From kb013@stir.ac.uk Sat May 20 09:26:38 1995

 Hi there its the mad transcriber from scotland again
 I'm sending you a transcription from a anti-CCM
 artist I hope that will be allright cos he's twenty times better
 than any CCM artist
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                         THE GREAT AMERICAN NOVEL
                  (from the 'ONLY VISITING THIS PLANET' lp)
                     Words and music by Larry Norman



 Intro:| G | G | G | Gsus4| (fade in and play a few times round)


       G
 I was born and raised an orphan
       C                 G
 In a land that once was free
       Bm                                   Am   Am/E Am
 In a land that poured it's love out on the moon
       G
 And i grew up in the shadows
          C                 G
 Of your silos filled with grain
          Bm              Am
 But you never helped to fill my empty spoon


          G
 And when i was ten you murdered law
       C             G
 With courtroom politics
          Bm                                   Am    Am/E  Am
 And you learnt to make a lie sound just like truth
         G
 But i know you better now
              C                   G
 And i don't fall for all your tricks
             Bm                           G
 And you've lost the one advantage of my youth



 (rythm figure 1)
             G X
 You kill a black man at midnight
            C
 Just for talking to your daughter
           Bm
 Then you make his wife your mistress
          Am                D
 And you leave her without water
          G
 And the sheet you wear upon your face
          C                   G
 Is the sheet your children sleep on
           Bm
 And every meal you say a prayer
              Am                  D   (Dsus4)
 You don't believe but still you keep on
 (end rythm figure 1)

 (rythm fig. 2)
           C      G       Am      G
 And your money says 'In God We Trust'
           C          G       Am      G
 But it's against the law to pray in school
       C              G       Am      C
 You say we beat the russians to the moon
     C            G             Am       G
 And i say you starved your children to do it
 (end rythm fig. 2)


 (wih rythm fig. 1 for both verses)
 You are far across the ocean
 In a war that's not your own
 And whilst you're winning theirs
 You're gonna lose the one at home
 Do you really think the only way
 To bring about the peace
 Is to sacrifice your children
 And kill all your enemies


 The politicians all make speeches
 While the news men all take note
 And they exagerate the issues
 As they shove it down our throats
 Is it really up to them
 Whether this country sinks or floats
 And i wonder who would lead us
 If none of us would vote

 Interlude wih piano play | G | C | G | Bm | Am | D | D (sus4) |

 (with rythm fig. 1)
 Well my phone is tapped and my lips are chapped
 From whispering through the fence
 You know every move i make
 Or is that just coincidence
 Well you try to make my way of life
 A little less like jail
 If i promise to make tapes and slides
 And send them through the mail

 (with rythm fig. 2  twice round)
 And your money says 'In God We Trust '
 But its against the law to pray in school
 You say we beat the russians to the moon
 And i say you starved your children to do it
 You say 'all men are equal all men are brothers
 Then why are the rich more equal than others
 Don't ask me for the answer i've only got one
 That a man leaves his darkness when he follows the Son


 (transcribed in may 1995 by Mark M Boydell)

 X:strum and mute at the same time
 Tricky Chords : Gsus4 : 320103
                         EADGBe


 TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE
 This is a really simple but powerful song
 I think that Larry used a nylon stringed acoustic guitar
 on this track (but I'm not sure at all)
 Sadly this track was released in 1972 ( or 1973 )
 and its really hard to get the new CD re-releases in
 Europe  so all I have is a lousy copy of a copy
 of a scratchy record but I still view at the greatest
 record ever recorded ( even better than 'sergeants pepper')