After his masterful release of Dry Bones Dance, the virtuoso Mark Heard wasted no time in recording and releasing his next record, Second Hand. The album comes as the second installment in Heard's final trilogy of albums that he released on his own label, Fingerprint Records. While not completely abandoning Dry Bones Dance, Second Hand goes for a more stripped down sound than its predecessor. Perhaps most notably, this album features no use of the dulcimer, one of the key instruments used throughout the prior release.

Still, the change is not all bad, and the opening track, "Nod Over Coffee," eases the listener into this new sound, acting like a bridge between Dry Bones Dance and Second Hand. A fantastic song in every regard, "Nod Over Coffee" stands as one of the best of Heard's career. Apart from Heard's great mandolin solo, the lyrics reflect on the challenge that everyday life places on a marriage, leaving minimal time for a couple to spend together: "So we nod over coffee and say goodbye / Smile over coffee and turn to go / We know the drill and we do it well / We love it, we hate it / Ain't that life / Ain't that the curse of the second hand / Ain't that the way of the hour and the day." Though a sad observation, Heard calls out a struggle that I have heard few describe as beautifully or poetically as he does.

With regard to the album's lyrics, in this reviewer's opinion, the album contains the best lyricism of Heard's career. While I could comment on nearly every song, I'll focus on a few favorites. In "Worry Too Much," which won Song of the Year from the Americana Music Association Honors & Awards when Buddy Miller rerecorded it in 2005, Heard beautifully describes that very struggle of worrying: "It's these sandpaper eyes / It's the way they rub the lustre from what is seen / It's the way we tell ourselves that all these things are normal / Till we can't remember what we mean." "Another Good Lie" highlights all that Heard once believed but did not hold up in the long run, especially that following dreams leads to success: "Don't our dreams die hard / In the ashes of destiny / I wish that I could lay to rest / The bitterness that keeps telling me / About another good lie / Coming down like a freezing rain / From a hot blue sky." One note for listeners, Heard uses the phrase "the d*mnedest things" in this song to refer to taking risky, bold actions, like to "swim the ocean" or "climb the mountain." To make sure I mention the more joyful aspects of the album, "Love Is Not The Only Thing" reflects on the beauty of romantic love, even when both people in the relationship are imperfect: "I find myself holding your hand / Half-cousins to the angels and the demons / Half-brother to the fatherless sons / I lay awake and wonder at the reasons / One kiss and I am lost in your charms." Pam Dwinell-Miner's backing vocals add a nice touch as well, fittingly giving the tune a more relational feel than if Heard had sung it by himself. Yet, perhaps the greatest lyrics, if not from "Nod Over Coffee," come in "I Just Wanna Get Warm," a song I will refrain myself from quoting in full. Looking back years later, the opening line rings true about Heard himself as he sings, "The mouths of the best poets / Speak but a few words / And then lay down / Stone cold in forgotten fields." As the track continues, Heard longs for substance in a shallow world: "Life goes on in this ant farm town / Cold to the lifeblood underfoot / All talk and no touch / And I just wanna be real." I could go on and on, but one of Heard's greatest gifts as a songwriter--a gift he displayed in a particularly brilliant way on this album--was his ability to capture all dimensions of the human experience and share it with a vulnerability that made his insights equally relatable and profound.

The length, combined with the consistently more mellow sound of Second Hand, becomes the album's major downfall. Most of these songs land well when listened to individually, but when placed together in the context of the album, one may struggle to listen through the entirety of Second Hand without feeling fatigued. Heard once again uses a long track as the closer, not helping the matter. "The Ways Of Men" wraps up the record well from a thematic standpoint, but if it had some sort of epic closer flavor--"Fire" from Dry Bones Dance even has some element of this--the length could work better. Listening to the track on its own, the length feels fine, but within the context of the album already eclipsing 53 minutes before the song starts, "The Ways Of Men" ends up feeling excessively drawn out. The penultimate track, "What Kind Of A Friend," is the only song Heard wrote himself among the final three tracks and sticks out as the clearest weak spot on the album. This also draws attention to the fact that, while the back half of the LP does not contain a bunch of throwaway tracks, the record suffers from a frontloaded track listing. Despite that, Heard does a nice job with his rendition of The Beatles' "I'm Looking Through You," as it serves as one of the standout moments on the latter half of Second Hand.

Second Hand has a lot going for it--especially from a lyrical standpoint--and deserves a close listen, but the 14 songs contain a few blemishes that keep this project from reaching the heights of its predecessor. The whole collection may not be one that people put on and listen to straight through on a consistent basis, but fans are sure to find many gems shining brightly within the album that they can enjoy frequently, allowing Heard to meet them in the beauty and pain that we call life.

- Review date: 8/16/26, written by Noah Schmidt of Jesusfreakhideout.com