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It's A Beautiful Day

April 2, 2009 By

It's a beautiful day to be alive...

Beautiful Day by Mark Shepard Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Please Pass This Song Along:

1. Download and Send this file to a friend (it’s sort of big, so ask first).
2. Send them the link so they can download it themselves:
http://www.markshepardsongs.com/beautiful-day
3. Burn as many copies of this or my other songs to CD as you like. Give them to friends.
4. If you prefer, you can order a copy of the Eyes On The Horizon CD containing this song



It’s A Beautiful Day | 9/11/2003 | Song # 334

(Nancy’s Birthday Song)

It’s a beautiful day to be alive
It’s a beautiful day
It’s a beautiful day to watch birds fly
It’s a beautiful day
It’s a beautiful day to be your friend
It’s a beautiful day
It’s the kind of day you never want to end
It’s a beautiful day, it’s a beautiful day, it’s a beautiful day

Look o’er your shoulder and see
Just how far you’ve come
From where you used to be
Look up ahead in the distance
The future is bright and
Don’t you just want to dance?

It’s a beautiful day to want to dance
It’s a beautiful day
It’s a beautiful day to take a chance
It’s a beautiful day
It’s a beautiful day to celebrate
It’s a beautiful day
It’s the kind of day you commemorate
It’s a beautiful day, It’s a beautiful day, It’s a beautiful day,

Remember when you were young
And thought that you knew?
Now you know that you don’t know
Now graced with abundance of years
Full of laughter, some tears
And the love that always grows

It’s a beautiful day to grow your love
It’s a beautiful day
It’s a beautiful day to be a dove
It’s a beautiful day
It’s a beautiful day to eat birthday cake
It’s a beautiful day
It’s a day to remember there are no mistakes
It’s a beautiful day, It’s a beautiful day, It’s a beautiful day,

© 2003-2009 by Mark Shepard All commercial rights reserved. Permission granted to reprint lyrics as is. Permission granted to download and share song for non-commercial purposes.

Commentary:

In September of 2003 I had just finished my NLP Training. I arrived home in CT after 9 weeks of intensive study and practice in CA only to confront some of my old demons. Impatience. I had the unrealistic expectations of starting to teach and practice NLP right away. My frustration level built and built until I could hardly stand it anymore. I remember finally going out into the back yard and cleaning out this old shed that was full of all kinds of junk. In the process my mind cleared. The weather was perfect as it often is in September in New England. It also happened to be the anniversary of the 9/11 World trade center attacks. A friend of mine, Nancy, was turning 50 that week and she had asked everyone coming to bring a poem or a song or some other creative expression to celebrate.

Suddenly everything seemed to be put into perspective and I was able to relax into being alive and filled with the joy of each perfect precious moment unattached to “goals” and “results” and “the bottom line”.

Please Note: This song is sponsored by Maureen Carney

Sponsoring a song enables me to record it and share it. Over 30 years and close to 400 songs, some have been recorded but many have not. I’m starting to forget them and I’m not getting any younger :o ). Find out how you can help me preserve and share these songs through the Life In Song Project – Sponsorship Program

And finally at the risk of being redundant, may I ask you a favor?

If you got anything out of this song, I’m hoping you’ll do something for me:
Pass it along to someone else. E-mail the link. Download it to your computer. Burn it to a CD. Play it for a friend like you used to. Share with them how it made you feel. Ask them to listen to it. Maybe you can sing along to it together.

Maybe they need to hear this song today. Maybe you need to connect with someone you care about who you haven’t touched in a while. This is one way.

We (these songs and I) need you. We need your friends too.

A song does no good unless it is heard. Spread the word.

Thank you so much!

- Mark

Filed Under: Empowerment Songs, NLP Songs, Seasonal Songs, Spiritual Songs Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Field of Dreams

March 31, 2009 By

Take a ride with me to your field of dreams...

Play the Song. Download it Free. Share it.

Field of Dreams by Mark Shepard Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This song is from Thirsty For The Sky: Songs of Empowerment and Healing

Field of Dreams (Take A Ride With Me)  | 7/21/2002 | Song #320

When I was a young boy I dreamed a mighty dream
But I told it to the dream thieves and they laughed and called me “green”
They told me I should wake up to reality
They said that I had better take responsibility

So I got myself a good job I and went to school at night
I followed to the letter all their sound advice
I got a better job and then a bigger house and car
I had my benefits and a dozen credit cards

Refrain:
Take a ride with me, Take a ride and see
Take a ride with me, To your field of dreams

One night I could not sleep and so I went out for a walk
It seemed as if the moonlight and the stars began to talk
They whispered and they sang about my long forgotten dream
They told me I could live it. It was mine still to redeem

The moon said I should listen to that still small voice inside
Instead of to the dream thieves because the dream thieves have to lie
They have to steal from you ‘cause they’ve been robbed right to the bone
But if you dare to live your dream, they just might find their own

Refrain:

Bridge:
Why do you see the possibilities?
Why do you live a mighty dream lately?
Why do you listen to your own wisdom?
Why do you know to ask the right questions?

So if you are a young boy or a young girl in your heart
Now is the time to give that mighty dream of yours a start
If you come to a crossroads where you need to choose
Choose the “path with heart” and it will give you dancing shoes

Refrain:

Why do you see the possibilities?...

Tuning: EBBEBE

Copyright 2003-2009 by Mark Shepard. All Rights Reserved.

Commentary: All my life I've struggled with the conflict between what I wanted to do and who I wanted to be versus what I felt others wanted. I think that is a natural part of growing up. We are told so many things by well meaning parents, teachers, friends, society. We hear "You can't always have what you want..." We hear, "Well how are you going to pay the bills?" We hear, "be sensible, be practical."  We are told constantly to "settle". So we do. Until it starts to fester inside. Many people get cancer. I'm taking a course with Dr. Bernie Siegel. In the first class he says one of his cancer patients said, "My mother's words have been eating away at me..."

A few radically change their lives. They start living for themselves instead of for all these others. Healing occurs. We discover that when we are being true to ourselves, we have excess love and energy for others. When we try to be who we think others want us to be we stifle and start dying. We close up. We dry up.We get sick.

I ask myself every day, what would I do if I only had 6 months to live. Not always easy to answer or to live according to my truth.

I was put here to write and sing songs. I'm a storyteller. I'm a healer. But first and foremost I'm a songwriter. "Every one knows it's impossible to make a living as a songwriter." Particularly now. Bah, blah, blah, blah, blah

That's fine. I'm going to do it anyway. What would you do if you could not fail? If you were guaranteed to succeed? That's what you should be doing. Sometimes you will miss the mark. I would rather go for what I want and fall flat on my face than to be miserable thinking "if only I had...."

You are not getting any younger. As Bernie Siegel's mom said to him everyday. "Do what makes you happy."

May I ask you a favor?

If you got anything out of this song, I'm hoping you'll do something for me:
Pass it along to someone else. E-mail the link. Download it to your computer. Burn it to a CD. Play it for a friend like you used to. Share with them how it made you feel. Ask them to listen to it. Maybe you can sing along to it together.

Maybe they need to hear this song today. Maybe you need to connect with someone you care about who you haven't touched in a while. This is one way.

We (these songs and I) need you. We need your friends too.

A song does no good unless it is heard. Spread the word.

Thank you so much!

Thanks! - Mark

p.s this song can be found on my Thirsty For The Sky CD

p.p.s. Please leave comments or reviews below!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Song Sponsorship

March 30, 2009 By

Here are some specific things you can do to help to preserve and share these songs that keep insisting on jumping out of my guitar...

Stage 1: Fan and Enthusiast

  1. Go to any one of my song posts and download it by right clicking the little down load link just below the audio player. Put it on your mp3 player. Play it on your computer. Burn it to a cd and play it in your car. burn another copy for a friend. Attach it to an e-mail and send it to a friend who might need to hear whatever the message is in the song (ask them first cause the files can be a bit big).
  2. If you like it come back for more or sign up for my weekly news letter or RSS feed. I upload a minimum of 1 song per week so there’s always something new happening. If you opt in I will also give you the option of providing me with your street address to which I will send you a free CD.
  3. Share any post by clicking the little buttons at the bottom. With a click of a button you can post to your facebook page, or twitter or stumbleupon or digg etc.
  4. If at any point you feel so moved, you can make a donation of any size with the handy donation button at the bottom of each post or in the right sidebar.
  5. Wherever possible come to see me live in concert. Introduce yourself, Hang out a bit. Request a song. I’ll do my best to dedicate it and play if for you.

Stage 2  Song Sponsorship:
Here’s how you can help me and help your business or favorite cause (or just make your mark on the world).

Earth Sponsor:
You can sponsor the recording of one of my songs. This will preserve the tune in crisp clear digital sound. Just me and my guitar. No fancy production. Just raw and clear.  Participation Investment $100.00 per song.

You get:

  1. Your name and website link listed with the song post (or if you are supporting a favorite cause and choose to be anonymous you can have your cause info here instead)
  2. Every time I perform the song I will say “The recording and preservation of this song was made possible by your name here”
  3. You will also get the first listen to the new recording.
  4. If you are local, and schedules permit, you are invited to come to the recording session in person.

Please Note: Maureen Carney was the first "Earth Patron" She sponsored It's A Beautiful Day

Wind Sponsor:
You can sponsor an entire year of the Life In Song Project (10-15 songs). When I go into the studio I can record several songs at each session. Again this is raw, acoustic Mark Shepard along the lines of Eyes On The Horizon or Ocean of Dreams. Investment: $1,000

You get:

  1. Your name and website link listed with each of the songs posted (or if you are supporting a favorite cause and choose to be anonymous you can have your cause info here instead)
  2. Every time I perform any the songs in this collection I will say “The recording and preservation of this song was made possible by your name here”
  3. You will also get the first listen to the new recording.
  4. If you are local, and schedule’s permit, you are invited to come to the recording session in person.
  5. You will get the entire session on CD
  6. You will get your name on the CD label
  7. You will get a dozen CD’s to give away
  8. A free house concert at your home. Invite your friends or just keep me to yourself for the evening. Please Note: Unless you want to fly me in to your city, or cover travel expenses, this benefit is for the local folks only within an hour or two drive from New Haven CT.

Fire Sponsor:
A number of my songs are crying out for other instruments and arrangements that will totally set fire to the raw material of the basic song. In order to produce a song I have to pay other musicians as well as 10-30 hours of studio time and arranging with my long time collaborator Joe Mennonna (at $100 per hour). So each produced song costs anywhere from $1,000-$3000 depending on the complexity of the arrangement. The benefit of producing a song is that it is much more accessible to a wider audience. So your sponsorship message can reach more. To see how this works compare the Youtube video of Motivation with some of my acoustic videos. At this writing, Motivation has had over 3,444 views just in the MarkShepardSongs channel since November of 2008. It's also up in Kathy McAfee's channel as well as on other video directories on the web. I just mentioned the song and Kathy McAfee on TV. Whenever I perform this song I talk about Kathy.

Watch the Video here to see what I’m talking about and imagine your name as patron/sponsor.

You get:

  1. Your name and website link listed with each of the songs posted (or if you are supporting a favorite cause and choose to be anonymous you can have your cause info here instead)
  2. Every time I perform any the songs in this collection I will say “The recording and preservation of this song was made possible by your name here“
  3. You will also get the first listen to the new recording.
  4. If you are local, and schedule’s permit, you are invited to come to the recording session in person and experience the entire process from start to finish.
  5. You will get the entire session on CD
  6. You will get your name on the CD label You will get 2 dozen CD’s to give away
  7. You will get your name on the tee shirt along with the song lyrics.
  8. You will get sponsorship mention in the music video The video will be uploaded to over a dozen of the leading video directories on the web. Where appropriate we can even work your photo or one of your favorite photos into the video. Possibly even a cameo appearance. Again, see the Motivation Video. I was able to work photos of Kathy McAfee and her two sons as well as a memorial picture of her brother into the video.
  9. A free house concert at your home. Invite your friends or just keep me to yourself for the evening. Please Note: Unless you want to fly me in to your city, or cover travel expenses, this benefit is for the local folks only within an hour or two drive from New Haven CT.

This is obviously still in the formative stage so if you have any other ideas or suggestions on how you can help and how I can support your support please let me know.

Interested? Got Questions?

Please contact me at mark [at] MarkShepard.com or 203-495-8808

Filed Under: Music Business, Sponsorship Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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