Mark Shepard: Singer Songwriter

Clear the Fear Song!

November 20, 2008 By Mark

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Clear The Fear | Song #352 | 5/7/06

Are you feeling frightened, even terrified?
I see you there shaking, petrified
Your gut it churning, your mouth is dry
Your hands are sweating, like you’re gonna die
Fear has the power to tear you to shreds
But you have the power to diminish the dread
What were you thinking that caused you see
The worst that could happen and wish you could flee?

Refrain:
Clear the fear
Move towards the rewards
Dislodge the sabotage
Get your dream out of the garage
Get out of your own way
It could happen here today.

You might not know this but you’re in charge
You’re the one who makes the monster large
So what would happen if you shrank it way down
Or maybe even turned off the sound?
You have the power to turn it around
Cut yourself loose from what drags you down
Float out to the future and then take a look back
See yourself making progress, free from attack

Refrain:

So what will happen when you clear your fear?
Will you be closer to those you hold dear?
Will you make more money? Would you have more fun?
Will you have the courage to get things done?
Thoughts have the power to destroy or create
Now what was that old habit that you wanted to break?
I feel like I know you though we may have just met
Give yourself permission to take the next step and…

Refrain:

Commentary: I wrote this song after I took a workshop with Kathy McAfee, “The Marketing Motivator” she helped me to focus my NLP practice on the kinds of clients I enjoyed working with the most, namely people who suffered from fear, phobias, anxiety and panic attacks. I totally “get” these people and I feel really privileged that one of the benefits of my own anxiety around performing was that when I cleared my own fear I learned how to help others clear their fear as well. This song is dedicated to my clients and clients to be who are willing and ready to make rapid progress in their lives.

Please be so kind as to “stumble” or “digg” or “Twitter” or “Facebook” this song. You can also e-mail this post to a friend. Thanks for listening! )

Courage! – Mark

Filed Under: Empowerment Songs, NLP Songs Tagged With: agoraphobia, anxiety, clear the fear, fear, gad, Mark Shepard, NLP song, panic attack, phobia, shyness

Andrew

October 26, 2008 By Mark

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 knows that he's a failure at small talk and mingling
So he leans against a helpful wall feeling out of tune
And deep inside he knows he's different yeah, much 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 needs to love her
Andrew wants a lover...

But time does come for him to go home
He knows he's safe inside the headphones...

the teacher always has to call his name a second time
And he mumbles when he answers and the answer always seems to have slipped his mind
and he's far beyond the classroom walls in his drifting chin-on-hand wonderland
It's something that no one will ever be able to understand.
Cuz 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 needs to love her
He really wants a lover...

Yet the time does come for him to go home
He knows he's safe inside the headphones

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 of the road with a conscientious 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 needs to love her
He really wants to love her.

he's looking for a girl to really know him
looking for a girl to be his best friend
looking for a girl to be his love
looking for a girl to replace his mother
looking for girl to be his lover
looking for a girl to be his best friend...

But time comes for him to go home
He knows he's safe inside the headphones...

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

If you're a shy guy or know one, check this out: http://ShyGuyHelp.com

Filed Under: Songs of Interest Tagged With: 1970's singer/songwriter, 1977, adolescent, angst, approach anxiety, autism, awkward, awkward years, best friend, Cat Stevens, cracker, dating, Elton John, girlfriend, grateful dead, head phones, how to succeed with women, Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell, Keds, lonely, lonely teen, lover, m83, m83 electronic france teen angst, Mark Shepard, Mark Shepard high school period, mark shepard songs, music, mystery method, outcast, Pink Floyd, Queen, school, shy guy, shyness, social anxiety, socially challenged male, style, teen age angst, teen angst poetry, the game

Boredom

October 24, 2008 By Mark

Boredom Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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 :

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:

How To Succeed With Women

How To Stop Anxiety