Stranger in a Strange Land was the title of a 1961 science fiction novel by American author Robert A. Heinlein. Heinlein writes of a human who comes to Earth in early adulthood after being born on Mars and raised by Martians. It became the first science fiction novel to enter The New York Times best-seller list and in 2012 it was named one of 88 “Books that Shaped America” by the Library of Congress.

The book’s title is a direct quote from the King James Version of Exodus 2:22.

And Moses was content to dwell with the man: and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter. And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land.

Exodus 2:21-22, King James Version

These are strange times. And yet if we’re paying attention, as all good writers are trained to do, we might admit the times are often strange. Some ten years after Heinlein’s book, that title inspired a song of the same name.

How many days has it been
Since I was born
How many days until I die
Do I know any ways
That I can make you laugh
Or do I only know how to make you cry

When the baby looks around him
It’s such a sight to see
He shares a simple secret
With the wise man

He’s a stranger in a strange land
Just a stranger in a strange land
Tell me why
He’s a stranger in a strange land
Just a stranger in a strange land

The 1971 song Stranger in a Strange Land was written by the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, the “Master of Space and Time”, the inimitable Leon Russell.

Leon had an otherworldly career. As an admiring Sir Elton John said in his must-hear Hall of Fame induction speech, Leon played with everyone:

Bing Crosby, Johnny Mathis, Doris Day, Dean Martin, Herb Alpert, Frank Sinatra, The Ventures, The Everly Brothers, Dale Shannon, Duane Eddy, Bobby Vee, Bobby Darrin, Jan and Dean, Sandy Nelson, The Fleetwoods, Connie Francis, The Crystals, the Ronettes, every Phil Spector record, The Byrds, Delaney and Bonnie, every Beach Boys album including Pet Sounds, J.J. Cale, Harry Nielson, Bob Dylan, Joe Cocker, Freddie King, and B.B. King … “just to name some of them he played on.”

It’s a preposterously impressive roll call. And it was the “rediscovery of real authentic American roots music” that helped to rehabilitate this singular talent, “a man as capable of composing a modern standard like Delta Lady as he was interpreting something from the Golden Age of songwriting.”

I’ve always thought the best versions of Stranger in a Strange Land were his live ones. A friend and I saw Leon’s band in a memorable 1972 concert and she has remained a friend even though, if memory serves, her take on the concert was less “enthusiastic” than mine.

Leon wrote the song with long-time bandmate Don Preston and recorded it multiple times, including as a much slower gospel-influenced tune on this piano-only version for Signature Songs. I like this more with each listening, as the voice sounds appropriately weary with a take on the piano that could have come out of a downtrodden New Orleans bar.

After the two opening verses, the B section kicks in with Leon taking off a great rant that’s as fresh today as it was in 1971.

Well, I don’t exactly know
What’s going on in the world today
Don’t know what there is to say
About the way the people are treating
Each other, not like brothers …

And then he asks those wonderful backup singers to chime in as the children sing:

Do you recognize the bells of truth
When you hear them ring
Won’t you stop and listen
To the children sing
Won’t you come on and sing it children

He’s a stranger in a strange land
Just a stranger in a strange land

The song has been recorded by multiple artists, including in a 2019 concert by the Tedeschi Trucks Band featuring a soulful vocal by Charlie Starr of Blackberry Smoke and terrific guitar leads by Derek Trucks and Starr. Susan Tedeschi picks up the vocal in the B section, to great effect.

Stranger in a Strange Land wasn’t the only time this son of Tulsa, Oklahoma pulled out biblical references in his songwriting. Prince of Peace includes reminders to think of how we treat others:

Never treat a brother like a passing stranger
Honey, won’t you always try to keep the love light burning
Sing a song of love and open up your heart
For you might be the prince of peace returning
Yeah, you might be the prince of peace returning

And in Roll Away the Stone, Russell implores a girl whose done him wrong and taken off with a friend to return instead of “leaving him layin’ here | what will they do in two thousand years?”

Leon Russell wrote so many amazing songs during his long career, including two simply gorgeous tunes: This Masquerade and A Song for You. The former was most memorably covered by the jazz artist George Benson, whose version won the Grammy Award for Best Record of The Year in 1977.

A Song For You is the tune Leon played live at his 2011 Hall of Fame induction, joined by John Mayer with a beautifully understated guitar solo.

As Malcolm Jones wrote in The Daily Beast shortly after Leon died near the end of 2016, Russell had a voice “that death can’t touch.”

So in his honor, I’m going pull out that first solo album and punch the repeat button for a week or so. . . . “Hummingbird” alone would seal its greatness, although for me, “Shootout on the Plantation” just defines rock-and-roll fun. . . . It’s got a timeless life and energy all its own that dares you not to boogie. Death can’t touch that, and right now I need things that death can’t touch.

The master of space and time indeed. Listen to the children sing here in our own strange times.

More to come…

DJB

Image by Coombesy from Pixabay