Spirit In The Sky
Composed by Norman Greenbaum, at the end of the 60s, Spirit in the Sky got famous all around the world by its cultural impact, tune and lyrics. The writer of Spirit in the Sky was inspired after listening to a gospel song on TV, and he put the lyrics down in fifteen minutes. It speaks about the life after death and the Christian experience in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Though, Greenbaum is Jewish and identifies himself as such, the Christian dimension of the song did not remain hidden even if the author claimed that he had no religious intention to pour in the song.
Greenbaum had the intention of reaching broader audiences when he referred to sin in Spirit in the Sky, particularly since the concept of wrong doing is found in all cultures and religions, and Christianity doesn’t have exclusive rights on it. In terms of sound print, the guitar dominates the rhythm of the song. It seems that a Fender Telecaster with a fuzz box inside was used so as to generate the preponderance of the guitar sound.
The characteristics of Spirit in the Sky are incredible by the innovation in the sound: psychedelic rock music meets gospel distorted guitar playing, tambourines, drums and hand clapping. Though Spirit in the Sky became a hit, the start was rather small as the record company showed was skeptical about its success because of the uncommon lyrics and original style. Spirit in the Sky actually came to the rescue of the album it was part of, since it followed two other single releases that had very little public success. In a sort of way, the producing company felt compelled to try and save the boat, without even imagining the kind of impact the song would have on the market.
John Lennon rated Spirit in the Sky as a great song, while the Rolling Stones gave it only a 333rd place in the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Even so, the song was listened to everywhere in UK, Canada, US or Australia, and it had an impact for the foundation stone of glam rock evolution and the application of electronics in modern music making. Due to its message and sound specificity, Spirit in the Sky applied to the necessities of film making too, being performed in more than twenty films.