In my teenage years I began to really love music, so of course I listened to AM radio a lot while driving around in my 1970 Duster. I liked all of the usual stuff any teenager in the mid-seventies liked: The Eagles, Boston, Kansas, Firefall, Loggins and Messina, Steve Miller Band, etc. and if I liked a band a whole, whole lot I would splurge and go buy the 8-track so I could listen whenever I wanted to. I also liked Christian music at the time. (Once again, I know...weird. But hey! Does that surprise anyone?) However, most Christian music was slow and schmaltzy to me until I heard Larry Norman and Randy Stonehill. I loved both of them! One of my favorite 8-tracks was called "In Another Land" by Larry Norman. Well, Larry Norman died this weekend and I heard about it this morning on the station I listen to. My very favorite song on the album was the title track. I know it backwards and forwards and upside down. I sang it all day today. Here it is: (by heart)
A thief fell out of heaven
Two loaded dice
But the Lamb rolled a seven
Back to Paradise
The bread was finally leavened
So I had a slice
As the sun began to rain
Water fell from fountains
And then turned to wine
Rocks fell from the mountains
In a chorus line
He came in tails and top hat
And He looked so fine
As the Son began to reign
A fox snuck in to steal away the grapes
But the man who ran the vineyard shut the gate
So he could not escape
And now we'll live forever
In another land
Everything is changing
Like it first was planned
Did you get your invitation
To come play in the band
And let the Son begin to reign
Larry Norman is now in another land dancing in the reign.
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4 comments:
Dancing in the reign... that's wonderful. I hadn't heard that Larry Norman had passed. My dad was a pastor, and when I was in HS we used to promote Christian rock concerts together. Often the musicians would stay with us in our house, and they came back year after year. Their music was everything to me--part of the reason I got my degree in music.
Dancing in the reign. An incredible image. The music in heaven's a little bit better now, ya think?
Wonderful lyrics. Reading this reminded me of a Christian group called "Watermark" that sang at our church when I was growing up. They came for dinner at our house afterwards and left us with one of their albums.
I miss the music of the '70's. There was just something about that decade...
weird? no.
real? yes.
Yeah...Larry sure left his mark, didn't he? His work here was finished...
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