Larry Norman Message Board

I've listened to Larry's Music and saw him live when I could since I came to know our Lord in 1971. Larry's music was a constant inspiration to me and I continue to listen to it.

My condolences to all of Larry's family, and my prayers for all the comfort and consolation that the Father can bless them with. After so much suffering Larry is with our saviour, Jesus.

Blessings of God's peace and Love.

I have listened to Larry's music since the early 80's, a late comer as it were.  An insperation to me in my faith journey, poignant, and honest.  I want to give something back of my own, though I wrote it when my grandfather passed in 1979 I want to share it with you the family, it is my heart felt prayer.

Let the Tired One Sleep in Peace

Time has taken its toll on him,
The man that is, shall always remain,
In the hearts of those who he loved so dear.
Let the tired on sleep in peace.

 

A strong man, gentle to all,
Never failing to make one smile,
Teaching us all, all that he knew,
He will live on forever in us all.

 

Listen in the wind,
You will hear his knowledge.
Look at the fall,
You will see his beauty.

 

So tired is he,
The man who cares.
Time is inevitable,
And time will come.

 

Let no one say,
He did not succeed.
For he was here as a teacher,
And teach us he did.

 

Not just and ordinary man,
But a man, and a father to us all.
The Lord has made a place for him,
And we shall be with him again.

 

Yesterday was long ago,
Tomorrow, far to near.
Pray for the one we all adore,
And let the tired one sleep in peace.

 

A man strong in will,
A man, strong in knowledge,
A man, strong in spirit,
Three men wrapped up in one.

 

Let our love be his pillow,
Let our hearts keep him warm,
Let our tears keep him clean,
For he will be alive in all of us.

 

Bring him peace our Lord
Let him sleep in freedom.
For a man so great,
He shall be remembered.


To Larry's family, thank you for sharing him with us.
Kevin W. Steller

To the family and friends, a heart felt hug of encouragement. As a fan from the 60's on, I feel a great sadness, but also a great joy. I am so glad for the final words Larry left. Words that leave great encouragement, spiritual wealth, and direction.

Larry's life impacted mine early on. As a youngster I had given my life to Christ. But the life of a Christian has its ebbs, and I had fallen away as I left out on my own as an adult. The influences of Larry, Mark Heard, Randy Stonehill & others helped to redirect my Spirit back to serving Christ, both with my life and my music.

Larry's journey here on Earth may be over, but his Songs, influence, and Spirit will forever leave a footprint upon the Church, and the Kingdom.

Goodbye dear brother. Happy Graduation! Your music will eternally be in my heart. God has truly blessed you!

To the family....the prayers of our family will be with you. God has used all of you to reach out for the lost in this world, as support and encouragement. Stand fasty in the Lord, and He will surely supply ALL your needs, according to His riches in Glory!

God Bless,

David Whitaker
N.Idaho

As long as Larry's music is remembered and sung he will still be with us. Praise the Lord for a life and a talent that was used to exalt Him. There are tears but only because there will be no more new songs from Larry Norman.

Charles,

I also lost my brother this week to a heart attack.  Like Larry he was too young, only 57 years old. 

I just want to tell you that as I teen I spent my hours listening to Larry's music.  I always felt like a misfit in my family as I was the only believer.  His song with the words "walking backwards up the stairs, trying to get higher" was one that always resonated with me and was a great source of comfort.

I had the privilage of meeting him when he came to the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship in the late 1990's.  I distinctly remember babbling like a teenage girl( is was in my 40s) as I meet one of my idols.  He of course was very gracious and very humble.

When I was a teenager in the 70s, my life was all about music.  Had Larry not been used by God the way he was, others like Randy Stonehill, Daniel Amos, etc. may not have followed.  God always provides a way for those he's called to reach Him.  He often used "all the good music" that the devil didn't have to call me back and I specifically remember "Why Don't You Look Into Jesus" going through my head over and over when I was furthest away.

May God bless and comfort you as much as He used Larry to bless the rest of us. 

Charles and Kristin, thank you for your communications and wonderful support for Larry and the work he did for God. I still remember how excited I was to discover his music, and how I was able to sneak some tunes on the radio working as a DJ.

Larry was the first Christian rocker, and still the best in my opinion. His messages were always clear and convicting. Many very conservative Christians dismissed him too quickly based on his appearance and music style. But they never realized they were singing some of his tunes in church and at bible camp. My three sons enjoy his music very much, and they share it with their friends. Particularly emotional even today is his song "I Wish We'd All Been Ready". You can find some interesting video of him performing this and others on UTube (look for a cute song called "The Tune" performed live).
 

Larry was definitely ready. I will miss him greatly.

God bless,

Steve

Why should the devil have all the good music?

Dear Family of Larry Norman.  I know I am not known to any of you.....but I am a changed person because of the life of Larry Norman.  I can only tell you how grateful I am to Jesus for how he used Larry's music and his heart to challenge, encourage and convict my walk with our Savior...the ONE AND ONLY Savior!  I pray for your comfort and remind us all that we will see him soon!  Sooner than later I hope!  May his flying home challenge us all once again to look at how we live our lives and write our songs.  God bless you.  I love Larry Norman.

Chris Carder
christophercarder@gmail.com

What puts a smile on my face is trying to imagine the songs being sung in heaven. Larry is singing with Jesus like he is twenty again.  But it is with a heavy heart remebering all that Larry and his music has done for me. I look around my store, I see a concert poster, a t-shirt proudly framed, a record on my wall and dozens of cd's.  My cd player has one of his cd's in it right now hurts too much to hit play right now.  One of the greatest joys was when I took my son to a concert, my son was 364 days old, what great memories that brings back and the pictures to look at.  Chris and I used to sing some of his songs together.  I could go on and on but Ill wrap this up. Hey, I'm not crying anymore, who remembers that line from Larry video?  Ill be praying for the family of Larry.  And to you my friend, Ill be seeing you in Heaven and we can sing  some of your songs for a few years to Jesus.

I can't even express in words what Larry Norman has meant to my life.
All I can say is so long, farewell, we'll meet again.

I first came on Larry's music when I was a DJ at a college radio station.  I was a Christian already but had not discovered anything like Larry's music or his presentation.   He was a profound poet, insightful, encouraging, and he did what few other christian musicians did, he rocked.  "Only Visiting" is as relevant today as it was when it came out, and few Christian rock albums before or since rocked like "Something New Under the Sun".  But it was Larry's common touch in concert, the way he shared from his own life and his own spiritual journey that made the greatest connection with me personally. 

My thoughts and prayers for comfort are with his family and close friend.  I'm sure I speak for many when I say "thank you" for sharing Larry with us.  He touched many lives in a very powerful way.

My dear brother in Christ, Larry Norman, had such an influence in my life through his music. He was a servant of our Lord and was fearless in the proclamation of the Gospel. It meant so much to me over the years and the Lord used Larry's music as an encouragement in good times and bad.

I had the privelege of going to one concert, but only one. It meant so much to see Larry live and in person after all the years of listening. There will be many more years of listening and someday, I will see my brother again, who never knew I was part of the Family, but will then.

Shawn.

Never met him... He changed my life.

j.r.
www.hollywoodpastor.com

I knew that Larry was ill but still I was surprised by that messages on the Larry Yahoo group and on Larry's site.
My wife asked me what was going om because I was quiet, sad and busy walking around our house doing nothing........ and told her about Larry. She know what his songs, lyrics ans words mean for me.

The last days I was thinking a lot about the possibility to go a concert of him (what mean that I have to fly to the USA) because the concerts I saw where so good, with or without a band, in a school or in a hall.......
The last time I saw him was last year in Germany on a festival in Linden. Five hours driving for only 45 minutes Larry .......... It was great although Larry was tired of the traveling.
The last full concert i saw before that festival was maybe 6 years ago and had to stop in the middle of it because it was to loud for the neighbors ......... so the last really full concert was on Flevo which was recorded (more that 15 years ago?) In the years before this concert I saw several concerts which were organized by a friend of mine so I met larry a few times. During a tour in Europe he stayed a few days in my house (for a week I moved back to my parents ...).
The last years I rediscovered Larry's song and they still mean a lot to me!
Larry was (or still is..) unique. I never saw somebody preforming like he did and sharing the gospel so loud and clear.

Thanks and I'll wait for the heavenly concert!

Peter

the Netherlands

Larry was such a blessing to us all.  In a way, Larry was our church as we haven't attended formal services in quite some time.  I am grateful for all of the memories of seeing him perform and getting a chance to meet him.

We always said to each other that his performance was secondary and even if he just talked to us for a while it would be great. 

God bless all of you.  Larry is in a better place and I'm so happy that he was able to spend time with his family and friends all the way through this.  Words simply can not express what he means to all of us but his spirit will live in all of us forever as all of us will have special memories and he had a way of creating a special relationship with most people that met him or just even had a chance to hear his music.  He was a beautiful man.

God bless you all and take solace in the fact that he loved you very much and he will be smiling down from heaven on you.

We'll see you at the funeral. 

Love,

Shawn, Tina, and Brian Busacker

I'm 48 .. a christian since 13..when I first heard about Larry I knew Someone knew my hearts cry ...Thank you Larry and thanks to you who cared for him.
It's the End of the beginning.

When the Lord pricks your heart, you pray...

A week ago, Sunday, Larry's name, music and life became the center of a discussion between myself and my pastor.  As a  walking music encyclopedia, he asked what I'd like to hear from his over-stuffed, iPod time machine.  Out of the blue I said "Reader's Digest... if you've got it."  Pastor Cole just smiled, spun the iPod wheel, and out from his boom box came the music of my spiritual youth.

We both bounced and sang along as we struck the stage and packed up the band.  Our twenty-something worship leader mentions in passing "what's that?"  I stop to face him.  "The foundation of your musical heritage, that's all," say I.  "It's got a cool edge to it - something new?" he asked.  I sighed.  "Larry Norm will always be 'something new.'  This was recorded 35 years ago.  His music has shaped everything you've ever played in worship at this church."  He blinked.  After a moment he says  "He's really good."  I nod as the airy muse of 'I'm only visiting this planet' ends the song.  "And he probably won't be 'visiting' much longer - I hear his heart is fading."

I thought about Larry, his struggling frame, and his legacy the rest of the day.  I prayed for him.  Little did I know that his 'heaven heart' was beating stronger than ever, and would soon be his to possess.

As a kid growing up around the Christian music industry, I was always fascinated by Larry.  On those occasions when he would bend so far as to associate with the industry insiders at the Christian Artists "Music in the Rockies" seminar, he was always a headache for them.  A glorious, scintillating exhuberating migraine of an inconvenience.  To the church he was a Jeremiah; to the industry, he was a Nathan.  He was the Jekyl/Hyde of Christian music.  He walked and talked with a gentleness that could explode into rage against the machine.  Think of all the explosive lyrics packed in such melodious and reflective musical packages!  He was Don Quixote, tilting at the windmills of Christian Music Megacorps, as they stamped out freshly-minted mammon from the newly discovered mines of evangelical youth pockets.

So, I'd follow around the sage with flowing blond hair, just to see what he'd do or say next.  Then I'd listen to him sing.  All those insurrectionist, anti-conservative, frighteningly liberal diatribes against this, that and everything.  Funny if it didn't have a familiar ring to it, though.  Turns out, it was all scripture.  Huh...

Larry, we have the treasure of your music, but more than that, the truth you told us all those years.  Now you have the treasure of a new heart, and 'all the good music.'  The devil's got none of that.  I know the first concert I'm signing up for when I make my move to the big house.

Thank you.

Bram

If there is anybody I can call a spiritual father, Larry would be the closest. His songs and words have influenced me and inspired me since my early teens.
I remember when I first got hold of "Upon this Rock" a whole new world opened up. A cool christian guy, playing great music.

His brave and unconditional love of Jesus and the people around him was always shining through. No matter what happened in the christian world Larry was standing firm as a pole - just talking about Jesus.

I have such a respect for Larry´s work that it´s hard to express in words.

"you can take away my kids
take away my wife
you can take away my job
you can take away my life
you can take away my house
take away my ford
but you can't take away the lord"

Love and blessings to all of you!

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

Thank you for sharing Larry's life and time with us for so many years.
We've sold the products of Larry in our store: a large blessing has been spread wide through the years in our Frisian region and far beyond, because of Larry's music and wunderfull sense of humour.

Because of Larry's words we all are waiting for the #1 Unidentified Flying Object: Jesus Christ.
Larry is with Him now, in the arms of his Almighty Saviour. Hold on for a while: only a short time and then you'll be there with this little guy and his Big Brother.
Our son has been waiting above in heaven for Larry to meet him: I'm sure they have a great time together now.

We'll be praying for all of you!

Love,

Lars & Sietske Bos

Sander + (in remembrance)
Laura
Sandra

Christian Music Store "The Rainbow"
("De Regenboog")
Bolsward, The Netherlands (Europe)

I had been a Christian for about a weekl when a friend thrust into my hands a cassette that was full of music by Larry. That music gave me a love for Christian rock music that more than 25 years on has not diminished.

I am so grateful to God for Larry's life and ministry over the years. He had a real heart for Jesus that inspired so many.

He will be missed here on earth by those who loved him and by his fans, but I am sure that all of heaven was excited to welcome him home forever.

May God bless you guys in the Norman family who remain. My prayer is that in the midst of this shadow you will experience the fullness of Christ's love.

Doug Watson
Glasgow, Scotland

To the Mother and Family of Larry Norman.

I first came to Christ 14 years ago; I gave my life to Him on the back of a tour bus in Florida.... I had sold my soul for a recording contract, slept with over 500 women, some men and was a violent pervert that carried a gun out of fear...always looking over my shoulder....

When Jesus came to me on that bus, June 17^th 1994, HE changed me for ever! I turned down a major recording deal, and I went home to Michigan and started all over again in the same community that my band was from and my foul reputation lived.... I didnt have a friend in the world except the Word of God that I was struggling to understand..... a wile after I started going to church, a young lady came up to me and handed me a Larry Norman VHS, called alive and kicking...live from Canada..... I watched it so much that I wore it out.

I would weep for hours, finally realizing that I had poured my innocents and youth like a cup of water..... And still.... through it all, Jesus was always there.....never left me for a minute....... Every time I cursed Him in one of my songs that I wrote, every time I beat some one to a pulp, every time I abused a hooked..... and sold drugs to a kid.... every time....HE was right there......

Larry sowed more seed into my heart than he will ever know... over the next years, every time I was struggling to make it and not give in the enemy, I would play that VHS and it brought me closer to God.....

I am not sure of many things on this earth, but I am sure that Jesus Christ is the Son of the only true living God, He died so I could live and be free from my self and this world, and Larry Norman will have a hard time holding up his head in heaven.. Because his crown will be filled with too many Jules. But then again, knowing Larry, he has already laid that crown at the feet of Jesus.

He was and forever will be an amazing man of God......

Weeping and morning his loss....
Your friend in Christ......
Kirk
Martin

Just want to say how much Larry meant to me.  There were only two artists whose music I tried to get a complete collection of, the Beach Boys and Larry. 

Two weeks ago at our college group we did a discussion of God Parts I, II, III.

I briefly met him when he toured the Island in the late nineties.  I still retell the story about him looking at his bottled water and saying do you know what evian spelled backward is.

He was funny, talented but above all he loved our Lord

Callum Beck (52)

i was fourteen years old and had just returned from a camp where a kid had stirred my curiosity, citing the lyric 'sipping whiskey from a paper cup- you drown your sorrows til you can't stand up' as being by the same guy that wrote 'i wish we'd all been ready' (a big youth group favourite.)

i went down to the christian record store in kamloops (it was called 'the real thing' and sported a rather suspiciously coca-cola-esque logo on the sign) to see if they had any of this guy's stuff. the church lady behind the counter hesitantly put needle to vinyl and the opening guitar statement of 'the rock that doesn't roll' clumsily broke the silence until the first full band shot and a rather barbaric 'wooh!' challenged the wall that had, up until that point, separated my faith and my aesthetics.

no one has ever been able to rebuild that pallisade...

the fact that only three years later i heard the call of God to a life of ministry during the song 'one way' at a show he did at the orpheum in vancouver is just part of the impact of this guy's loaves and fish upon my own terrestrial visit.

the prayers of those of us out here on the perimiter are with those family and friends within the small circle.

Larry and his work had a big impact on me on behalf of Christ.  He was greatly responsible for many of my good traits and sense of vision.  I pray that your hearts will find great consolation in a palpable way from the heart of Jesus.  Amen