#ThrowbackThursday: “Spirit In the Sky” by Norman Greenbaum

by Sean Smith

Since the start of the new year, three of my #ThowbackThursday posts here on Clizbeats have centered on remembering the lives of popular figures in the entertainment industry that we have recently lost. The first post of 2014 was dedicated to the life of actor James Avery. At the end of January we remembered the work of legendary folk singer Pete Seeger, and the very next week we touched on the death of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman.

As sobering as it is to write about the death of prominent figures in the entertainment industry, the humanist in me finds it important to remember the lives  and work of people who are no longer with us. With everyday that passes, the sad reality is that people pass on from this life. Now most of these deaths are not noticed by the majority of us because most never write a great song or star in a critically acclaimed film or television series. Yet these lives are no less important and no less worth remembering than the lives of those who were in the public eye. One of my favorite lines in any song that I’ve ever heard comes from Texas country artist Jason Boland in his song “Proud Souls.” The line is “I believe in ghosts and democracy, and that each man should leave his legacy, that man’s work great or be it small.” The humanist in me loves the last part of that line because each and every one of us, famous or not, leave a legacy of life behind when we pass and I think it is important for as many of us as possible to celebrate and remember the lives of  each and every precious life that we no longer have with us.

With that being said, this week marks the 10th anniversary of my father’s passing. My dad, Michael Kenneth Smith, died in a motorcycle accident on Sunday February 29, 2004. I’ll never forget that day. I was coming home from church with my now wife, Chantel, and my good friend Michael Elliott when I got the sobering call from my stepmother Gail letting me know the tragic news that my father had passed. I have never cried as hard and felt so much pain as I did that fateful day.

The truth is I never knew my father that well. Like too many of us in today’s world, my mother and father divorced when I was a young. The earliest memories that I have with my father are from my early teen years when my father won some visitation rights in the courts. I would go with my brother and sister to visit my father at his house every Saturday. Those Saturdays hanging out with my dad have turned into some of my fondest childhood memories. I will forever treasure the time spent with my father playing pool in his basement or watching him as he worked on cars in his garage. But during that time I never grew to actually know my father as a man. I was just too young at the time to do so. And after month’s of visitation, these Saturday trips soon came to an end, for reasons that as I child I could not comprehend.

Years went by and it wasn’t until Thanksgiving of 2003 that I reconnected with my father. It was at that time that as a young adult I reached out to my dad  and began to establish the relationship that I had always longed to have with him. At the time I was in the military and was living thousands of miles away from my father, but every Sunday I would call him and we would talk for an hour or so about our lives. I would talk to him about my experience in the military as an aircraft mechanic and he would relate to my experiences as he had served as a vehicle mechanic in the army during the 1970’s. He would share with me his struggle in quitting smoking and the excitement he felt about buying his new Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Every Sunday I cherished the time I spent getting to know my father as a man. Unfortunately, these Sunday conversations came to an abrupt end on Sunday, February 29, 2004 with that heart-breaking phone call from my stepmother. On that morning my father went out with friends to ride his newly prized Harley-Davidson and did not return for our weekly Sunday conversation.

I only really got to know my father over about four months worth of Sunday afternoon phone calls. And as much as I cherish these last conversations with my father, we never really got the chance to know as much about each other as we would have liked. A whole lot went unsaid. Everything from our regrets in regards to our years spent apart from each other to such mundane things as our favorite songs or musical acts. So when I wanted to write this week’s #ThrowbackThursday post in remembrance of my father’s life, I had no idea what song or artist to feature.  So I reached out to a close family friend of my father’s, Marianne Oronzio, to  give me an idea. While she couldn’t give me a favorite song or artist that my father had, she did say that she associates Norman Greenbaum’s “Spirit In the Sky” with my dad.

“Spirit In the Sky” was released by Norman Greenbaum in 1969, and in April of 1970, the song reached the #3 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It would also go on to top the charts  in several countries overseas like the United Kingdom, Germany, and Australia. The song has also been heavily used in television shows and in film. It’s been used in films like Apollo 13, Oceans 11, Remember The Titans, and The Longest Yard just to name a few. The song’s heavy guitar riff and simple but enjoyable song structure make it an instantly recognizable quintessential 1970’s classic, and the lyrics make it a perfect song for the purpose of this week’s post.

And so in remembrance of my father, Michael Kenneth Smith, a man that in the little time I got to share with him I found to be a person with a loving nature and a huge heart, I dedicate this week’s #ThrowbackThursday post here on Clizbeats.com. He may never have written a popular song or starred in a blockbuster film or hit television series, but nonetheless lived a life worth remembering. I also want to dedicate this week’s post to the memory and celebration of all of the lives who pass on from this earth each and every day that go largely unnoticed by the majority of us because of the fact that they did not live their lives in the public eye. And to those of us who are lucky enough to wake up and live another day, I would like to share a lesson that I had to learn the hard way. Don’t take time for granted. Never leave words unsaid thinking that there is always tomorrow. Let the ones you love know it today, because tomorrow may be too late. And so with that I give you this week’s #ThrowbackThursday offering here on Clizbeats, “Spirit In the Sky” by Norman Greenbaum. Enjoy!

Norman Greenbaum 

“Spirit In The Sky” 

From Spirit In The Sky 

Reprise Records