"Long live Rock and Roll" is the third studio album for Rainbow. Released in 1978 and would be the last album to feature Ronnie James Dio. The title track from the album stands as one of the best songs the band did, not to mention a noble sentiment. This would turn out to be the last great album Rainbow would ever make, although they did enjoy a great deal of chart success in the post-Dio era.
At the end of a dream
If you know where I mean
When the mist just starts to clear
In a similar way
At the end of today
I could feel the sound of writing on the wall
It cries for you
It's the least that you can do
Like a spiral on the wind
I can hear it screamin' in my mind
Long live rock and roll
Long live rock 'n' roll
Long live rock and roll
In a different time
When the words didn't rhyme
You could never quite be sure
Then on with the change
It was simple but strange
And you knew the feeling seemed to say it all
It cries for you
It's the least that you can do
Like a spiral on the wind
I can hear it screamin' in my mind
Long live rock and roll
Long live rock 'n' roll
Long live rock and roll
If you suddenly see
What has happened to me
You should spread the word around
And tell everyone here
That it's perfectly clear
They can sail above it all on what they've found
It cries for you
It's the best that you can do
Like a sound that's everywhere
I can hear it screaming through the air
Long live rock and roll
Long live rock 'n' roll
Long live rock and roll
If you know where I mean
When the mist just starts to clear
In a similar way
At the end of today
I could feel the sound of writing on the wall
It cries for you
It's the least that you can do
Like a spiral on the wind
I can hear it screamin' in my mind
Long live rock and roll
Long live rock 'n' roll
Long live rock and roll
In a different time
When the words didn't rhyme
You could never quite be sure
Then on with the change
It was simple but strange
And you knew the feeling seemed to say it all
It cries for you
It's the least that you can do
Like a spiral on the wind
I can hear it screamin' in my mind
Long live rock and roll
Long live rock 'n' roll
Long live rock and roll
If you suddenly see
What has happened to me
You should spread the word around
And tell everyone here
That it's perfectly clear
They can sail above it all on what they've found
It cries for you
It's the best that you can do
Like a sound that's everywhere
I can hear it screaming through the air
Long live rock and roll
Long live rock 'n' roll
Long live rock and roll
"Long live Rock and Roll" is what the song is about. the eternal qualities of Rock and Roll. That music would remain intact for all eternity. It's a high ideal. The truth is that music comes and goes. what is popular this year will perhaps not be in five years time. Each generation is different, each decade is too. Dio sing with the passion of his convictions but like every thing else will not stand the test of time. Dio certainly was not eternal with Rainbow. What will last for ever? Jesus is clear about this when he speaks with a religious leaders in John 3. Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night to question him and this is part of the conversation.
John 3: 13 -21 "13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God."
Jesus is clear and truthful with Nicodemus. Paraphrased Jesus said "The only thing that is eternal or everlasting is the life that I give you" The life that Jesus gives is eternal. Where does that life come from one might ask. John 3:16 is the most widely used passage in the bible
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Jesus Communicates to Nicodemus that eternal life comes from God and obtaining that eternal life comes from believing in Christ. Just like Nicodemus we need to hear this truth again and again. That we cannot have an eternal dimension unless we believe in Jesus. the other thing Jesus says is "Shall not perish" meaning shall never die, shall never be corrupted, but shall pass into eternity. This is the hope of all followers of Jesus. Nicodemus comes and asks one of the most important questions that can be asked about the life that is to come. Jesus gives Nicodemus a straight answer, that answer includes a reflection on how to live toward eternity, everlasting life. Ronnie James Dio sings "Long Live Rock and Roll" but like all temporal thing is will fade with time. Jesus talks of something that will outlive time itself and how it can be entered. Today focus your life not on the things of the earth but on eternity. Believe the words of Jesus for you destiny, that you can live for ever If you trust in Him. Simple promise, Simple truth, Eternal life. Everything else dies or fades but not the life that Jesus gives. Embrace it today and live in the fullness of it.
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