The Outlaw - Larry Norman

This attractive piece is in the finger picking folk style with a brief instrumental break on electric guitar. It is a song about Jesus Christ and his message. The title is well chosen, especially for its time (1972) when there was a lot of interest in outlaws and other western heroes and anti-heroes (eg Alias Smith and Jones). The title the Politician, Poet, Sorcerer or Son of God would have much less impact. The first four verses cleverly give alternative understandings of Jesus that are ultimately rejected yet contain seeds of truth. This is especially true of the opening verse describing him as an outlaw who "roamed across the land with a band of unschooled ruffians and few old [poetic licence here] fishermen". It continues "No one knew just where he came from, or exactly what he'd done, but they said it must be something bad that kept him on the run". Even in the other verses we have references to his popularity, miracles, parables, opposition to corruption, fearlessness, unfair crucifixion and message of new birth. Few short songs include so many Bible allusions. So, even before the final verse a lot of ground has been covered. That final verse speaks of him as '"the Son of God, a man above all men" who came to be servant "and to set us free from sin" which is what Norman himself believed. The argument "that's who I believe he is 'cause that's what I believe" is circular, unhelpful and guaranteed to convince no-one. The dispensationalist emphasis on the Second Coming is also unwelcome to some of us but accounts perhaps for the song's fitting yet ultimately egregiously abrupt ending.