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A Life In Song: 4 Decades of Original Music

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April 3, 2015 · death, Empowerment Songs, healing songs, Life In Song 1980's, Non-Attachment, present moment awareness, Songs About Water, Songs of Transformation, Spiritual Songs

138 The Moon On The River

8897002_sAbout This Song:

This is one of those songs that truly chose me to write it. I was driving up the Hudson river near Peekskill, NY and the moon was just hypnotically filling the sky and reflected off of the Hudson. I was reflective as well because my elderly next door neighbor Charlie, had just lost his wife. She just passed away suddenly. They’d been together for something like 50 years. We really are just visitors here. Life can change in moments. And then, life went on as it always does. As it will do after each of us takes the path we all must take…

Please click the arrow to play:
Take 1:

Take 2:

The Moon On The River

Song #138 | 9/15/1989 | 

The moon on the river
Is sapphire, pearl and silver
As it penetrates the windshield of my car

As I drive along the highway
It tags along beside me
And seems to call me upwards to the stars

I’ve passed this way before
And I will again I’m sure
As the same old questions rise to haunt at me…

And you hear oh so many stories
of Love and all the “glory”
Why is it all so hard sometimes to see?

I walk roads that I’ve been told
Are rough and rocky kinds of roads
But out here on the road,
Despite the stories I’ve been told
I find it straight and smooth
And green with growing grass

Charlie, next door…
Well he lost his wife before
He really had a chance to say goodbye

And the neighbors and the friends
We did our best to comprehend
What it’s like to stay behind when your best friend flies

I walk roads that I’ve been told
Are rough and rocky kinds of roads
But out here on the road,
Despite the stories I’ve been told
I find it straight and smooth
And green with growing grass

And the children still will play
Despite those who pass away
And each life that’s left must learn to carry on

we’re so full of who we are
We’re the dust of long dead stars
And the salmon still fight their way upstream to spawn…

We walk roads that we’ve been told
Are rough and rocky kinds of roads
But out there on the road,
Despite the stories we’ve been told
We find it straight and smooth
And green with growing grass

Copyright 1989-2015 by Mark Shepard. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.

Photo credit: Copyright: / 123RF Stock Photo

Filed Under: death, Empowerment Songs, healing songs, Life In Song 1980's, Non-Attachment, present moment awareness, Songs About Water, Songs of Transformation, Spiritual Songs

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Some reviews & testimonials

Brilliant!

Brilliant! I LOVE seeing the words to all these beloved songs, thanks!

Mary F.

Love the “Key To Your Cage” album…

Love the “Key To Your Cage” album. I hear so many different influences and styles woven throughout the songs, really keeps it interesting from start to finish!

Dan Z

Your song was just perfect to start my day…

Mark, your song ‘Freedom (It’s Been  Long Road)’ was just perfect to start my day. I LOVE IT!  Thank you, Thank you.  Blessings to you and much gratitude for your musical gift.

Judy

Never fails to move me…

Your incredible music never fails to move me. Thank you, Mark.

Paula

I loved the song and listened to it 3 times….

Hi Mark, I just had to tell you this. I emailed my 3 granddaughters the song you wrote who are sisters with the youngest being 11 years old, has cerebral palsy and is very smart, is able to talk, very funny, uses a computer, is able to write, now is learning to play drums, emails me ‘Thanks. I do.’ I loved the song and listened to it 3 times.

Gail Russ

Enjoying your songs so much…

Hello Mark. I am enjoying your songs so much! I’d love to see you play live somewhere.

Marianne

Been singing the chorus since the first day I heard it…

I sh*t you not when I say I’ve been singing the chorus to Honest Rock since the first day I heard it. I sing this every single day. Many times a day. Seriously. It’s like a mantra to me. It soothes me:-)

Gene Moore

Total awesomeness!!!

‘Let’s Run’ is MY FAVORITE so far.. I LOVE THIS ONE.. great job.. total awesomeness!!! I thank Jana Stanfield for introducing me to your gifts. I am grateful.

Merril

I Love listening to all your songs…

Mark, you really are an amazing songwriter! I Love listening to all your songs and sitting in the creative aura they create!

Cheri

Love your lyrics!

Love your music! Love your lyrics!

Robin Bridgeford

They love (your song) and ask to listen to it, ALWAYS.

My name is Cecile. I teach kindergarten at OMSD. I had the pleasure of using your song Together We Can Change The World to help my students make a difference in this wonderful world! They love it and ask to listen to it, ALWAYS.

Cecile Arvizo

Your lyrics embody everything we hold sacred…

Your lyrics embody everything we hold sacred and dear as a faith community.

Gina Sullivan, Sisters of the Congregation of St. Joseph

Just awesome…

Your music is taking over my life and it’s awesome!

Eric

You have put a grown man in tears…

Mark, this song and message really hit home for me today. You have put a grown man in tears. Thank You for what you do. Sometimes I think you sound kind of cheesy, and then others, I think you are a genius, and I’m beginning to realize that you actually care about helping people. So hard to “get out of your own way” sometimes…thanks for the reminder.

Jeremy

For me these songs are transformational lessons in self-love…

Dear Mark, THANK YOU for sending *Spark & Flame*!!!! This CD certainly is a compilation of Conscious Love Songs! As I listen I am transported to memory after memory past, present and future, fulfilled and unfulfilled. I was flooded with many different emotions. I cried, laughed, held my breath and also breathed deep heart-centered breaths of connection to the Divine. I feel joy, grief, sadness, compassion, love, awe, freedom, kindness, gratitude and appreciation. For me these songs are transformational lessons in self-love, releasing, acceptance for what was, what is and who I am. Knowing that I am enough and that I am Divinely Loved.

J

You write some great songs!

Hi Mark, You write some great songs! I really enjoyed listening to all of them on Spark and Flame. Thank you for all that you do. Keep up the good work! All the best.

Susan

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