Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Goodbye to Larry Norman


Some of us Christians, maybe those in their forties and fifties, lost a good friend this weekend--Christian rocker Larry Norman died.

I turned to Christianity in early high school, and it meant so me that there was someone willing to put Christian thought to rock music, and to do it so well. Though other Christian rockers followed him, he was the original. He had a unique voice, and he was willing to address a wide range of issues. Here's a nice description of his song topics from the Wikipedia entry about him:

"His songs were wide-ranging, addressing such matters as politics (The Great American Novel), free love (Pardon Me), the passive commercialism of war–time journalists (I Am The Six O'Clock News), witchcraft and the occult (Forget Your Hexagram), alienation (Lonely by Myself), religious hypocrisy (Right Here In America) and many topics largely outside of the scope of his contemporaries."

It's hard to believe now that so many Christians thought that rock & Christianity shouldn't mix, but it was certainly an issue. Larry Norman's response, in song, is as true today as it was then:

Why should the devil have all the good music?

4 comments:

Knumb said...

I can't say this is sad... if ever a man were home, he is now.

Can't say I'll miss him, his music is still here.

One of my better 8th grade memories is when my senior brother took me to a Larry Norman concert. He's the only Christian-themed musician that I can stomach on my music rotation.

Would that those he inspired had his talent.

Anonymous said...

Come on knumb, Don't you remember Brad taking us to a Servant/Petra concert back in 81/82? I guess it was kind of forgettable.

I loved how Larry Norman pushed evangelical boundaries. His "gonorrhea on valentines day" lyric pushed some buttons!


Derek

Anonymous said...

Larry was one of my all-time favorites. I will definitely miss him.

Knumb said...

ha, yes, that was a good one. Man, I forgot you were there.

Thanks, Brad, for looking out for the dogs.