There are a few versions of this album. This is the 1994 release from Solid Rock Records #SLD-027. Interestingly, there is a European version that is (mis?)labelled Footprints In The Sands but it has the same tracks as the one sold in the US via the Solid Rock Store. There is also a Dutch double CD version that has a total of 30 tracks. The double CD version has some overlap with this track listing, but some tracks, such as “God Part III” does NOT appear on the double CD. The full album title is actually “You Can’t Make Footprints In The Sands Of Time By Sitting Down” as per the CD liner notes. The liner notes include an extensive autobiography spanning the period 1970-1994.
The song by song commentary from Larry is as follows:
Lonely Boy – A song from Larry’s childhood days, reflecting his early isolation.
Hard Luck, Bad News – A humorous exaggeration of the feelings of being an outsider. Whether Job or Pilgrim in the Something New Under The Sun storyline, this song takes alienation t a sardonic extreme.
Sitting In My Kitchen – When Larry lived on his own, contemplating whether to leave Capitol and quit his band, he felt real freedom to seek a higher road and walk a deeper walk and ignore career pressures.
Nightmare #49 – 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.
God part Two – When Capital gave Larry an advance copy of the new John Lennon album, the song “God” was one of the first he listened to. “I don’t believe in Beatles, I don’t believe in God,” was how John started the song. He ended it with “I just believe in me. Yoko and me, that’s reality.” Larry wrote an answer to John’s diatribe and called it “God Part Two,” but didn’t want it to be misconstrued as an attack upon John and Yoko. Years later after U2 wrote a response called “God Part Two,” Larry decided it was alright to release his song, updated the lyrics, and re-titled it “God Part Three.”
I Hope I’ll See You In Heaven – This is a song of lost love or friendship or the separation which death brings to mortal relationships. Larry has never really revealed his personal meanings for the song. If it was written from a personal experience. It serves as a look at life from childhood to old age and the regret we often feel for words unspoken and love ungiven.
It’s Only Today That Counts – This song is from Orphans From Eden and examines the importance of living in the moment instead of lamenting the past or anticipating the possible pleasures of potential rewards and accomplishments of our futures.
I Feel Like Dying – This song was included as part of Pilgrim’s ordeal on Something New but was written at the same time when Larry was struggling with his pain and heartbreak over his marriage. No matter how closely he stayed to the storyline, it parallels his sorrow and feeling of helplessness which came after his airplane accident.
Leaving the Past Behind – This song was part of the Pilgrim story but also reflected Larry’s plan to leave Word and sign with Warner Brothers. He knew that crossing back over to the secular industry would be a positive step for his music but also realized that many might not understand why he was ending his contract with Word.
Tracklist
1 – Lonely Boy
2 – Hard Luck Bad News
3 – Sitting In My Kitchen
4 – Nightmare #49
5 – God Part III
6 – I Hope I’ll See You In Heaven
7 – It’s Only Today That Counts
8 – I Feel Like Dying
9 – Leaving The Past Behind
10 – Twelve Good Men
11 – If You Don’t Love – You’ll Fall
12 – Out Of My System
13 – Somewhere Out There
14 – Selah
15 – Let The Rain Fall Down
16 – Goodbye Farewell
