or heard
But still it rises up on falcon’s wings
And when it bursts up into flight
With it’s feathers full of light
It fills my heart with joy to hear it sing…

From my Eyes On The Horizon CD

Freedom by Mark Shepard is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Saw some incredibly beautiful Roses the other day…reminded me of this song from my Eyes On The Horizon CD.

 

 Walk Through Roses: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

When You Walk Through Roses |  2/9/2004 | Song # 336

When you walk through roses
Do you feel the thorns
Or do you see the blossoms
In spite of what you’ve torn?
Can you catch a glimpse of heaven
In a drop of dew?
Or your reflection
In the people around you?

Refrain:
We get what we focus on
So focus in on what you want
Focus in on me, focusing my love on you…

If you cried a river
Would it feel much better
Than if you laughed the ocean
And then chose to dive right in?
When you hear a jazz band
Do you hear the bass or the horns?
And if somebody asked you
Could you tell them why you were born?

Refrain:

If I wrapped my arms around you
Would you feel constrained
Or would you feel connected
And choose freely to remain?
If I then released you
And then danced away
Would you chose to feel abandoned
Or would you see it as a chance to play?

From my Eyes On The Horizon CD.

© Mark Shepard 2004-2009.

Walk Through Roses by Mark Shepard is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Here’s how to get my “Ocean of Dreams” album (and a huge number of other songs) FREE!

“Ocean of Dreams” consists of every single song I wrote during 2008 in chronological order. It’s an all acoustic project so you can hear the songs in their raw, “un-produced” state recorded in pristine digital sound at Joe Mennonna’s studio.

I’ve sneak released a few of the songs here on the blog in the past few months but if you want the whole thing and in much higher quality than what you can download here, you will want to get this now.

For a limited time it’s FREE. Yes. Free. 13 digitally mastered original songs instantly down-loadable to your computer. fer nothin’. Nada. Zip. Zilch. FREE, FREE, FREE. (I think you get the idea huh?)

Soon though, I’ll be adding it to the the catalog at $20 (okay probably more like $15)  So get it now.

Here’s how it works.

Get your Backstage Pass by clicking  Get Your Free BackStage Pass NOW! , fill out the little form and you’ll have access to ALL of my songs free. Not just Ocean of Dreams.

Once you are a backstage pass member, and logged in, you can go to the members tab on the menu bar above and use the drop down menus to find the treasure. Ocean of dreams is in Life In Song 2008.

1. Zoooooom!
2. It’s like an unexpected Birthday present.

Thanks again for caring enough about this music to give it a listen. I know you’ll love it. Everyone who’s heard it so far is raving about it. One of the first folks to get it said this:

I Just wanted to let you know that I have listened and think it is awesome!!! Sincerely, Maria

Your friend,

Mark

P.s.  the CD has been exquisitely mastered and sounds way better than your little computer speakers can handle so make sure you listen with the headphones.

It’s been quietly peculating in the background. I haven’t mentioned it in a while but it’s been there the whole time…quietly building.

• 2 years ago, Bill Rodman asked me to write a song for his 11 year old God Daughter Rilee O’Neill.

• 1 song turned into 12 songs.

• A CD was released Letters To Daddy CD

• Then an entire choir of Ugandan teens came and added their voices to several of the tunes.

• A video was made of
  Together We Can Change The World and
  Beautiful Person.

• The songs began to link together and support a story.

• the story turned into a play. A musical called Letters To Daddy.

The first two productions of the musical are premiering in two different locations on the same weekend!

1. Saturday, June 6th 1:00pm and 7:00pm. Westport CT
   $15.00
   Location: Center Stage at the Seabury Center 45 Church Lane in downtown Westport.
   For reservations and further information, e-mail Jill Jayson at: opedge[at]hotmail.com
   (I’ll be at the 7:00 pm show)
   .
2. Friday, June 5th at 7:30 pm, Sugar Loaf, NY
   $8.00
   Show Time: 7:30 pm
   Location: Lycian Centre, Kings Highway, Sugar Loaf, NY
   Purchase Tickets To The Sugar Loaf, NY Shows of Letters To Daddy
   .
3. Sunday June 7th at 5:00 pm, Sugar Loaf NY
   $8.00
   Show Time: 5:00 pm
   Location: Lycian Centre, Kings Highway, Sugar Loaf, NY
   Purchase Tickets To The Sugar Loaf, NY Shows of Letters To Daddy

For those of you who live outside of the New England/New York area there are also stirrings. A college choir in Hong Kong is performing Together We Can Change The World as are school choruses all across the USA.

I look forward to sharing more of this as it develops!