SPIRIT IN THE SKY by Norman Greenbaum, 1969
When I die and they lay me to rest
Gonna go to the place that’s the best
When I lay me down to die
Goin’ up to the spirit in the sky
Goin’ up to the spirit in the sky
That’s where I’m gonna go when I die
When I die and they lay me to rest
Gonna go to the place that’s the best
Prepare yourself you know it’s a must
Gotta have a friend in Jesus
So you know that when you die
He’s gonna recommend you
To the spirit in the sky
Gonna recommend you
To the spirit in the sky
That’s where you’re gonna go when you die
When you die and they lay you to rest
You’re gonna go to the place that’s the best
Never been a sinner I never sinned
I got a friend in Jesus
So you know that when I die
He’s gonna set me up with
The spirit in the sky
Oh set me up with the spirit in the sky
That’s where I’m gonna go when I die
When I die and they lay me to rest
I’m gonna go to the place that’s the best
Go to the place that’s the best.
Listen to Spirit in the Sky at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmOY97g-RWc
“When I die and they lay me to rest, I’m gonna go to the place that’s the best.” This song begins with what we all want, that is, a good place to go when we die. And how do we get to ‘the place that’s the best?’ “Prepare yourself, you know it’s must, gotta have a friend in Jesus.” There is more one could add, but the song is right in what it does say: Be prepared and know Jesus. And then: “When you die, He (Jesus) is going to recommend you to the Spirit in the Sky.” Well, something like that. Job 16:19 says we have an ‘advocate on high’. So the song is all right so far. Actually, all the lyrics are pretty good– except for that strange line which says “I never been a sinner, I never sinned.” I don’t know anyone who would say that, so the song is wrong there; but otherwise it is not bad. The basic message is “You need to be prepared to die, and you do that by having a friend in Jesus.”
That’s good for a song that made the Rolling Stone magazine list of the 500 greatest hits, coming in at #333. I would have put it quite a bit higher myself. It was a one-hit wonder for Norman Greenbaum in 1969, and he did not have much other success in the music world. Instead, he went into farming and has been raising goats in California ever since.
I was surprised to learn that Norman Greenbaum is a practicing Jew. He is not just a Jew by birth and in name alone, but he goes to synagogue for worship every week. So we might wonder about the line: “Gotta have a friend in Jesus?” Where did that come from? Greenbaum said in an interview, “I was just some Jewish musician who really dug Gospel music, and I decided there was a larger Jesus Gospel market out there than a Jehovah one.” In another interview he said, “The song is timeless. Most everyone sees it that way. It appeals to one’s inner self and the need for redemption; plus, heck, who wants to go to hell?” Norman Greenbaum is 72 years old now, and I hope he does have a friend in Jesus. I hope he knows and believes that Jesus is the fulfillment of all the Messianic hopes of the Jewish people.
The song by Laura Nyro and the words of Frank McCourt (in previous meditations) express uncertainty about what comes after death, prefacing whatever is said with the word ‘if.’ Norman Greenbaum expresses no such uncertainty, but joyfully sings with confident assurance of going to the place that’s the best:
Goin’ up to the spirit in the sky
That’s where I’m gonna go when I die
When I die and they lay me to rest
Gonna go to the place that’s the best
We can’t be sure what Norman Greenbaum really believes about all this, especially since he had such an eye toward marketing when he wrote the song. And repentance is the first step in coming to faith, and so instead of saying we ‘never sinned,’ we must be ready to confess our sins. However, those who do ‘have a friend in Jesus’ can have the cheerful confidence expressed in this pleasant song.
Norman Greenbaum at his farm
**********************************************
I John 1:9-10 — If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
John 14:5-6 — Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
John 15:13-14 — (Jesus said), “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.”
Acts 4:11-12 — (Peter said), “Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
I John 5:11-13 — This is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
*********************************************
Lord Jesus Christ, you said that you are the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Help us not to stray from you, for you are the Way; nor distrust you, for you are the Truth; nor to rest on any other than you, for you are the Life. You have taught us what to believe, what to do, what to hope, and where to take our rest. Give us grace to follow you, the Way, to learn from you, the Truth, and live in you, the Life. Amen. –Erasmus