Now to the third act, the final in a trinity of songs (part four is a bit different) and yes feel free to make some loose Christianity Trinity analogy. Once again, enjoy.
In 1991, Twenty-one years after the original and three years after the sequel Larry Norman penned a second song inspired by Lennon's "God" and again appropriately named it "God Part 3". Now you may be asking yourself "Who the fuck is Larry Norman," well fret not dear reader for Muse-Zach is here to enlighten you.
Larry Norman, who died of heart complications in 2008, was a solo artist for most of his musical career and is bested remembered being for the self described "father of Christian Rock Music". Before going solo and becoming a notable name n the hippish Jesus Movement of the late 1960s early 70s, Norman was in the one hit wonder group People!. People! scored a huge worldwide hit in the summer of 1968 with their cover of The Zombie's "I Love You." Success didn't last long for the group, though they did open for the likes of Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, and The Doors, Larry quit the group on the same day their first album was released following supposed spiritual disagreements within the group (Larry loved Jesus and the rest of the guys were getting in the whole L. Ron Hubbard thing).
Away from People!, Larry began a long solo career that would touch on several genres on music but primarily focus on folk. As a solo artist, Larry's work was centered around promoting Jesus, the bible, and living a Christian lifestyle. Although Larry never reached mainstream success singing about his god(s), he was popular in certain circles and did inspire both secular and Christian artist. Both U2 and the Pixies list him as an influence, and numerous artist from the 1960's (like McCartney and Dylan) have basically been quoted saying Larry could have been a world famous recording artist if he had used subject matter other than Jesus. Often overlooked by the secular world, Larry wasn't exactly triumphed by the Christian world either. Many churches and Christian groups disagreed with Larry's outspoken commentary on Western Culture and the church, and his music was for many years banned in a number of Christian stores. Larry's most famous works include 1969's Upon A Rock, 1972's Only Visiting This Planet, and the song "Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music." Sounds like an interesting fellow eh, there is a controversial new documentary about him called Fallen Angel that I haven't been able to track down online yet. Oh well.
Ok so we got the background on Larry Norman covered, now we need to clear up some confusion surrounding God Part 3. This one actually had me confused for quite a while and delayed the publishing of this and the previous blog while I did some online investigation. The confusion arose from reports that Larry had originally written God Part 3 in 1971, and that Larry had actually written God Part 2 and allowed U2 to cover it. Here are the facts. Larry did write a song in 1971 called God Part 2 as a response to Lennon's song released only a year early. Larry's God Part 2 was not released on any album and only became widely available in 2002 as it appeared on the Larry Norman anthology Agitator. It should be noted that Larry's God Part 2 and God Part 3 are not the same song, though they have some identical lyrics. Additionally Larry did not write U2's God Part 2, that credit goes to Bono, but you can probably see how confusion would arise about the song especially since U2 are fans of Larry's music.
Inspired by Lennon's "God", Larry's "God Part 2" is a rambling folk tune zeroing in on Lennon's list of things he doesn't believe in, and ultimately nothing more. Here and there Larry makes affirmations, but overall "God Part 2" is five minutes of Larry making social commentary by listing off things he doesn't believe in and why. Using a tune all his own, Larry takes swipes at the Beatles, the Vietnam War, non-Christian religions, and numerous other topics. In the end, while we learn about Larry's believes by hearing all about his non-believes God as a central proclaimed belief is lacking from "God Part 2." You can hear the song by clicking the link below.
http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/search/songs/?query=larry%20norman%20god%20part%202
Alright, so finally we're going to talk about "God Part 3". Hmmmm....I guess you need to hear the song first.
See, I told you Part 2 and 3 were different. Obvious from a listening to Larry's "God Part 3", is the added influence of U2's "God Part 2." The sound is more rocking and less folky than Part 2, and Larry has taken note from Bono to cap off his disbeleifs with his ultimate belief. For Larry, an old school Christian Rocker, this ultimate belief is in God. Not God through making ourselves godly, or God through channeling his ultimate characer of love, just the plain and simple Christian God. Plain and simple is a good way to put it because Larry's version is unshakably straightforward in it's message missing the poetic self inquiry of Lennon, or the unraveling hypocrisies of Bono. The goal of Larry's song is to stand up to social norms he doesn't believe in, and proclaim the name of God in their place.
You can see why I spend so much time talking about Larry and "God Part 3"'s background, the song doesn't leave a lot of room for analysis. None the less, lets run through Larry's song with a little commentary and the Yays and Nays system. (For all you readers at home free to get a piece of paper and play your own version of Yays and Nays.)
i don't believe in beatles, i don't believe in rock
Look Bono, hypocrisy. Nay
i don't believe in the cutting edge, that's just journalist talk
Valid point. Yay
i don't believe in the cover story or the gospel chart
you can easily hit number one with a bullet and totally miss the heart
but i oh i believe in God
Agreed, funny he's talking about the Gospel chart though. Makes me think of that South park episode where Cartman has a Christian Rock band, Faith+1. Funny Shit. Yay.
i don't believe in politics while the masses stay unfed
til the leaders change priorities and supply the poor with bread
I dunno, I mean I hear where you're coming from here Larry but politics is complicated and I'm not sure we can through at the whole system because a few people are starving. Nay.
don't believe in the revolution or the empty words of peace
Tisk tisk another swipe at the Beatles and possibly U2 (lol). Fuck off Larry Revolution is a good song and a need process. For example, we should start a revolution where people realize Christianity is retarded....oops, let they ole Atheist flag fly a little to high there. Nay
you can tear all of the governments down you still won't find release
but i oh i believe in God
Dumb. Nay.
i don't believe the papacy when fallible lies are told
if they really want to help the poor they should sell some of their gold
Now we're talking Larry, fuck the Vatican. Yay.
and i don't believe the aryans are the master race
if you think that Jesus is white you'd be surprised to see His face
but i oh i believe in God
You're rollin now buddy keep that good vibe flowing. Yay.
don't believe in esperanto or the dreams of babylon
if we all spoke the same language, long ago we would'a built the bomb
Really Larry, you dont believe the world should be able to communicate with each other. What about fucking unity? Wouldn't it be easier to spreak the message of God if everyone knew the same fucking language. And another thing, if the tower of babylon is comparable to the bomb than why the fuck didnt God intervene again and stop us. Dumb. Nay.
and i don't believe in money the way lives are bought and sold
Well, I suppose society could be set up in such a way that eliminated money, but you may run into the problem of stifling creativity and demand based innovations. Nay.
and when this world is ended bankrupt i'm gonna walk the streets of gold
Keep dreaming buddy. Nay.
no i don't believe in evolution, i was born to be free
Read a science book Larry, and wtf does evolution have to do with being free? Nay.
ain't gonna let no anthropologist make a monkey out of me
Hey Larry you know what I don't believe in, preserving self ignorance. Nay.
and i don't believe the devil, i ain't gonna be his slave
Would have been with you if you would have said "i dont believe in the devil." So your telling me you won't be Satan's slave but you'll gladly be God's slave. Hey Bono, I found more hypocrisy. Nay.
and when i'm finished dying i'm gonna bust out of my grave
Yeah, the funny thing about this line Larry is that you actually are dead now, and in these two years following your death you have yet to bust out of your grave. Sorry buddy, reality sucks sometimes. Nay
oh i yeh i
oh i - I and i
oh i oh i believe in God
i believe in God
i believe in God
i believe in God
Here at Muse-Zach, we don't. Nay
So that's "God Part 3", and in case you were wondering the final total came to Yays:4 and Nays:12. It's not that I think Larry wrote a bad song, it just pails in comparison to Part 1 or 2. It has a catchy rythem to it, but it also has mostly ignorant Christian jargon. Better luck next time Larry....oh right you're dead....rest in peace than.
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