Christian rock pioneer Larry Norman lived from 1947 to
2008. In 1990 the bootleg THE BEST OF
LARRY NORMAN surfaced. The next year
Phydeaux Records released it as CONFISCATED.
I had a t-shirt with the cover artwork on it.
The almost hour long CD begins with ‘Soul on Fire’, a
funk-filled testimony song: “When I was a young man/Temptation was all
around/You know when darkness finds you/It slips up behind you/And tries to
knock you to the ground/But I just kept on walkin’/I was so inspired/Because
Jesus, He set my soul on fire.”
‘Righteous Rocker’ has a rock and roll feel to it and draws from some of
Paul’s words in the New Testament: “You can be a brilliant surgeon or a sweet
young virgin/Or a harlot out to sell/You can learn to play the blues/Or be
Howard Hughes or the Scarlet Pimpernel/You can be a French provincial
midwife/Or go from door to door with a death knife/But without love/You ain’t
nothin’, without love.”
‘Stop this Flight’ is an autobiographical song about the toll
being on the road so much took on Larry’s body: “Sixteen hours from London,
flying on a DC-10/You know, I wonder if when that plane sets down/I’ll ever be
able to walk again/I spent thirty-five days in Europe/Singing ‘til my voice is
gone/You know there’s never time enough to get a good night’s sleep/What is
this road that I’ve been running on?/I’ve got to stop this flight/I’ve got to get back to
earth/Hey, I’m a human being/God knows what that’s worth.” ‘Gonna Write a Song about You for the Radio’
is a fun old school rock and roll love song: “It’s hard for me to say the
things I feel/I’ve been in love before but not for real/I love you baby, want
the world to know/I’m gonna write a song about you for the radio/Oo-wee, baby,
oo-wee/Love has finally come and got the best of me/Wee-oo, baby, wee-oo/My
number’s up and I belong to you.”
‘Don’t You Wanna Talk About It’ is a plea for a reconciled
relationship with a Christian brother, likely Randy Stonehill: “Kingdoms of
earth, they don’t mean nothing to me/I’d give my life if it would help you be
free/This ain’t the way that God intends it to be/Don’t you wanna talk about
it?/I called your lawyer, but he said you were gone/I didn’t see you cause your
headlights weren’t on/You shut the door and faded into the dawn/Don’t you wanna
talk about it?” ‘If the Bombs Fall’ is a
beautiful, vulnerable ballad: “You and I are still so very young/And with love
the best is yet to come/God has let me choose you/I don’t want to lose you/Who
can say tomorrow will find its way?/Who can say the sun will shine today?/Baby
I adore you/That’s why I’m living for you.”
‘Sweet Dreams’ is a powerful duet with Mikko Knustonen that
waxes cynical: “What about Cinderella and her glass shoe?/She lived happily
ever after, yeah, but none of it is true/What about King Midas, when everything
turned gold/It’s all right when we are children, but not when we are old/Sweet
dreams/Fading before the dawn.” ‘Woman
of God’ is a live cut that contains words of wisdom for single Christian men in
their search for love: “I need a woman who knows the measure of what she’s
worth/Stores up treasure but not on earth/Seeks God’s will in all that’s
done/And keeps her eyes on the Holy One/I need a woman who’s kind and true/I
haven’t found her but until I do/I’ll be looking for a woman of God/A woman
with a righteous heart/You know I’m looking for a woman of God/Who doesn’t
easily fall apart.”
‘Shot Down’ is a bouncy, pointed response from Larry to his
many critics: “I’ve been rebuked for the things I’ve said/For the songs I’ve
written and the life I’ve led/They say they don’t understand me, well I’m not
surprised/Cause you can’t see nothing when you close your eyes/They say I’m
sinful, backslidden/That I have left to follow fame/But here I am talkin’ bout
Jesus just the same.” ‘Out of my System’
finds Larry saying goodbye to an unfaithful partner: “You ran around with other
men/Ooh, you made love and kissed ‘em/But now you’re gone, do what you want/I
don’t care/You’re out of my system.”
‘Messiah’ has a haunting sound musically and is highly
prophetic: “Red clouds blotted out the sun/Darkness fell on everyone/Rivers of
blood were running/I could see the armies coming/I could see their weapons
falling/I could hear the angels calling/Messiah took this world by force.” ‘I Hope I’ll See You in Heaven’ is easy
listening in nature but laments over a missed opportunity on this planet: “I
was wrong to let you go/I was a child and I did not know/About the love that we
both could have given/And now you’re gone so far away/I hope I’ll see you again
someday/But if I don’t, I hope I’ll see you in heaven.”
The last two songs are Charly Norman rarities, he being
Larry’s brother. ‘It Could’ve Been You’
features a Bowie-like delivery and speaks of the difficulty involved with
breaking romantic ties: “So many years have passed/The time we had was
brief/The faith I had in love has turned to disbelief/And someone different now
who stirs me from my sleep/I think I love her but there’s thoughts of you I
keep.” I can hear the Stones doing the
last track, ‘Why do you do the things you Do?’
It is the song of a frustrated lover: “The problem never goes away/You
always look the other way/But now you know I’m leaving and you look so
surprised/Why can’t you get it/That we’re finished, we’re through?/I’m tired of
hangin’ upside down/I got no time for sympathizin’/When I’m cloudin’ my horizon
with you/Why do you do the things you do?”
What I like about THE BEST OF LARRY NORMAN is that it
doesn’t go the predictable route and draw mostly from his highly acclaimed
trilogy albums from the 1970’s. Instead,
what we encounter here is an eclectic, interesting collection of songs, several
of which are on par quality wise with Larry’s mainstream contemporaries. I’m rating this project 90%. For more info visit www.larrynorman.com.