Moses In The Wilderness
ALSO RELEASED ON: We Wish You A Larry Christmas, In The Beginning, The Best Of Larry Norman UK, The Belfast Bootlegs, Survivor,
Instigator, Snowblind, Heartland Junction, Frisbee, Slinky, Monsters, Monsters (SRA edition), Shake Your Rattle And Crawl, Live At The Way Inn - 1970, Magnetic Real - The Living Room Tapes, Archive. Note, on We Wish You A Larry Christmas it is a cleaned up vinyl, or possibly cassette transfer
Instigator, Snowblind, Heartland Junction, Frisbee, Slinky, Monsters, Monsters (SRA edition), Shake Your Rattle And Crawl, Live At The Way Inn - 1970, Magnetic Real - The Living Room Tapes, Archive. Note, on We Wish You A Larry Christmas it is a cleaned up vinyl, or possibly cassette transfer
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Version 1: Capitol / Beechwood mix
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Upon This Rock (Capitol)
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Version 2 is a minor remix of version 1. The mix and stereo image are altered. Lyrically there are no differences - the Larry Norman mix
Note: the South African Impact LP and the Kingsway CD reverse the stereo image |
Upon This Rock (All non Capitol LP and cassette releases)
Upon This Rock (Kingsway CD, 1989) Upon This Rock (Radio Promo CD, 1998) Upon This Rock (Illegal Noise Series CD, 2001) Upon This Rock (Collector's Edition, 2CD, 2002) Upon This Rock (SRSD-969 CD, 2003) Upon This Rock (SRDX-001 CD, 2008) |
lyrics versions 1 and 2
Moses tending sheep in the fields one day
When he thought he heard a burning scrub-brush say
Gotta free your people
From the Pharaoh's hand
Gotta take 'em all to the promised land
Moses knew that God was talking to him
So he set off to Egypt with a vigor and vim
And Moses bugged the Pharaoh, he bugged him
And he bugged him
'Till he got his people freed
He used real bugs
Yes indeed, ow ow
He got his people freed
Ow ow ow ow [x2]
Moses on the banks of the wide Red Sea
He stuck out a stick and one two three
The water rolled back
And the people walked down
Everybody knew they wouldn't drown
Pharaoh told his army to bring 'em all back
An' here come the chariots, clickety clack
Why Moses took his stick
And he closed up the water
An' the 'Gyptians all took a bath
Ow ow ow ow
What a laugh
Ow they all took a bath
Ow ow ow [cough] ow
Ow ow ow ow
Dirty 'Gyptians
Grab my foot, take my hand
Lead me on to the promised land
Milk and honey, milk and honey
Milk and honey, milk and honey
Me and all my people is here
So keep on sending manna
From the atmosphere
Milk and honey, milk and honey
Milk and honey, milk and honey
After forty long years in the wilderness
They finally saw their potential metropolis
They all gave thanks
And they all praised the Lord
Even though it took time he kept his word
He grab their foot and he tooken their hand
And he brung 'em all over
To the promised land
But it seems to me like an awful long time to be
Looking for a home
Ow ow ow ow
A mighty long roam, home
Looking for a home, a home a home
Never borrow money needlessly [cough]
When he thought he heard a burning scrub-brush say
Gotta free your people
From the Pharaoh's hand
Gotta take 'em all to the promised land
Moses knew that God was talking to him
So he set off to Egypt with a vigor and vim
And Moses bugged the Pharaoh, he bugged him
And he bugged him
'Till he got his people freed
He used real bugs
Yes indeed, ow ow
He got his people freed
Ow ow ow ow [x2]
Moses on the banks of the wide Red Sea
He stuck out a stick and one two three
The water rolled back
And the people walked down
Everybody knew they wouldn't drown
Pharaoh told his army to bring 'em all back
An' here come the chariots, clickety clack
Why Moses took his stick
And he closed up the water
An' the 'Gyptians all took a bath
Ow ow ow ow
What a laugh
Ow they all took a bath
Ow ow ow [cough] ow
Ow ow ow ow
Dirty 'Gyptians
Grab my foot, take my hand
Lead me on to the promised land
Milk and honey, milk and honey
Milk and honey, milk and honey
Me and all my people is here
So keep on sending manna
From the atmosphere
Milk and honey, milk and honey
Milk and honey, milk and honey
After forty long years in the wilderness
They finally saw their potential metropolis
They all gave thanks
And they all praised the Lord
Even though it took time he kept his word
He grab their foot and he tooken their hand
And he brung 'em all over
To the promised land
But it seems to me like an awful long time to be
Looking for a home
Ow ow ow ow
A mighty long roam, home
Looking for a home, a home a home
Never borrow money needlessly [cough]
This is a song I wrote from my Sunday School education. It was written very early in my evolution as a writer but compared to some of the immature songs written before and after this composition, it seems to have held up pretty well. It got me in a bit of trouble with the people who thought of Christianity as being a very serious thing, not to be found amusing on any level. As usual, I wasn't trying to cause trouble or rebel against any tradition, I was merely expressing my beliefs in a way that I thought communicated something real. In this case, the perspective of a young child toward the memorable stories told to us every Sunday, trying to puzzle out the purpose and meaning of God in the lives of those who followed Him.
Charles Norman:
"The last line of Larry's song "Moses in the Wilderness" is "never borrow money needlessly, borrow from HFC". Larry wrote the song when he was a kid and couldn't understand why Moses didn't just take out a home loan from HFC (the Household Finance Company) instead of wandering around the desert for 40 years. Here's the jingle Larry heard a million times while growing up:"
"The last line of Larry's song "Moses in the Wilderness" is "never borrow money needlessly, borrow from HFC". Larry wrote the song when he was a kid and couldn't understand why Moses didn't just take out a home loan from HFC (the Household Finance Company) instead of wandering around the desert for 40 years. Here's the jingle Larry heard a million times while growing up:"