Only Visiting This Planet

Forget the whole "christian music" thing when you think of this album. There was no christian music industry (or any such oxymoron) when this milestone of popular culture was created. Larry Norman made an earth-shattering rock music statement for everyman. His christianity underpinned his song writing, to the detriment of a potentially successful career. Never condescending or overarching, Norman's writing was resilient, witty, insightful and poetic. His work has enriched me and sometimes brought clarity when I needed it most. There's no doubt in my mind that 'Only Visiting this Planet' is on par with the best of Dylan or the Beatles. I maintain that it's also conceptually stronger and more fully realised than any album produced by the Rolling Stones. This is a forgotten masterpiece and a high-watermark in popular music. With prescience and humour, Norman prises away the veneer and helps us peer beneath the layers both in a personal sense and in a broader context. What each person perceives may differ, but we learn something about ourselves and our society. A couple of years earlier the song 'The Great American Novel' might have served as an anthem for the civil rights movement; "You killed a black man at midnight/just for talkin' to your daughter/and you make his wife your mistress/and you leave her without water/and the sheet you wear upon your head/is the sheet your children sleep on/at every meal you say a prayer/you don't believe but still you keep on". Though it may seem a heavy handed today, it needed to be spelled out clearly back then. If it made people angry, then it found it's target. According to Mavis Staples who lived through it all, it still needs to be said. Though not intended to incite, the finished album turned out to be much too radical for many in the traditional church frame - as was Norman himself. It found a home on the streets back when there was some authenticity to that notion and among listeners who took it upon themselves to listen without predjudice. It's a beautiful thing from start to finish. To those who know the the songs, some of them (eg. '6 o'clock News' , 'Readers Digest', 'The Outlaw') are as iconic as 'Satisfaction' or 'Let it Bleed'. There is an honesty, dignity and humanity about the more deeply personal of these songs that must have resonated with many a jaded believer and non-believer alike as Norman did not shy away from or gloss over personal struggle. There appear to be numerous versions of the album but the one I have finishes with the all too succinct and tender fadeout of an unlisted song. That Norman managed to convey the simple lines; 'Oh how I love you/the words they don't/come easily' with such intensity is amazing - his voice almost a whisper and the phrasing just so right, it's the work of an artist that leaves you wanting more.

Before I was out of high school I had determined that religion just didn't work for me -- it just didn't make sense. So despite my attendance in catholic school I began proudly describing myself as an atheist. Even my friends in school who thought going to church or confession was kind of boring or "lame" didn't want to take the plunge and actually commit to something so concrete as atheism. However......since high school I have been a huge fan of rock & roll, and all the rebellion associated with it. So when a friend one day told me to check out Larry Norman despite the fact that he was a Christian rocker, I was all for it. And I am so glad I did. Larry's skill with lyrics is amazing. I went to catholic school for 12 yrs, I was schooled in the bible stories, so I knew what this guy was talking about....and man did he put it all into beautiful (and original) terms. "Why Don't You Look Into Jesus" is one of the grittiest, rockin-est songs I've ever heard. "I Am the Six O'Clock News" sounds slightly dated today (it even sounded dated in 1986 when I first heard it) but the power in Larry's writing is amazing. (Sure beats "Girls, Girls, Girls" by a long-shot) "The Outlaw" literally gives me goosebumps.

I liked Larry's music so much, that my friend and I saw Larry at Kutztown University (a little west of Allentown, PA). He played acoustically and it was great (although I would have prefered to see him plugged in with The Young Lions). This album definitely wears it's devotion to Christ on its sleeve, but who cares, it's just a great rock & roll album. Larry was committed to something -- which is a lot more than you can say for most people. If you're a fan of solid folky-rock songs, and are either devoted to Christ or are an atheist with an open mind, BUY THIS CD.

Larry Norman's classic in Only Visiting This Planet is rated by CCM as the second Best Christian album of all time. Maybe it should have been ranked first from a lyricist's point of view. The lyrics are gritty and address the scoial issues raging in the early 70's. However,the message remains the same and is as applicable today as it was then. The liner is helpful in giving backgroud information on Norman himself and his journey of faith. This album is the rare find that exemplifies a Christ-like attitude set in today's modern culture without loosing the impetus of the Message. Great for introducing Christian music to your secular friends who are caught in the misperceptin of hymnody as the only Christian music out there.

I accepted Christ as my Savior in 1969 (right before I entered high school), and within a year's time, I had been made aware of Larry Norman (via ads in The Hollywood Free Paper, a Christian counterculture paper published in Berkeley CA by Duane Pederson). I bought my first two Larry Norman LPs through a mail order form in that paper, and immediately fell in love with Larry's music. But it wasn't until "Only Visiting This Planet" was released that Larry's music really took flight. The album was amazing, in my opinion, not only because it showed that Christians could make really good rock 'n' roll (with considerably better production values than his first Christian rock albums had demonstrated), but also because it dramatically expanded the definition of what constituted Christian music in terms of subject matter and lyrics.

Who could have guessed that a song which talked explicitly about seedy and disreputable things such as drug addiction and venereal disease could glorify the Lord? In his song "Why Don't You Look Into Jesus?", Larry proved that there is no topic which can't be redeemed when one sees the world through the eyes of one who knows the Savior.

I heard Larry a couple of times at a Christian coffeehouse (the New Wine Coffeehouse) in my hometown of Springfield, MO, and I had the opportunity to sit down and speak with Larry when he visited my church, Evangel Temple Assembly of God. I was impressed with his unique sense of humor, his humility, and his love for the Lord.

If anyone ever decides to open a Christian Rock Hall of Fame (and they really should, since there was a lot of good music being made in those early days), there should be a lifesize statue of Larry planted firmly in front of the front doors. In his prime, Larry was more radical than most secular rockers ever dreamed of being, because he truly used his talents to make the world a better place.

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NOTE: If you don't see an image of the album cover, it may be because you're reading this review on the page containing a list of all of my reviews. For some reason, a thumbnail of the album cover doesn't appear on that page, even though cover art for other items I've reviewed does appear next to them. But click on the link to the individual review, and you'll see the original album cover.

Larry Norman's music is usually only available through his eponymously named website. As his albums are reissued as remastered CDs, it is good to see them more publicly available.

Norman didn't invent Christian music, but he helped define what it could be for the late 20th century. Long before Amy Grant, DC Talk, and Michael W. Smith was a long-haired guy wearing black talking about politics, Jesus and love. Churches weren't sure what to do with him, and the secular music world wasn't sure they didn't like him. His wasn't a hippie, or was he? Believers and atheists were conflicted, and Norman wound up forging a change in modern Christian music.

Norman was funny in his shows, with the kind of humor never heard at church camp, and with a message that left Christians unsettled. "Only Visiting This Planet" was one of the albums to showcase Norman's lyrical style and biblical insight, first being released in 1972.

His signature song, "I Wish We'd All Been Ready," would have been enough to make this a worthy album. Futuristically, he laments for those who did not accept the salvation of Christ prior to the Second Coming.

"Why Should The Devil Have All The Good Music" answers the scorn of the church, and the cynicism of the world.

"I Am The Six O'clock News" aims sharply at the sense of complacent distance we have while watching the news of international violence, using the currency of the Viet Nam war as his backdrop.

"Why Don't You Look Into Jesus" is directed at Janis Joplin, as Norman watched, as we all watched, the self-destruction of one of the greatest blues voices ever. Norman saw the problem and gave a suggestion. The song, with edgy lyrics, was banned from being played on many Christian radio stations.

"Gonorrhea on Valentine's Day,
And you're still looking for the perfect lay,
You think rock and roll will set you free,
You'll be dead before you're thirty-three,
Shooting junk till you're half insane,
Broken needle in your purple vein,
Why don't you look into Jesus, he's got the answer."

"The Outlaw" highlights the sometimes forgotten aspect of Christ's life, that in his three years prior to crucifixion, he lived as a rebellious, wanted man hanging out with the dregs of society. The clean-cut, anti-hippie suburban churches bristled, and sometimes, embraced Norman because of this challenging reminder.

"Some say He was an outlaw, that He roamed across the land
With a band of unschooled ruffians and a few old fishermen
No one knew just where He came from or exactly what He'd done
But they said it must be something bad that kept Him on the run."

I fully recommend "Only Visiting This Planet" by Larry Norman.

Anthony Trendl
editor, HungarianBookstore.com