17. Norman Greenbaum – Spirit in the Sky (1970)
Total Points – 385
Charts – 4
Top 40 – 0
Top 20 – 0
Top 10 – 2
Highest Ranking – 7
This is the first song in our countdown to be ranked in the top 10 of two different lists. Greenbaum was raised an Orthodox Jew in Malden, Massachusetts, and he remains an observant Jew, but he recorded this song which has a clear Christian theme, even mentioning Jesus by name. When he started out in music he was heavily influenced by southern blues and folk music, and initially he said the inspiration for this song came from watching Porter Wagoner sing a gospel song on TV. After seeing that performance, he decided he could write a gospel/rock song, and ultimately it ended up coming easy to him as he had the lyrics finished in about 15 minutes. Later he stated, in what appears to be an obvious attempt to downplay the Christian nature of the song, that it was influenced by watching western movies and the spiritual aspect of wanting to die with your boots on – whatever that means. Greenbaum was the singer of Dr. West’s Medicine Show and Junk Band’s novelty tune “The Eggplant that Ate Chicago”, he also had a couple of other songs that made the Hot 100, but not the top 40. Greenbaum still receives letters from funeral directors around the country stating that Spirit in the Sky is the second most requested song to play at memorial services next to Danny Boy.