Nightmare #49 (Part One)
'Moving to Los Angeles was a new liberation from the provincial upbringing he had coped with in the ghettos and suburbs. When he sang at a club near Washington D.C. (at the corner of 34th and M) and then checked into the Edison Hotel in Manhattan on 47th and Broadway for several weeks, he felt that his street ministry had stepped up to the next level. One of his converts was Susan Perlman, a young Jewish girl who later started Jews For Jesus with Moishe Rosen. He wrote a lengthy memoir of this journey within the verses of this sly, caustic comedy of a musical diary'. Written in 1971
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Version 1 is a full studio recording
Note that the stereo image is reversed on the double LP release of Home At Last |
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Version 2 is the same recording as version 1, but only a very short excerpt
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The Music To Live By Magazine, May 1989, Benson BR5932
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Version 3 is a full studio recording. It is the same as version 1 but without vocals. It is sometimes referred to as Nightmare #49 (Part Two)
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Home At Last (2LP vinyl version)
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Version 4 is a live band recording, from the Flevo Totaal Festival in Holland in 1989. Larry is backed by the Finnish band Q-Stone, and his brother Charles
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Version 5 is a live recording, performed solo with acoustic guitar during a concert in Northern Ireland
Note that on Rough Diamonds the final chord strike is missing, due to the positioning of the track split between this song and U.F.O. |
lyrics version 1
I was playing guitar at 34th and M
When a man said are you him
I said am I who, he said I don’t know
So ineluctably I gave him a scenario
I said jump back, back in time
Back to ‘68, I didn’t have a dime
I was more poor than I’d ever been
And I was living like an orphan
In the city of sin
Yeah, that’s right
Uh huh oh
Capitol Records, Hollywood and Vine
I was following God, I was feeling fine
I was preaching on the corner
Singing in 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
Well have you seen your brother baby
Standing in the son
In the son
In the son
When a man said are you him
I said am I who, he said I don’t know
So ineluctably I gave him a scenario
I said jump back, back in time
Back to ‘68, I didn’t have a dime
I was more poor than I’d ever been
And I was living like an orphan
In the city of sin
Yeah, that’s right
Uh huh oh
Capitol Records, Hollywood and Vine
I was following God, I was feeling fine
I was preaching on the corner
Singing in 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
Well have you seen your brother baby
Standing in the son
In the son
In the son
lyrics version 2
His first studio album in ten years. Larry Norman, Home At Last [Spoken over the opening chords of Nightmare #49]
lyrics version 3
One two [Spoken]
[It's an instrumental take, but you can hear the count in]
[It's an instrumental take, but you can hear the count in]
lyrics version 4
Playing guitar at 34th and M
When a man said are you him
I said am I who, he said I don’t know
So ineluctably I gave him a scenario
I said jump back, back in time
Back to ‘68, I didn’t have a dime
I was more poor than I’d ever been
I was living like an orphan
In the city of sin
Yeah, that’s right
Capitol Records, Hollywood and Vine
I was following God, I was feeling fine
I was standing on the corner
Preaching in the streets
An ancient message with a modern beat
My hair was long
I might’a dressed like a bum
My music made it clear
Where I was coming from
And where I’m going to
When my life is done
Have you seen your brother baby
Standing in the son
Eh yeah yeah
In the son
Do do do do dit dit dah dah
When a man said are you him
I said am I who, he said I don’t know
So ineluctably I gave him a scenario
I said jump back, back in time
Back to ‘68, I didn’t have a dime
I was more poor than I’d ever been
I was living like an orphan
In the city of sin
Yeah, that’s right
Capitol Records, Hollywood and Vine
I was following God, I was feeling fine
I was standing on the corner
Preaching in the streets
An ancient message with a modern beat
My hair was long
I might’a dressed like a bum
My music made it clear
Where I was coming from
And where I’m going to
When my life is done
Have you seen your brother baby
Standing in the son
Eh yeah yeah
In the son
Do do do do dit dit dah dah
lyrics version 5
I was playing guitar at 34th and M
A man walked up and said are you him
I said am I who, he said I don’t know
So ineluctably I gave him a scenario
I said jump back, back in time
Back to ‘68, I didn’t have a dime
I was more poor than I’d ever been
And I was living like an orphan
In the city of sin
La da da ba ba da dun da ba-da-boo-da-doo-ETC
Capitol Records, Hollywood and Vine
I was following God, I was feeling fine
I was standing on the corner
Preaching on the streets
An ancient message to 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
I say hey baby, have you seen your brother
Standing in the son
Da da da da da da da ba da da ETC
What am I gonna sing now. Uh I don't know, uh. This key doesn't give me any ideas either [Spoken]
A man walked up and said are you him
I said am I who, he said I don’t know
So ineluctably I gave him a scenario
I said jump back, back in time
Back to ‘68, I didn’t have a dime
I was more poor than I’d ever been
And I was living like an orphan
In the city of sin
La da da ba ba da dun da ba-da-boo-da-doo-ETC
Capitol Records, Hollywood and Vine
I was following God, I was feeling fine
I was standing on the corner
Preaching on the streets
An ancient message to 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
I say hey baby, have you seen your brother
Standing in the son
Da da da da da da da ba da da ETC
What am I gonna sing now. Uh I don't know, uh. This key doesn't give me any ideas either [Spoken]
The #xx in the Nightmare song titles denotes their correct position in the order of songs. This means that Nightmare #49 should actually have been on the album Bootleg. I asked Larry about this once, and his response was that that was correct, but that he and the band weren't able to get it sounding as he wanted.