#solo mark

Of course! A little background for those who don't know who Mark Owen is:

Mark Owen is one of the members of Take That, they've been reunited for years now but they originally ran in the early 90s, breaking up in early 1996. There was a weird ten year period between break up and reunion and 3 out of the 5 members went on to have solo careers, one did really well, one didn't but it had some traction, and Mark's? It barely got off the ground. He had a few singles in the charts, some of them broke into the top ten but it wasn't enough and after the release of his first album, Green Man, he was dropped by his label.

Five years later, he goes on Celebrity Big Brother and manages to get a second record deal but after his second single off his second album fails to break the top 10, he's dropped by that record company as well.

Now this brings us to 'They Do', the first song he wrote for his third album. He hadn't written any songs in awhile, he didn't feel motivated or inspired, it was still what he wanted to do but he had failed twice, tried his hardest and put every thing he had into his work and was told he just wasn't good enough. Twice.

That's enough for anyone to throw in the towel, I don't fault him for not writing any songs for awhile after that.

Then one day, he was sitting at home when he decided to play a simple tune on the piano, as he played a melody formed and it turned into 'They Do', a beautiful song that starts out with the lyrics:

"Love yourself if you want/ Cry a bit, laugh a lot/ Throw a stone, take a plane/ Start again"

He said that it was 'They Do' that sparked the rest of what would be his third album, 'How The Mighty Fall' which he decided to start his own label and do everything himself. He sunk so much time, effort, money and passion into that album- and it shows. 'How The Mighty Fall' is an incredible album and deserves more recognition. It did worse in the charts than his previous two, but it didn't matter. It was his and he was proud of it, he toured it and this album and tour sort of overlapped with Take That's reformation.

One could argue that without 'They Do' and subsequently 'How The Mighty Fall', Mark Owen might have never continued in music, when the opportunity for a reunion tour came up he might of slammed the phone down, that he would have simply given up and that without 'They Do', Take That would have never reformed and achieve the level of success and notoriety that they have. Left to be a footnote in music history or a chapter in a Robbie Williams biography. Or maybe not. No one really knows how anything might work out differently.

But I want to take a minute to look at 'They Do' completely unattached from it's larger story and the doors it possibly opened.

'They Do' is a song about second chances and the uncertainty of life, written by a man who had lost pretty much everything. A man who thought he was old by 32 because he grew up in an industry that fetishized youth. He was lost and broken and yet even then he found it within himself to write the words,

"Give yourself a chance, not a nosebleed/Have a cause"

'They Do' is so much greater than I could attempt to explain. It's proof that even in the darkest moments, there is light, there is hope. It's proof that you don't need to be #1 to have confirmation that what you did is worthy of being heard. It's proof that it's not fame and success that matters, it's art. It's always art. The greatest accomplishment of 'They Do' can't be defined by a number on a chart or how many views on YouTube the song has, it's accomplishment is that it exists.

'They Do' transcends everything around it. That song exists because it came to a man when he needed it most. It's one of the greatest songs ever written and it's practically a secret. It's an inspiration, it's guide to life and I will always carry it with me. There is no clear reason for 'They Do' to exist but it does, it changes lives and it's all the more beautiful for it.

People are a lot like the song. There is no clear reason why any of us exist, why any of us are here but we are beautiful and worthy of being heard because of our existence and maybe, just maybe, we are here because one day there will come a time when we will save someone who is as lost and broken as we are and I hope that whatever the reason is we can remember the message of 'They Do'

Oh! gotta mention the new song he played, can’t remember what it was called, but it was CLASSIC, hope it’s a single, and there was this video of him acting silly in a car going on behind him.’

Ok, that has got to be Good For Me and I would, without hyperbole, die to see him do that one live.

“Often underrated as a lyricist, vocalist, and live performer, it’s high time we acknowledge Mark Owen’s remarkable talent.”