Thanks to all the thousands of visitors we've had in the past 30 days. The response has been overwhelming, and has meant a lot to Larry's family and friends around the world.
Again, thanks for all the support and great memories...
As a tribute to my bro in Christ, I would like to ask others for their favorite quotes from Larry. There are so many it is hard for me to choose just one. [Please keep it to one or two sentences and don't abuse Larry's song material. Please don't ramble on and on with your own thoughts. Give your source if you have one.]
"I'm fishing for men with a certain kind of bait, and the bait that I am offering is not a candy; it's a very specific thing that I'm offering, which is a deep gospel and a deep conversion. --Larry Norman----The Brainyquote.com
When his former band members in People! got into Scientology, "They siad, 'We all have to get into Scientology or you can't be in the band,'" Norman's reply was, "I though, 'OK, I'm free.'"
Thank you. I'm free too. I think of your words "I'm free" everyday. Ex-Scientology who loves Jesus
"There are still people around me that don't know who they are and don't know who Jesus is . . . I write my songs to convince them that Christ is different than Christianity. Christ is the Savior; Christianity is us trying to follow the Savior and making a lot of mistakes on the way."
Here are a few memorable quotes (or paraphrases of quotes) from many years of seeing Larry in concerts and workshops:
In response to the question, "Does God use music?" "No, God doesn't use music--He uses people."
On some Christian's opposition to rock music: "I didn't care...I liked it."
On clapping: "Think of it as praying...quickly."
More on clapping: "White people shouldn't clap...it's not attractive"
On the "woman of God" from Proverbs 30: "The only problem is that she's 3000 years old"
On a Scandanavian reporter's question regarding Larry's view of the Bishop of Norway's comments that "heavy metal music is bad." "I think the Bishop is right...heavy metal music is bad. But it could be better if they practiced."
On drinking wine: "I don't drink wine myself--I've never liked the idea of drinking all those little dead things."
On childhood pets: "I wanted a dog...but my parents got me a bird. I called it 'Spot'."
"Every town I play is like the one from where I came...(except for this town)...(I always say that)...(but this time I really mean it)...(I always say that, too)..."
"I'm not talking religion...I'm talking 'bout Jesus"
During a concert, Larry gave the simplest, best salvation message I ever heard:
"Nobody ever got to heaven by being good. And nobody ever got to hell by being bad. You get to heaven because you believe. And you get to hell because you don't believe."
Just a response to the one about "And every town I play is like the one from where I came..." At the concert I was at, he added, "Except this one...this one's weird!"
I treasure the two hours Larry spent talking with me after a concert. At the end of the time, he signed my Bible: "Look deep inside, and when you locate the sadness, give it a vacation, and focus on the simple things."
I've spent hours thinking about that...and then living it.
"If you're 18, and you're in looove, maybe you should wait until you're 19. If you're 19, and you're in looove, maybe you should wait until you're 20. If you're 20, and you're in looove, maybe you should wait until you're 30! It takes time to get to know who you are and what you want."
"What was that word that man used saying rock and roll is of the devil? Syncopated? OK, we're going to syncopate this so you all know what side of the pearly gates is on." - Larry Norman from a live recording at a Youth Minister Convention.
I treasure the two hours Larry spent talking with me after a concert. At the end of the time, he signed my Bible: "Look deep inside, and when you locate the sadness, give it a vacation, and focus on the simple things."
I've spent hours thinking about that...and then living it.
Young man asking Larry " Can you give some advice on how to become an evangelist" Larry- "Yes go and learn how to tidy your room" (at a greenbelt seminar)
We should be talking to people who do not believe in Jesus. The only way to take Jesus to the world is to go out into the world and preach the Gospel. If Christians are content to be not in the world and not of the world, then they are merely sheltering themselves in the protective walls of a subculture. They're not becoming salt to the earth, and they're not taking the message of God to the streets and to the people.
Saw Larry deliver this qoute on the "Face To Face " video - in instructing Christian musicians on truly sharing Jesus in a music/recording career (paraphrasing here):
"...and don't worry about chart success... if you do it right, you'll only have one album".
He said, to the unsaved teenagers, in Manchester, who were blindly hurtling towards marriage......if you don't know where you're going, why take someone with you!!!
"i've been looking in this mirror at the age around my eyes, time is such an earnest laborer, precision is it's neighbor, lay my body in the ground, but let my spirit touch the sky."
from one of the greatest songs of all time....I Hope I See You In Heaven
Going through some old Phydeaux catalogues and leaflets here, I came across my copy of the old blue book mag that was issued many a year ago (just after the issue of Home at Last I think). Larry's words on the cover are so prophetic for his recent passing:-
What's done is done, it's in the Past: At Heaven's Door, I'm Home at Last
It may be a direct quote from the "HaL" album, but to see the picture with these words just a few days ago was beautiful and, to paraphrase what my minister would say "it's not a coincidence you found it, is a God-incidence".
Larry has been my pen pal for 6 years here are some of his comments on death.
ME: I wasn't sure what congestive heart failure was, so I read up on it in one of our numerous medical manuals. It sounds pretty scary. Are you ever afraid of dying?
LARRY: Well, I'm not thrilled about it. I hold onto life as hard as I can. They say that in the hospital if you don't care if you live or die, you will often die. But people who want to live can overcome great odds.
ME: I know that Christians go to Heaven, and so death can't hurt us, but I kinda think the act of dying might hurt.
LARRY: I don't think that death itself hurts. If you die in a car crash ... that could hurt. But I think that death itself is just God releasing us from this life. He takes Christians someplace special that he has reserved for us.
He doesn't want us to die because He also made life and He knows how wonderful it is, and He knows that eternity lasts forever so that there is no rush.
ME: I guess that scares me a little. I sure will miss you a lot if you go to heaven before I do.
Do you have a church that you go to? How do you spend time with God?
LARRY: I spend time talking with God, asking Him what I should do next, telling Him I hope I live a bit longer on Earth and asking Him to get me ready to leave if He thinks my time is up pretty soon.
I don't know that life itself is valuable. Otherwise, how about if you lived for 180 years in a glass coffin and your body kept rotting but your mind wouldn't die?
So maybe it's merciful if God takes some of us home before we have a stroke and have to sit in a wheelchair for twelve more years, not talking, not walking, not recognizing anyone or anything.
I'm thinking it might be very kind if I don't have to spend ten years in a retirement home in a coma so that I can think over a lot of things I refused to look at when I was living a normal life.
I've tried to learn as much as possible already, so I'm just praying for the best death possible.
I know my family will miss me a lot.
And I will certainly miss the Earth and everything I know. But at the moment of death maybe I will see God and Heaven and really not want to delay any longer. That would be a wonderful way to make a transition.
My family and I drove from chicago to NY City to see larry in concert on August 4th 2007. It was a great blessing for us. I will always be greatful that my children got to see him in concert. I was listening today to nightmare #49. I thought some of the lines summed up Larry's life.
Capitol Records, Hollywood and Vine I was following God, I was feeling fine I was preaching on the corner, singing on the streets, An ancient message with a modern beat.
My hair was long, I might'a dressed like a bum But my music made it clear where I was coming from And where I'm going to when my life is done.
1Thessalonians 4:15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.
Larry has graduated to be among those who will rise first in God's Kingdom at Christ's return. He was ready either way. Are you?
when I met Larry at one of his concerts in the mid nineties I asked him if he planned on re-releasing the trilogy as a boxset. He looked at me with a straight face and said "No, but you can go ahead and put them in your own box." Me and my friend just busted out laughing. Larry was a funny guy....even when he wasn't trying to be.