Description
Second Hand is the twelfth studio album by the American singer and songwriter Mark Heard, independently released on his own label Fingerprint Records in May 1991. The album was produced, recorded and mixed by Mark Heard at his own studio Fingerprint in Los Angeles, California. Drums – played by Steve Hindalong (of The Choir) and David Raven – were recorded at Neverland Studios in Los Alamitos, California. All songs written by Heard except “I’m Looking Through You” written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and “The Ways Of Men” written by Steve Padgett.
Second Hand is the sophomore release of Mark Heard’s final trilogy of albums (Dry Bones Dance and Satellite Sky being the first and the last installments, respectively). This time around Heard decided to take “a Zen approach” and “just do it”, both musically and lyrically, and wrote and recorded the album in just a couple of weeks. (Mark essentially wrote all of the songs for Second Hand in one week and then recorded all the tracks in another week.) Plaintive, passionate, heartbreaking and hopeful music is colored by warm, acoustic production reminiscent of his earlier recordings, all of which dims in comparison to the lyrics, some of the best pure songwriting ever put on tape. Includes provocative ballads such as “Nod Over Coffee”, “Lonely Moon”, “Look Over Your Shoulder”, and “Worry Too Much”.
“Worry Too Much” was later covered by Heard’s friend Buddy Miller on his album Universal United House Of Prayer released in 2004. The track was voted Song of the Year at the Americana Music Honors & Awards in 2005, the marquee event for the Americana Music Association.
Introspective is the key word describing Mark Heard’s newest release, Second Hand. Yet despite its personal and even vulnerable flavor, the album is neither overly sentimental nor inaccessible, but contains a blend of humor, wit, insight, and profundity that have made Heard one of the most gifted poets of the past decade. Musically, the album is mellower than Heard’s previous release, Dry Bones Dance. It is definitely a rock sound (if one must classify such things) but dominated by an acoustic folk flavor with hints of bluegrass which surface in the fiddle, Chapman stick (played by Fergus Marsh, long-time associate of Bruce Cockburn), and accordion.
The central theme to Second Hand is the passing of time – both the joys and regrets that go hand in hand with the constant motion of the hand’s of the clock. This is captured in the album’s opening cut, «Nod Over Coffee»: “The dam of time cannot hold back / The dust that will surely come of these bones / And I’m sure I will not have loved enough / If we could see with wiser eyes / What is good and what is sad and what is true / Still it would not have been enough / Ain’t that the curse of the second hand”.
While «Nod Over Coffee» speaks of the regrets of what gets lost and can never be recovered with each passing second, «I Just Wanna Get Warm» speaks of the longing that accompanies that sense of loss – a longing for more than just the passing of time. “All I know is my condition / Is worse than I can tell / The small talk and the slow burn / And I just wanna be healed / I just wanna get well”.
But the album is not glum (though Heard accuses himself of glumness more than once); it is filled with a message of hope – a realistic hope based not on the circumstances of the world, but in Heaven; a hope which must be held despite the world’s condition. As he sings in «Look Over Your Shoulder», it is a hope that calls us to deny our despair: “If you must be afraid be afraid of yourself / For being afraid of the fear you have felt / You will weather well in a climate of love / It takes more than your passion and more than your pain / For the rock of forgiveness to melt in the rain”. [Matthew Dickerson, CCM, November 1991]
In lieu of the elusive secular contract and any reasonable interest by a major Christian label, Mark Heard has chosen to favor us with another indie project, in many ways similar to last year’s Dry Bones Dance. As you might expect, at the heart of Second Hand are Heard’s poignant lyrics. The title refers to the movement of the sweep hand of a clock, and how that symbolizes the passage of time. In his liner notes, Heard laments that “a day doesn’t seem to have a full twenty-four hours anymore.” Images such as “all too soon/ clockhands are creeping” and “It’s the quick-step march of history” frequently pop up to unify the album’s fourteen tracks.
Heard’s songs seem to indicate that he’s redeeming the time, to truss up family relationships and friendships. Several of the songs on Second Hand including «Nod Over Coffee», «She Don’t Have A Clue», «Talking In Circles» and «It’s Not Your Fault» draw directly on Heard’s marital relationship, while at least one tune, «Another Good Lie», is aimed at helping a child cope with the fact that our world is often not a very nice place in which to live. The closing «The Ways of Men» is probably the best song Heard has released that he didn’t write. It’s message is simple and direct – “I wish that the ways of men/ Were the same as the ways of God.”
But «What Kind of Friend» ranks in my mind as this album’s stand-out, and one of Heard’s all-time greats. Its first verse alone is a classic. “What kind of friend could pull a knife, when it’s him or you and his kids need shoes/ What kind of friend would do you in, when the bomb goes off and the shelter’s his/ What kind of friend do friends become, when the musical chairs get down to one/ What kind of friend could I become/ What kind of friend am I.”
Musically, Second Hand is a more low-key affair than the decidedly peppier Dry Bones Dance. The album leans toward country and folk and away from the jangly pop of Dry Bones. Returning musicians include vocalist Pam Dwinell and Stick player Fergus Marsh. Also on hand are The Choir‘s Steve Hindalong on drums and Bill Batstone on bass. Steel guitarist Greg Liesz adds a wistful, melancholy touch to «Another Good Lie» and Doug Atwell’s fiddle distinguishes an inspired cover of The Beatles’ «I’m Looking Through You».
Reportedly, Second Hand didn’t take much time to record and mix; in fact, the album was conceived of as a sophisticated “demo” to further Heart’s quest for a mainstream record contract. And it would truly be a crime if this brilliant album doesn’t somehow help Heard escape from the Christian music market ghetto in which many of our more talented artists seem consigned to dwell. In fact, it might be better for Heard if we simply disavowed knowledge of this album’s existence until it’s picked up by a major secular label. But we would be doing our readers a greater injustice not to tell them about it. [Bruce A. Brown, Harvest Rock Syndicate, Volume 6 – Issue 4]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/second-hand/262311493)
CD tracklist:
01. Nod Over Coffee – 4:38
02. Lonely Moon – 4:54
03. Worry Too Much – 4:13
04. Look Over Your Shoulder – 3:29
05. She Don’t Have A Clue – 3:47
06. Talking In Circles – 4:05
07. Love Is Not The Only Thing – 4:58
08. I Just Wanna Get Warm – 3:53
09. Another Good Lie – 5:39
10. All Too Soon – 3:57
11. It’s Not Your Fault – 3:23
12. I’m Looking Through You – 3:40
13. What Kind Of Friend – 2:42
14. The Ways Of Men – 5:07
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and CD by Fingerprint Records.
“Lonely Moon” (Custom Video)
VARIOUS COVERS
CREDITS. Produced by Mark Heard. Recorded and Mixed at Fingerprint, Los Angeles, CA, by Mark Heard. Drums recorded at Neverland, CA. Digital Mastering by Eddy Schreyer at Future Disc Systems. Production Associate: Dan Russell. Executive Producer: Chuck Long. Artwork and Package by MH. Face photo by Joel Russell. All songs written by Mark Heard except track 12 by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and track 14 by Steve Padgett.
Musicians: Mark Heard (Vocals, Acoustic and Electric Guitars, Hammond, Accordion, Mandolin, Harmonica), Pam Dwinell-Miner (Backing Vocals), Greg Liesz (Pedal Steel, Dobro), Doug Atwell (Fiddle), Bill Batstone (Acoustic and Electric Bass), Glen Holmen (Standup Bass, Electric Bass), Fergus Jemison Marsh (Chapman Stick), Steve Hindalong (Drums), David Raven (Drums), David Baker (Percussion).
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