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Speak Your Heart
I’m not a poet you would know
from learned books, from memes or quotes
sometimes I find it hard to speak
the truth of who you are to me
if I could just be me
and you be you
maybe we’d feel the love break through, oh,
and we could live the life we should
the life we dream, the life we would
and we could find the one true word
that cuts through all this needless hurt
and all you have to do to change my world
is speak your heart
I’ve always hung behind the scenes
behind the smiles and songs and screens
itʻs time to come out in the light
to let the beast and saint unite
it’s time to trust your eyes to really see
thru all the careful make-believe, oh
then we could live the life we should
the life we dream, the life we would
and we could find the one true word
that clears the air when things get blurred
and all you have to do to change our world
is speak your heart
speak your heart
learn the art
make a start
come on and shout the love that’s trapped inside
it’s time to show the colors youʻve been hiding
set them free
let them sing
let ’em shine
then we could live the life we should
the life we dream, the life we would
and we could find the one true word
the only one that breaks the curse
and all you have to do, you know
all you have to do to change the world
is speak your heart
Reviews
Well, you have done it again. Speak Your Heart is terrific! You are still obviously at the top of your game. I heard it last night for the first time (twelve hours after you released it) and I loved it immediately. As always, the song is the work of a craftsman, your vocal is as beautiful as ever, and the guitar work is a pure joy to listen to. Excellent – another track for my “Doug Howell’s Greatest Hits” album. Thank you so much. —Andy C.
Great energy! Powerful message! Well done, brothers! ❤️ – and boy oh boy, what a healing balm for every listener who has felt the sting of being unsafe and misunderstood. Thank you for letting your heart speak…and sing! —Carol L. S.
Amazing song Doug, so nice to hear you and Dan again. I was a student at Judson College in the 70’s when we first met. Thanks for sharing your journey in posts here on your page. I could not appreciate your openness more!! —Kurt S.
Man do I love this one. The message, the arrangement, the energy (one fine guitarist!) and of course you. The whole thing fits together effortlessly…and seems to have fun along the way. No easy thing… I think you & I tend towards thoughtful ballads – but this is a thoughtful pop rocker. Again, no easy thing. Hats off dear friend! —David B.
Wow! Just…. wow! The vocals are “classic Doug Howell,” but the electric guitar work is simply amazing. Who is playing that part? [ed: Dan Leonhardt, of course!] The melody is in true “ear worm” Doug Howell fashion. Love this! —Jeff C.
OMG. Doug. I LOVE your new song…. The music and the words. Wow. That’s a winner. Thanks so much. You’re amazing!!! —ʻAnakē C.
2021 Notes
Last month I shared a song written 48 years ago—one of the earliest pages in my songbook. This month I’m excited to share the very latest page! “Speak Your Heart” had a dual inspiration: the pandemic, and politics.
I belong to a “safe” group for LGBT people of faith co-founded by a Christian artist friend of mine, and it sponsored a series of streamed concerts after the pandemic hit. I really, really enjoyed them, and joined a couple of the featured artists’ Patreon groups to support them afterward. That led me to another safe group, created by Trey Pearson, founder of Everyday Sunday, the popular Christian rock group. He came out very publicly in 2016, after struggling with his sexual orientation for decades, and—well, you can perhaps guess how this was accepted by the majority of his Christian music colleagues and fans. Joining these safe groups has been a real eye-opener.
With over 4,000 members and growing, hardly a day goes by in Trey’s group without someone introducing him- or herself and sharing a personal coming out story. I’m not sure how to characterize my reaction to these stories and their seemingly endless flow of distressing detail: the hurt, the estrangement and denial, the job firings, the church rejections, the personal threats and violence, the disowning by parents and family, the betrayal… And in many cases, all this comes after what has already been decades of struggle and straining hopelessly to somehow be what those around them want them to be.
I’ve been so disheartened to realize that here in the year 2020—after so many hundreds of years of struggle, after so many audacities suffered, with so many other dire issues in our world that demand our action—it could still be this hard, this painful, to simply be who we are. To live and let live. To love and let love!
Then, on top of that disturbing realization, I was experiencing like all of you the incredibly acrimonious political shenanigans leading up to the 2020 election (and afterward!). So many, many people speaking their minds, seemingly without regard to what the truth might be, or the other’s point of view, or even the common good.
And I started thinking the problem is not that people aren’t speaking their minds. In fact, maybe it’s the opposite. Maybe there are far too many people speaking their minds. The problem is that there are not nearly enough people speaking their hearts.
Maybe that means I’m as naive as I was when I scribbled “Nellie” in my songbook nearly five decades ago, but that’s what I truly believe. Can we somehow find the courage to speak our hearts? Can we find the grace to truly accept each other, to realize that we are one, so that one day, speaking our hearts won’t take quite so much courage?
This song is dedicated to the members of Trey’s safe group, and to all who must still struggle to simply be who they are. Speak your heart. Learn the art. Make a start. It’s easier than you think to change the world. All you have to do is speak your heart.
Music Notes
Special thanks to Dan Leonhardt, who delivered some of the most amazing electric guitar performances to date on this one! They were more than the icing on the cake, Dan. They were several layers of the cake! And thanks to my own David Glaser for singing some great background vocals, too. Both of you really helped me sing my heart out on this one.
I’ve been doing a lot of ballads lately, and it sure feels good to rock out a little, or to do, as one friend described it, “a thoughtful pop-rocker.” It’s been very energizing, and is inspiring me to do more along that line in the coming months. Stay tuned!
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