Mark Shepard: A Life In Song

Posts Tagged ‘music’

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

Hey. I need your help. I have all this music and I need to get it out into the world where people who care about great music and lyrics can hear it.

So for a limited time, I’m giving away my Visions and Voices CD in it’s entirety. For FREE. all you have to do is go to Download Visions & Voices CD at http://Last.fm, sign up for a free account and download away.

The more people download the songs, the more other people will want to down load them. I’m trying build up some critical mass here. You can also just download the songs you like. Or you can just listen. Or you can find other music you like…

Check it out and Thank you very much for caring enough to help. Here’s the link again:

Download Visions & Voices CD at http://Last.fm,

BTW I have just heard from my very first Song Sponsor. I’ll do a post on that tomorrow in case you’re curious how you too can achieve digital immortality…

- Mark

Please stumble, or digg or facebook or twitter this post.

Also you can follow me on twitter at http://Twitter.com/MarkShepard

Click here to play the song. Right click the “Download” link to save to your computer free.

 

 Rose Colored Glasses by Mark Shepard: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

If you feel so moved, please use the donation link in the right side bar or at the bottom of this post. Proceeds from this site will be used to preserve and share the songs that have never been recorded. Thanks for listening!

Rose Colored Glasses | July, 6, 1993 | Song #190

I may look like a fool in my rose colored glasses
I may look like a fool in my rose colored shades
I may look like a fool but I don’t care
Cause I believe in the power of prayer
To pull me a miracle or two right out of thin air*

I know that the good times are gonna catch us
I know that the good times are gonna come and stay
I know that the good times are gonna catch us
Though today they seem slow as molasses
I know that the good times are gonna come and they’re gonna stay

Refrain:
The Sun is hot and mean this morning
It’s a hundred in the shade the radio’s warning
And I’m wishing for a breeze to blow a storm in through these trees
I’m wishing for, I’m wishing for a breeze…

I called you on the phone but you weren’t home today
I called you on the phone but your home and that’s okay
I called you on the phone to tell you why
I refuse to hang my head and cry
Called you on the phone and you weren’t today

Refrain:

I’m walking down a road that’s got no name and has not end
I’m walking down a road that’s got no name and has no end
I’m walking down a road that has no name
Just mountains, rivers, valleys and plains
Walking down a road that got no name and got no end

Refrain:

I may look like a fool in my rose colored glasses
I may look like a fool in my rose colored shades
I may look like a fool but I don’t care
Cause I believe in the power of prayer
To pull me a miracle or two right out of thin air*
To pull me a miracle or two right out of thin air
Gonna need a miracle or two or three right out of thin air…

*Alternate:
‘Cause I’m floatin’ on clouds of air
I know that someday soon I’m gonna have it made

Commentary:

I wrote this song at what was arguably the worst time of my life. I had bought 4 houses for “nothing down” at the top of the 1980’s real estate bubble. The “Bubble” subsequently burst and left me owing far more on the houses than they were worth. I made a living at that time as a Title Insurance agent. And that was a business that was totally dependent on the real estate market as well. So when I talk to a lot of the people in this current economic “melt-down” I have deep compassion. I know that horrible sinking feeling in your gut…

The old saying goes, “the only way to avoid making mistakes in business and life is to have experience. But the only way to get experience is to make mistakes.”

Ultimately after all the twisting and contorting to try to find a way out of the financial mess I was in I ended up losing the houses to foreclosure and went through the “humiliation” of bankruptcy.

I had a lot of moments of sheer panic and doubt and anxiety where I saw myself and my family homeless and living out of cardboard boxes…But on occasion I was able to clear that out and focus on miracles. One miricle that happened was when we went in to court for our eviction hearing. The Bank attorney never showed up. We had 6 more months of living in our home before they found the file that had “fallen through the cracks”. Call it what you will I call it a miracle.

The reason I’d bought all the houses in the first place was because I was trying to make a lot of money so I could do my music. Ultimately I had no choice but to do music. My friend Gene Moore said “Mark, this guy comes to my son’s day care center once a week and plays songs for the kids for $75.00 an hour.”

I had written a bunch of kid songs for my own three children and so I opened the Westchester county phone book and started “cold calling” nursery schools and day care centers. I have since helped a lot of professionals overcome their fear of “cold calling” and I know what that terror feels like staring at the phone…knowing that if you don’t make that call you may not eat.Being  terrifed of “rejection”. But I figured “how mean could a nursery school director be?”

I had no choice. I made the calls and I started getting a few opportunities to play for kids. Ultimately that economic meltdown gave me a chance to do something that I truly loved to do.

Eventually I added drums and story telling to my bag of tricks and DrumSongStory was born (which in this current economic meltdown is still providing income as well as satisfaction.)

Now don’t think that all my financial challenges were over. Because I have yet to discover how to get “steady, passive income” flowing. I am continually challenged by changing circumstances and economic conditions. But the point of the story is that sometimes when it seems really grim, the solution is trying to get your attention. Sometimes when everything else falls apart it’s an opportunity to re-align your core values. And ask some powerful questions like,

• “If I knew I could not fail, what would I be doing?” or

• “If I only had a year to live what would I be doing?”

Take a moment and write some of that down. Now start doing it. Even just 15 minutes a day. Do what you would do if you knew you only had a short time here on earth.

And as you focus on that and begin to do that, I guarantee all the other stuff begins to lose it’s scariness.

Thoughts? I always appreciate hearing from you.

© 1993-2009 by Mark Shepard http://MarkShepardSongs.com
All commercial rights reserved.
Permission granted to reprint with copyright info and link intact.
Permission granted to download and distribute/share the mp3 file for non-commercial purposes

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This song goes well with the post I wrote today over at www.ModernJedi.com about “Failure”

 

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This song is from Eyes On The Horizon CD.
Get the whole CD (plus a full length Bonus CD of my newest songs) for only $20 postpaid!

Stand Tall |  Fall 2003, Winter 2004, Fall 2004 | Song #340

A rainy day and it’s not yours
You had to face a few slammed doors
So you sit and hang your head (wondering how to earn some bread)
Was it something someone said?
Or is it a picture in your head?
Was it a feeling in your gut
Was it an open door you imagined shut
You decide.

Refrain:
Stand tall. Force a grin. Forget the loss and count the win
Hold fast. Dig down deep. First you sow and then you reap
Look up. Breathe it in. You’ve got the gold of Solomon
Look left, Look right. Brighten up your inner light

When did you decide to lose?
Don’t you know we always choose
To retreat or to go forward
To move away or to move towards
So pick yourself up off the boards
Give yourself an award
You gave it your best shot and now it’s time to dig down deep
And pull out just a little more, pull out just a little more.
You decide.

Refrain:

What just changed? Not the world, the world’s the same
You just rearranged your perception
You shifted your focus and in the process chose to let go of some old pain.
That’s right! Take it, shrink it down, fade it out, push it far away and Let it go!
Rearrange it into something you can learn from.
Now you know. And it just goes to show…
It’s lost its power over you hasn’t it?
And every thought has become a friend
Like the cripple throwing a way his crutch or
The shy kid reaching out his hand
And looking you right in the eye with an open smile and warmly inviting you to dance…It’s the shy kid inviting you to dance…
You decide. You decide.

© 2004-2009 by Mark Shepard ASCAP All Rights Reserved

commentary: I wrote this song at a time when I was really struggling just to get by even though I had invested thousands of dollars and thousands of hours in learning NLP specifically so that I would be able to break through the junk that was holding me back. Little did I know at the time that I was “deep in the process” of learning and practicing tools and techniques that would enable me to “hang in there” and eventually get back to my original “purpose” which was to share my 30 years of original songs with people who would not only appreciate them but who would benefit from the songs, the story as well as the NLP concepts and techniques…

Please share this with your friends and loved ones.

all the best! – Mark

Hey Everybody,

I know it’s a bit last minute but HAY! Spontaneity is the spice of life.

Just got word that I’ll be performing tomorrow, Saturday, January 24, 2009 at my favorite Starbucks in downtown New Haven, CT. It’s the Starbucks on the corner of High St and Chapel across from the Yale Museum of British Art and the Yale Art Gallery.

I start my first set at 8 PM and I would love to see any and all of you who are in the New Haven area!

Here’s a couple of clips from my last gig…

Original Version From Visions & Voices CD. Dedicated to the historic 2008 election of Barack Obama. After watching please share your thoughts and comments below.

Beautiful Person | January-March 1991 | Song #154

Refrain:
I am a beautiful person
I am a part of all that is
I accept the abundance of creation
And the infinite gifts it gives

I can not love you if I hate myself
I can not give to you if I am poor
I can not heal the world if I have no health
I can not bring you peace by bringing you war

Refrain

I am the lion that I saw in my dream
I unleash the hidden power in me
I am the universe just beyond my eyes
That I am only beginning to see

Refrain

I am a joyful emotion
Too huge to be contained in me
I spark across the mountains and the oceans
To the edges of the galaxy

Refrain

©1991-2008 Mark Shepard

Commentary: This is the original version of Beautiful Person from my Visions and Voices CD, arranged by Gene Moore. At the time I was just beginning to do the deep inner work that would eventually allow me to share my music with others. This song basically came out of a place that was deeper that the self hate I had wallowed in up to that point. On the morning after our historical 2008 presidential election electing Barack Obama I think it does us good to really get this message into our heads. Each and every one of us is a “Beautiful Person” and when we truly give ourselves to living on purpose and fulfilling our greatest hopes and dreams we bring hope and light to this world in crisis. Purchase the CD containing this Song

-Mark Shepard Nov. 5th 2008

P.S. Please “stumble” or “Digg” or “facebook” or “twitter” this!
I truly appreciate your comments below as well!

 

 Beautiful Person Mark Shepard version 1: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Purest Form of Trance: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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

 

 Andrew: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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