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Mark Shepard Sings

A Life In Song: 4 Decades of Original Music

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Build Us A Desert (solo acoustic studio) #496

February 9, 2018 · A Life In Song, Life In Song 2010's, Political Songs, Songs about the environment

Here’s the somewhat rough draft version of this song. this is inspired by a number of Youtube videos of another Mark Shepard… Another Mark L. Shepard actually. We’re about the same age but he’s a farmer in Wisconsin who writes songs on the side. I’m a songwriter in New York who “farms” in my back yard… His idea of “restoration agriculture” combined with the local battle to ban fracking in New York state got this song flowing… This version is NOT suitable for children. Check out the video version to learn more…

Gonna Build Us A Desert
(On The Bones of Paradise)
Song #496 | 12/31/2014 | CD: tbd

Mono Cropping
Factory farms
Mega Manure lagoons
Behind Mega Barns

Gonna build us a desert
on the bones of paradise

Frack the future
Frack the past
Frack the aquifers
To extract a little gas

Gonna build us a desert
on the bones of paradise

Mass extinctions
While we watch football games
And debate distinctions
And who to blame

Gonna Build us a desert
On the Bones of Paradise

Anti-biotics
by the ton
build up resistance
like a smoking gun

Gonna build us a desert
on the bones of paradise

Poison water
Poison air
Poison thinking
And we’ll soon be there

Gonna build us a desert
on the bones of paradise

10 billion chickens sit
In their own shit
To keep it cheap enough
So you’ll buy it…

Gonna build us a desert
on the bones of paradise

Masive erosion
Toxic flow
And when it’s over
where are we gonna go?

Gonna build us a desert
on the bones of paradise

em | AmSus at 5th fret

Copyright 2014-2015 by Mark Lewis Shepard. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

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Filed Under: A Life In Song, Life In Song 2010's, Political Songs, Songs about the environment

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Some reviews & testimonials

Just awesome…

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

Eric

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

Enjoying your songs so much…

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

Marianne

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

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

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

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

Brilliant!

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

Mary F.

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

Never fails to move me…

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

Paula

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

Love your lyrics!

Love your music! Love your lyrics!

Robin Bridgeford

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

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

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