Today’s Pick of The Week comes to us from all the way back in 1970. It’s a song that peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Today, you will see the video for Spirit in The Sky. There is a black and white version floating around on YouTube, but there is also a color version and that is the one I am linking you to.’
It’s really a simple video and it looks like they had a lot of fun making. Norman Greenbaum, who created the song in fifteen minutes. When he wrote it, he didn’t really think of the Christian aspect of the song. He is Jewish and didn’t realize the hidden meaning until it was out.
The song is a classic and continues to play on radio stations around the world. Given the popularity of the song, and the licensing deals that come with it, I am certain that Greenbaum lives quite comfortably off of the profits of the song, and he has certainly earned it.
I’m amazed that there’s even a music video out from that era given that MTV didn’t come along until a decade later, but it’s a well-made video and should be more popular than it is.