God Gave Me A Brain |
Performed by Michael E Courtney |
As part of the Kickstarter campaign for Live In The UK '77, Charles Norman offered backers the chance to have a song produced by him, with unused lyrics from Larry's archives as the starting point. This is how Charles described the offer:
I produced and played on many of Larry's albums. I'll do the same with you, using Larry's collection of instruments and microphones. I'll send you typed (so you can read them clearly) lyrics to some unknown songs Larry wrote, you can write the music, or we can do it together if you don't play an instrument. You will be CO-WRITING WITH LARRY NORMAN! There's no time limit but we should do it in 2024. There's also travel involved. Or not! Contact me for full details before you pledge
I produced and played on many of Larry's albums. I'll do the same with you, using Larry's collection of instruments and microphones. I'll send you typed (so you can read them clearly) lyrics to some unknown songs Larry wrote, you can write the music, or we can do it together if you don't play an instrument. You will be CO-WRITING WITH LARRY NORMAN! There's no time limit but we should do it in 2024. There's also travel involved. Or not! Contact me for full details before you pledge
Version 1 is a full studio recording, released on May 3, 2024 through Bandcamp
Lyrics co-written by Larry Norman and Michael E Courtney. Music and vocals by Michael E Courtney
All Instruments, arrangement and engineering by Charles Norman
Lyrics co-written by Larry Norman and Michael E Courtney. Music and vocals by Michael E Courtney
All Instruments, arrangement and engineering by Charles Norman
lyrics version 1
God gave me a brain, I’m s'posed to use it
He gave me his grace, I don't wanna lose it
Everything that I've heard about
I got questions but I got no doubts
I got these lyrics running round in my head
Gotta write 'em all down before I am dead
What's coming next ain't no mystery
He said he's gonna prepare a place for me
I’m so tired of this planet that I'm on
What people think of me after I'm gone
Learning how to bow and to be polite
Just let me walk on into the light
Watching the circus as it rolls into town
Each generation has its leaders and clowns
But nothing’s left when the tents get pulled down
They take the money and they ain't around
Now pieces of this and pieces of that
Put 'em all together in an old man's hat
How can you stand so near the light
And still you can't tell wrong from right
It doesn’t work anyway
If you worry 'bout what they willl say
Trying to please the strangers in your life
You wanna live, leave your corn cut by the knife
God gave you a brain, you're s'posed to use it
He gave you his grace, I hope you choose it
Everything that you've heard about
I know you got questions
But there ain't no time for doubts, no-oh
No-oh
He gave me his grace, I don't wanna lose it
Everything that I've heard about
I got questions but I got no doubts
I got these lyrics running round in my head
Gotta write 'em all down before I am dead
What's coming next ain't no mystery
He said he's gonna prepare a place for me
I’m so tired of this planet that I'm on
What people think of me after I'm gone
Learning how to bow and to be polite
Just let me walk on into the light
Watching the circus as it rolls into town
Each generation has its leaders and clowns
But nothing’s left when the tents get pulled down
They take the money and they ain't around
Now pieces of this and pieces of that
Put 'em all together in an old man's hat
How can you stand so near the light
And still you can't tell wrong from right
It doesn’t work anyway
If you worry 'bout what they willl say
Trying to please the strangers in your life
You wanna live, leave your corn cut by the knife
God gave you a brain, you're s'posed to use it
He gave you his grace, I hope you choose it
Everything that you've heard about
I know you got questions
But there ain't no time for doubts, no-oh
No-oh
Michael:
I've attached the Lyrics that Charles sent me in a PDF file. Larry's handwriting was very hard to read so Charles retyped the lyrics for me and added some notes. If you listen to the song you can hear the lines that I used from Larry's Notes, some of his lines I used and some I left out. Once I had an idea of what I thought he was trying to say in the song, I tried to stay in the theme but was also including where my mind wandered at the time. My original idea was an acoustic demo, loosely based in blues and I sent it over the Internet to Charles in Norway. He souped it up and added instruments and changed a few chords then sent it back to me. I recorded all the vocals in my studio and then sent it back to Charles for final mixing
My first exposure to Larry was when I heard a friend of mine perform "The Outlaw" in a local church. I asked him if he wrote the song and he told me it was Larry Norman, then he loaned me a copy of "Only Visiting this planet". I attended a concert with Larry and Randy Stonehill around 1975 or so and have been a fan ever since
I've attached the Lyrics that Charles sent me in a PDF file. Larry's handwriting was very hard to read so Charles retyped the lyrics for me and added some notes. If you listen to the song you can hear the lines that I used from Larry's Notes, some of his lines I used and some I left out. Once I had an idea of what I thought he was trying to say in the song, I tried to stay in the theme but was also including where my mind wandered at the time. My original idea was an acoustic demo, loosely based in blues and I sent it over the Internet to Charles in Norway. He souped it up and added instruments and changed a few chords then sent it back to me. I recorded all the vocals in my studio and then sent it back to Charles for final mixing
My first exposure to Larry was when I heard a friend of mine perform "The Outlaw" in a local church. I asked him if he wrote the song and he told me it was Larry Norman, then he loaned me a copy of "Only Visiting this planet". I attended a concert with Larry and Randy Stonehill around 1975 or so and have been a fan ever since