You Can't Take Away The Lord
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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 Note: The stereo image is reversed on We Wish You A Larry Christmas |
Upon This Rock (Capitol)
We Wish You A Larry Christmas Upon This Rock (Collector's Edition, 2CD, 2002) [Partial only] Agitator |
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Version 2 is a minor remix of version 1. The orchestration is less prominent, and there is an added "Wooh" after the second "You can take away the pill" - 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) Agitator (CD, 2002) |
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Version 3 is the same recording as version 2 but from a mono radio broadcast
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Version 4 is a demo version. Larry sings and plays a hollow bodied electric guitar, unplugged, and Dicky Gerstle plays bongos. The pace of this version is slower than the released versions, and there are some minor lyrical differences
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Upon This Rock (Collector's Edition, 2CD, 2002)
Upon This Rock (SRSD-969 CD, 2003) Upon This Rock (SRDX-001 CD, 2008) |
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Version 5 is a live recording, performed solo with acoustic guitar
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lyrics version 1
You can take away my kids
Take away my wife
You can take away my job
You can take away my life
You can take away my house
Take away my Ford
But you can't take away the Lord
Now listen Satan
You just can't take away the church
Or the bible book
Unless you wanna waste your time
You better take a second look
'Cause you can't take away my shield
Can't take away my sword
And you can't take away the Lord
Well he made me and he saved me, ba ba ba
And I follow after
Everywhere he leads
There's peace and laughter
Laughing in the spirit
Listen and you'll hear it
You can take away the pill
And the atom bomb
Take away Einstein's theories
And the things all yet to come
You could'a took away the wheel
With the dinosaur
But you can't take away the Lord, oh no
Well he made me and he saved me, ba ba ba ba-ow
And I follow after
Everywhere he leads
There's peace and laughter
Laughing in the spirit
Listen and you'll hear it
You can take away the pill
And the atom bomb
Take away Einstein's theories
And the things all yet to come
You could'a took away the wheel
With the dinosaur
But you can't take away the Lord
Na na na no you'll never take away
My sweet reward
'Cause you can't take away the Lord
Take away my wife
You can take away my job
You can take away my life
You can take away my house
Take away my Ford
But you can't take away the Lord
Now listen Satan
You just can't take away the church
Or the bible book
Unless you wanna waste your time
You better take a second look
'Cause you can't take away my shield
Can't take away my sword
And you can't take away the Lord
Well he made me and he saved me, ba ba ba
And I follow after
Everywhere he leads
There's peace and laughter
Laughing in the spirit
Listen and you'll hear it
You can take away the pill
And the atom bomb
Take away Einstein's theories
And the things all yet to come
You could'a took away the wheel
With the dinosaur
But you can't take away the Lord, oh no
Well he made me and he saved me, ba ba ba ba-ow
And I follow after
Everywhere he leads
There's peace and laughter
Laughing in the spirit
Listen and you'll hear it
You can take away the pill
And the atom bomb
Take away Einstein's theories
And the things all yet to come
You could'a took away the wheel
With the dinosaur
But you can't take away the Lord
Na na na no you'll never take away
My sweet reward
'Cause you can't take away the Lord
lyrics versions 2 and 3
Ah
You can take away my kids
Take away my wife
You can take away my job
And you can take away my life
You can take away my house
Take away my Ford
But you can't take away the Lord
Now listen Satan
You just can't take away the church
Or the bible book
Unless you wanna waste your time
You better take a second look
'Cause you can't take away my shield
Can't take away my sword
And you can't take away the Lord
Well he made me and he saved me, ba ba ba
And I follow after
Everywhere he leads
There's peace and laughter
Laughing in the spirit
Listen and you'll hear it
You can take away the pill
And the atom bomb
Take away Einstein's theories
And the things all yet to come
You could'a took away the wheel
With the dinosaur
But you can't take away the Lord, oh no
Well he made me and he saved me, ba ba ba ba-ow
And I follow after
Everywhere he leads
There's peace and laughter
Laughing in the spirit
Listen and you'll hear it
You can take away the pill, wooh
And the atom bomb
Take away Einstein's theories
And the things all yet to come
You could'a took away the wheel
With the dinosaur
But you can't take away the Lord
Na na na no you'll never take away
My sweet reward
'Cause you can't take away the Lord
You can take away my kids
Take away my wife
You can take away my job
And you can take away my life
You can take away my house
Take away my Ford
But you can't take away the Lord
Now listen Satan
You just can't take away the church
Or the bible book
Unless you wanna waste your time
You better take a second look
'Cause you can't take away my shield
Can't take away my sword
And you can't take away the Lord
Well he made me and he saved me, ba ba ba
And I follow after
Everywhere he leads
There's peace and laughter
Laughing in the spirit
Listen and you'll hear it
You can take away the pill
And the atom bomb
Take away Einstein's theories
And the things all yet to come
You could'a took away the wheel
With the dinosaur
But you can't take away the Lord, oh no
Well he made me and he saved me, ba ba ba ba-ow
And I follow after
Everywhere he leads
There's peace and laughter
Laughing in the spirit
Listen and you'll hear it
You can take away the pill, wooh
And the atom bomb
Take away Einstein's theories
And the things all yet to come
You could'a took away the wheel
With the dinosaur
But you can't take away the Lord
Na na na no you'll never take away
My sweet reward
'Cause you can't take away the Lord
LYRICS VERSION 4 - Not yet transcribed
LYRICS VERSION 5 - NOT YET TRANSCRIBED
This song is a defiant stance against Satan himself. It is a litany of material possessions which can be taken from us without really effecting the nature of life itself. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. Not the ruination of our house or home life. Not death. Not divorce. Not bankruptcy. I am trying to stake territory with this song. It is an announcement of my position and my beliefs and it serves as a preamble to the varied discussions and propositions which I will be introducing throughout the rest of the album.
