Nothing Really Changes
ALSO RELEASED ON: We Wish You A Larry Christmas, Instigator, Siege At Elsinore, Motorola Corolla 2, Live At The Way Inn - 1970
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Version 1: Capitol / Beechwood mix
Note: this track on the collector's edition of Upon This Rock is from a mono radio broadcast tape |
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Version 2 is a significant re-recording of version 1. The lead vocals are at least partly re-sung, the backing vocals are completely different, there is a different introduction, and several lyrical differences the Larry Norman mix
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Upon This Rock (Larry Norman version)
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 version 1
Nothing really changes
Everything remains the same
We are what we are till the day that we die [x2]
If we could live in Shakespeare's days
I wonder who we'd be
If people then could live today
I wonder who we'd see
They'd prob'ly stop a corner cop
And ask what the whole world's coming to
If people then could live today
I wonder what they'd do
Yes I wonder what they'd do
Would Romeo and Juliet watch Nelson Eddy kiss Jeanette
Would Bacchus read Police Gazette
And window peep at silhouettes
Would Caesar pay to see the Mets
Would Icarus join the jet set
Would Satan smoke menthol cigarettes
Would Samson razor with Gilettes
Do do do bow
Nothing really changes
Everything remains the same
We are what we are till the day that we die
Unless we love the Lord
Nothing really changes
Everything remains the same
We are what we are till the day that we die
Would Henry the VIII use etiquette
In a busy New York luncheonette
Would Cleopatra die when bit
Or save herself with a tourniquet
Would Beethoven join a jazz quartet
Would Ben Hur drive a blue Corvette
Would Aristotle be an acid head
Would Cain kill Abel with a bayonet
Nothing really changes
Everything remains the same
We are what we are till the day that we die
Unless we love the Lord
Nothing really changes
Everything remains the same
We are what we are till the day that we die [x3]
Unless we love the Lord
(Nothing really changes)
Everything remains the same
Till the day that we die (We are what we are till the day that we die)
I'm gonna sing it to you one more time now (Nothing really changes)
Everything remains the same
Till the day that we die (We are what we are till the day that we die)
(Nothing really changes
Everything remains the same
We are what we are till the day that we die) [x3]
Everything remains the same
We are what we are till the day that we die [x2]
If we could live in Shakespeare's days
I wonder who we'd be
If people then could live today
I wonder who we'd see
They'd prob'ly stop a corner cop
And ask what the whole world's coming to
If people then could live today
I wonder what they'd do
Yes I wonder what they'd do
Would Romeo and Juliet watch Nelson Eddy kiss Jeanette
Would Bacchus read Police Gazette
And window peep at silhouettes
Would Caesar pay to see the Mets
Would Icarus join the jet set
Would Satan smoke menthol cigarettes
Would Samson razor with Gilettes
Do do do bow
Nothing really changes
Everything remains the same
We are what we are till the day that we die
Unless we love the Lord
Nothing really changes
Everything remains the same
We are what we are till the day that we die
Would Henry the VIII use etiquette
In a busy New York luncheonette
Would Cleopatra die when bit
Or save herself with a tourniquet
Would Beethoven join a jazz quartet
Would Ben Hur drive a blue Corvette
Would Aristotle be an acid head
Would Cain kill Abel with a bayonet
Nothing really changes
Everything remains the same
We are what we are till the day that we die
Unless we love the Lord
Nothing really changes
Everything remains the same
We are what we are till the day that we die [x3]
Unless we love the Lord
(Nothing really changes)
Everything remains the same
Till the day that we die (We are what we are till the day that we die)
I'm gonna sing it to you one more time now (Nothing really changes)
Everything remains the same
Till the day that we die (We are what we are till the day that we die)
(Nothing really changes
Everything remains the same
We are what we are till the day that we die) [x3]
lyrics version 2
Oh
One two one two three, oh
Nothing really changes
Everything remains the same
We are what we are till the day that we die [x2]
If we could live in Shakespeare's days
I wonder who we'd be
If people then could live today
I wonder who we'd see
They'd prob'ly stop a corner cop
And ask what the whole world's coming to
If people then could live today
I wonder what they'd do
Yes I wonder what they'd do
Would Romeo and Juliet watch Nelson Eddy kiss Jeanette
Would Bacchus read Police Gazette
And window peep at silhouettes
Would Caesar pay to see the Mets
Would Icarus join the jet set
Would Satan smoke menthol cigarettes
Would Samson razor with Gilettes
Bi di dip'n bow
Nothing really changes
Everything remains the same
We are what we are till the day that we die
Unless we love the Lord huh
Nothing really changes
Everything remains the same
We are what we are till the day that we die
Would Henry the VIII use etiquette
In a busy New York luncheonette
Would Cleopatra die when bit
Or save herself with a tourniquet
Beethoven join a jazz quartet
Or Ben Hur drive a blue Corvette
Would Aristotle be an acid head
Would Cain kill Abel with a bayonet
(Nothing really changes
Everything remains the same
We are what we are till the day that we die)
Yeah
(Nothing really changes
Talk about it (Everything remains the same)
We are what we are till the day that we die)
Oh
Nothing really changes
Everything remains the same
We are what we are till the day that we die
Unless we love the Lord
Nothing really changes
Everything remains the same
We are what we are till the day we die (We are what we are till the day that we die)
Unless JC sets you free (Nothing really changes)
Everything remains the same
We are what we are till the day that we die
I'm gonna sing it to you one more time now (Nothing really changes)
Everything remains the same
We are what we are till the day that we die
(Nothing really changes
Everything remains the same
We are what we are till the day that we die) [x3]
One two one two three, oh
Nothing really changes
Everything remains the same
We are what we are till the day that we die [x2]
If we could live in Shakespeare's days
I wonder who we'd be
If people then could live today
I wonder who we'd see
They'd prob'ly stop a corner cop
And ask what the whole world's coming to
If people then could live today
I wonder what they'd do
Yes I wonder what they'd do
Would Romeo and Juliet watch Nelson Eddy kiss Jeanette
Would Bacchus read Police Gazette
And window peep at silhouettes
Would Caesar pay to see the Mets
Would Icarus join the jet set
Would Satan smoke menthol cigarettes
Would Samson razor with Gilettes
Bi di dip'n bow
Nothing really changes
Everything remains the same
We are what we are till the day that we die
Unless we love the Lord huh
Nothing really changes
Everything remains the same
We are what we are till the day that we die
Would Henry the VIII use etiquette
In a busy New York luncheonette
Would Cleopatra die when bit
Or save herself with a tourniquet
Beethoven join a jazz quartet
Or Ben Hur drive a blue Corvette
Would Aristotle be an acid head
Would Cain kill Abel with a bayonet
(Nothing really changes
Everything remains the same
We are what we are till the day that we die)
Yeah
(Nothing really changes
Talk about it (Everything remains the same)
We are what we are till the day that we die)
Oh
Nothing really changes
Everything remains the same
We are what we are till the day that we die
Unless we love the Lord
Nothing really changes
Everything remains the same
We are what we are till the day we die (We are what we are till the day that we die)
Unless JC sets you free (Nothing really changes)
Everything remains the same
We are what we are till the day that we die
I'm gonna sing it to you one more time now (Nothing really changes)
Everything remains the same
We are what we are till the day that we die
(Nothing really changes
Everything remains the same
We are what we are till the day that we die) [x3]
lyrics version 3 - not yet transcribed
This song was written for Lion’s Breath. It was a calculated production number, complete with dance and costumes. The most difficult problem in writing this song was trying to decide on which historical figures were well known enough for people to be familiar with some aspect of their personality or biography and also… everything had to rhyme with "ette". It took me months to complete it. I felt fortunate to have come up with enough characters who fit the requirement. Ben Hur and Corvette. Cain and bayonet. Cleopatra and tourniquet. This song was very much a child of the Broadway musical, toward which I had been guiding it. Edward Padula had produced Bye Bye Birdie and had purchased an option on Alison. Hal and Bo James had produced The Man Of La Mancha and likewise optioned Birthday For Shakespeare. So I was very inclined to visualise Lion's Breath being trotted out and "treading the boards" down on The Great White Way. My grandfather, Burl Stout, had been a Shakespearean actor in vaudeville, my Aunt Nina performed in nightclubs, travelling with her own baby grand piano. My father had his own radio show when he was ten, playing harmonica to the accompaniment of his father playing the guitar.
The fact that this was all kept a secret from me during my early years of Christian faith made the theatre no less an occupation that seemed to be "in my blood". But in the end I realised that, just as the producers insisted that Alison be changed, they would probably take the heart out of Lion's Breath. And I also began to realise that a Broadway musical is located in one building and in one city, but a rock and roll album can go all over the world into the bedrooms and living rooms of people who can't afford to go to the theatre. In essence, Broadway was for the privileged. Rock and roll was for the masses. I turned my mind away from the theatre, especially when I realised that God wanted my message to be democratic – not aristocratic.
When Capitol agreed to release an album of my songs, and promised not to censor them, I was overwhelmed. With the People! albums (as with the Beatles' records) Capitol took off music without consulting the creators of the albums. (The president of Capitol had even put his name on the Beatles' records as their producer and removed George Martin's name). I had already signed and quit the label twice and had no interest in working with them again. But when the offer came, out of the blue, it seemed to be from Heaven. And so I signed for a third time and they kept their word. No censorship. No interference. I was able to choose the songs that I wanted.
The fact that this was all kept a secret from me during my early years of Christian faith made the theatre no less an occupation that seemed to be "in my blood". But in the end I realised that, just as the producers insisted that Alison be changed, they would probably take the heart out of Lion's Breath. And I also began to realise that a Broadway musical is located in one building and in one city, but a rock and roll album can go all over the world into the bedrooms and living rooms of people who can't afford to go to the theatre. In essence, Broadway was for the privileged. Rock and roll was for the masses. I turned my mind away from the theatre, especially when I realised that God wanted my message to be democratic – not aristocratic.
When Capitol agreed to release an album of my songs, and promised not to censor them, I was overwhelmed. With the People! albums (as with the Beatles' records) Capitol took off music without consulting the creators of the albums. (The president of Capitol had even put his name on the Beatles' records as their producer and removed George Martin's name). I had already signed and quit the label twice and had no interest in working with them again. But when the offer came, out of the blue, it seemed to be from Heaven. And so I signed for a third time and they kept their word. No censorship. No interference. I was able to choose the songs that I wanted.