Anybody out there remember Larry Norman?

I ended up listening to some Larry Norman stuff this evening. It was amazing how relevant the song "Six O'Clock News" still seems to be. Some of the particulars have changed, but the media's pretentiousness and detachment from reality hasn't! And I really liked "Reader's Digest." It kind of reads like a top notch blog post! Clicking on the song title above will open an mp3 of the song. Clicking here will take you to a page of mp3s for 1972's Only Visiting This Planet (the album I am most familiar with, though I didn't hear it until 1990) and two others that form a sort of "triology" (that's "trilogy" if you're not from the mountains!). I've included the lyrics below for the above two songs if you'd like to follow along.

Six O'Clock News

I've got a ticket for southeast Asia,
I packed my camera and press card badge.
They only pay me to stay the weekend;
What if I never come back?

The flight was pretty rough
I got a room, took a sauna,
The bellboy gook put my bags on the bed,
He left without his tip.

Then I loaded up my Hasselblad full of film
And I stepped outside, I stepped outside.

I'm taking pictures of burning houses
Color movies of misery.
I see the flash of guns, how red the mud becomes,
I've got a close-up view.

I'm the six o'clock news - what can I do?
All those kids without shoes - what can I do?
Military coups - what can I do?
I'm just the six o'clock news.

I got a suite at the Saigon Hilton
Cocktail parties with Premiere Ky
We talk about how the war is going
And watch his color TV.

I'm the six o'clock news - what can I do?
Drinkin' black market booze - what can I do?
I'm red, white and true blue - what can I do?
I am, I am, I am, I am, I am... the six o'clock news.

Catch my plane flight back to the mainland,
I fall asleep to the engines' drone.
I see the flash of guns, how red the mud becomes,
I've got a close-up view. I am, I am, I am, I am, I am

The six o'clock news - what can I do?
Guerilla Rendezvous - what can I do?
All those kids without shoes - what can I do?
Napalm tattoos - what can I do?

I'm just the six o'clock news - what can I do?
I am, I am, I am, I am, I am
CBS, ABC, NBC....



Reader's Digest

Alice is a drag queen, Bowie's somewhere in between
Other bands are looking mean, me?, I'm trying to stay clean.
I don't dig the radio, I hate what the charts pick
Rock and roll may not be dead, but it's getting sick.
All over the world disc jockeys talk the same
And every town I play is like the one from where I came.

The Rolling Stones are millionaires, flower children pallbearers,
Beatles said "All you need is love," and then they broke up.
Jimi took an overdose, Janis followed so close,
The whole music scene and all the bands are pretty comatose.
This time last year, people didn't wanna hear.
They looked at Jesus from afar, this year he's a Superstar.

Dear John, who's more popular now?
I've been listening to Paul's records.
I think he really is dead.

It's 1973, I wonder who we're gonna see
Who's in power now? Think I'll turn on the TV,
The man on the news said China's gonna beat us,
We shot all our dreamers, there's no one left to lead us.
We need a solution, we need salvation,
Let's send some people to the moon and gather information.

They brought back a big bag of rocks.
Only cost thirteen billion. Must be nice rocks.

You think it's such a sad thing when you see a fallen king
Then you find out they're only princes to begin with.
And everybody has to choose whether they will win or lose
Follow God or sing the blues, and who they're gonna sin with.
What a mess the world is in, I wonder who began it?
Don't ask me, I'm only visiting this planet.

This world is not my home; I'm just passing through.