Albums, Art, Art Work, music, new album, new release, New Single, Poetry, Video

For the Love of Art

We are by nature creative beings. We’re wired to be imaginative, to be innovative, and to be resourceful. Regardless of what we do for a living, we’ll do it better if we’re thinking as a visionary.

The title of this song was inspired by a random magazine article entitled For the Love of Vinyl, It grabbed my attention immediately and I found the lyric to be an easier than usual creation.

I had just read an inspiring Rich Kirkpatrick blog on our need be creative so I found myself within the creative flow very quickly.

We are created in the image of our Creator… so dare to be a dreamer.


Lyrics:
Life is a bohemial existence
With a disregarding tenet or two
With non-conventional thoughts and reason
And behavior that some might misconstrue

Life is a juvenescent sandbox
Where building roams beyond confines
Where boundless minds can wander
Coloring where there are no lines

Welcome to the splintered aggregation
Where odd resolve to get even
Curious for the love of art
And the courage to brave the unbelievin’

Life is a poetic string of ramblings
Written in the margins of the day
Multicolored snap-shots in couplets
A work of acrobatic wordplay

Life is a whimsical pallet
Daring you to conjure the extreme
Releasing your inherent rhapsody
For the love of art must venture to dream

For the love of art; write the unspoken
For the love of art; paint the unseen
For the love of art; voice the unheard
For the love of art

© 2022 Eddy Mann
Hissongs | ASCAP

Album: Trio
Video Credit: E.M.
YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/RZZURiRreqs
Available at http://www.eddymann.com

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Albums, Gifts, new album, new release, New Single, Newsletter, Poetry

The Great Dance Realized on ‘IHS’

Believing on the promise
Denying all happenstance
Prayerfully among the Three
Banding in the great dance

~ E.M.

With the release of ‘IHS,’ my eighteenth album, I’m overwhelmed with the journey I’ve been blessed to partake in. One never knows when life will unexpectedly create a turnabout, and all things common become the stranger, but as I realize this project coming to life, I’m resting in a niche that feels like favor.

Excitedly, I’m looking forward to seeing how these songs resonate with the world. Often in life we are asked to wait on His word, and this venture will no doubt require some patience on my part. So I take a deep breath and relish in the moment of quiet, because there’s still work to be done.

The great dance continues as this period of downtime has been abundantly fruitful. There are a number of projects in various forms of completion that are beckoning my time, and so as I return to my Loft sessions I pray you’ll be enlightened, energized, and entertained by ‘IHS.’

Moving about through the dawn of light
A ghostly luminary
Dancin’ around my stumbling tongue
Shuffling through the dictionary
Framing the flow in perfect love
The poetry of romance
Invited to coalesce the divine
Converging in the great dance

~ E.M.

Pray on,
Eddy

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Albums, music, new album, new release, New Single, Video

Sons and Daughters

There is nothing that replaces family. We have an inherent need for kindredship. Our earthly tribe offers us comfort, understanding, and security. It’s the one place that we prayerfully are excepted just the way we are. But lost in our limited worldly existence, is the truth that we actually share in a much larger spiritual brother and sisterhood. The Author of all we know calls us sons and daughters. The Creator of the universe knows each of us by name and we are his children.

‘Creation’s not His final act
Beyond the wind and waters
Redemption is his final work

When in Christ we’re all sons and daughters’

E.M.

The inspiration for this song was from a meditation on 2 Corinthians 6:18 where we hear God saying, ‘… I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters.’ This is actually a quote from 2 Samuel 7:14, and Isaiah 43:6.

My mother never knew her earthly father, but very early on she was blessed to embraced her heavenly one. Over the years that relationship grew to be unbelievably strong. She found in her earthly brokenness, a healing bond, a heavenly Father that she would never be separated from. She really was going home as her life here came to an end. She was going home to be with her ever loving Father in heaven.

It’s that kind of love that we’re all invited into. It’s that kind of endless love that our Father pours out on us each day. It’s that kind of unimaginable love that we’re capable of as his children, made in his image, created as family here and for eternity.

‘Surrender your heart
Surrender your life
Surrender your bark

Surrendered your bite
Peace released from the heavens above
Misery ceased

In the arms of love’

E.M.

I wanted the soundscape to be a driving force. To negotiate through this life requires a deep spiritual strength. The darkness that surround us can be daunting if not downright demanding. So I stepped into a different sonic space to create what I felt was a strong supporting platform for this timeless message.

It’s certainly a return to some of my early roots, and it was actually quite a bit of fun to crank up the volume again. The early response has been very favorable and I’m looking forward to the moment when we can bring it to life in a live setting.

Until that time please feel free to share your thoughts on the song and on the entire album which is dropping February 19, 2021.

Pray on,
Eddy

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Albums, music

IHS

In His Service (IHS) will mean something different to each of us. Naturally there will be some over lapping, but the actual act of serving will look and sound different just as each of us look and sound different. That being said, a life of servanthood is the backdrop for this particular project. The songs within were written from a grateful place of giving. A realization of what has been called my life, and what my participation can bring in return.

In doing some soul searching I found my most pleasant experiences in life were of the giving sense.

E.M.

In doing some soul searching I found my most pleasant experiences in life were of the giving sense. They were times and places where I stepped out of the crowd and gave something of myself. It didn’t have to be financial, in fact I believe the acts of personal involvement and the offering of time and place were of greater reward.

When I say reward I’m referring to the feeling of contentment that surrounds one’s self when they help someone out in some manner. Sacrificing my time and gifts has never been anything less than enjoyable. Especially in hindsight when I see the response on the recipients faces.

So this album took root as a season of reflection. It took hold of me and led me down a path of reminiscing with friends, looking back through photos, and prayerful discernment. The actual writing and recording went by very quickly without much re-writing and distraction. Being cooped up and isolated for the past year made for an abundance of time to create, so I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I found something positive in the experience.

The album drops Friday, February 19, 2021. It’s my hope that it’ll bring some color to what often has become a very black and white world. In His Service (IHS) means getting involved on your level whatever that may be. Being IHS means serving those around you whatever their needs may be. You have the ability to change a life with very little effort, with very little time , and with very little inconvenience. I challenge you to do your part. I know you’ll feel good about it in the afterglow.

Pray on,
Eddy

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Listen and Love

We probably don’t listen as well as we’re designed. If we did, then scripture, and the lessons within, would produce much more love and compassion in the world. It exists, but it probably pales in compassion to our creator’s hopes. So when I wrote this, I was doing a deep dive into what nature offers us each day in the way of invitation and inspiration. The Kingdom is in constant conversation with us everyday. It never truly sleeps, it is fluid in that it is alive and changing continually. Loving God with all our heart, soul, and mind (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) requires us to hear that conversation and to be a part if it. It’s only in that neighborhood that we can genuinely listen and love.

On September 25, I’ll be releasing my seventeenth album ‘Pray On.’ It’s my prayer that these songs will enable you to find some encouragement and optimism as you journey forward.

Pray on,
Eddy

Album: Pray On
Video Credit: Gerd Altmann / E.M.
Available at eddymann.com
© 2020 Eddy Mann

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Lyrics:
There’s a bird in a tree, and it’s chirping at me
Listen and love
There’s some moss hanging free, and it’s swaying at me
Listen and love

There’s a breeze from the sea, and it’s hailing me
Listen and love
There’s some shade that’s sincere, and it’s inviting me near
Listen and love

Listen, Oh listen
Listen and love
All across the universe
Listen and love
Oh won’t you, listen and love

There’s a mist in the air, and it’s raining somewhere
Listen and love
There’s a cloud hovering by, and it’s whispering why
We should… listen and love

There’s a leaf floating free, and it’s winking at me
Listen and love
There’s a stillness about, and it’s calling me out
Listen & love

There’s a full moon tonight, and it’s making things right
Listen and love
There’s a flower in bloom, and she’s making me swoon
There’s a rain pouring down , and it’s flipping’ my frown
Listen and love
There’s a rainbow above, and it’s promising love
Listen and love

There’s some wind in the trees, and it’s buckling my knees
There’s a tide rolling in, and it’s late again
Oh we should, listen and love
Oh won’t you, listen and love
Why don’t we, listen and love

© 2016 Eddy Mann
Hissongs / ASCAP

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Albums, Newsletter, Video

Oh Loving God, Help us

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I thought I’d let Robert Louis Stevenson’s Christmas poem speak for me this month. The song of the month Oh, Loving God, Help Us, was inspired and written around his offering.

“Loving Father, help us remember the birth of Jesus, that we may share in the song of the angels, the gladness of the shepherds, and the worship of the wise men.

Close the door of hate and open the door of love all over the world. Let kindness come with every gift and good desires with every greeting. Deliver us from evil by the blessing which Christ brings, and teach us to be merry with clear hearts.

May the Christmas morning make us happy to be Thy children, and the Christmas evening bring us to our beds with grateful thoughts, forgiving and forgiven, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.”
~ Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894)

Call me, text me, tweet me, message me, email me, write me… we were brought together by God for a reason.

As always, remember you can send an anonymous email to prayer@eddymann.com for prayers and encouragement.

Love you all,
Pray on,
Eddy

December Notes

#LS Cover* 1There’s another release this month from the Love Strands album. The past two drops have been received well with Grace Is Not A Blue-Eyed Blonde receiving a surprising number of responses from the United Kingdom.

The Winter Run ’19 will be short on stops, but not on substance. I can’t wait to see you, pray with you, and worship with you again. There are a few unconfirmed dates as of this writing so keep an eye out for additional events.

Now go, and play nice!

Song of the Month

 

Winter Run ’19

Friday, December 06, 2019 – New Song Cafe, Mays Landing, NJ
Saturday, December 07, 2019 – Souled Out Basement, Philadelphia, PA
Saturday, December 14, 2019 – Hope Community Church, King of Prussia, PA
Sunday, December 15, 2019 – Blessed Hope Church of the Nazarene, Phillipsburg, NJ
Saturday, December 21, 2019 – TBA
Tuesday, December 24, 2019 – Conshohocken UMC, Conshohocken, PA
Saturday, January 03, 2019 – TBA
Saturday, January 10, 2020 – Lifegate Coffeehouse, Somers Point, NJ
More info at eddymann.com

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