One Of Us – Joan Osborne | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning
Chart Performance: Pop (#4) & Modern Rock (#7); 1996
Story Behind The Song By Ed Osborne
Joan Osborne of Anchorage, KY found her calling one early morning at the Abilene blues bar in Manhattan. Prompted by a dare, Joan delivered a soulful rendition of the immortal Billie Holiday song, God Bless The Child.
The club pianist encouraged Joan to come back for the bar’s regular open-mic nights, and she did. In 1991 Joan’s first record hit the streets: a live album called Soul Show released on her own Womanly Hips label.
An EP followed in 1993, the year she signed with a major record company. Meanwhile, Joan participated in song writing workshops where she met the musicians who’d back her on disc.
Among them was ex-Hooters vocalist/guitarist Eric Bazilian, who contributed the song that made Joan a star: One Of Us. Like the song that started Joan off on her musical path, One Of Us also speaks of God, imagining Him as just a regular working guy. A snippet of a field recording of Nell Hampton’s Southern gospel song, The Airplane Ride, graces the intro.
This content and all Song Meaning articles were created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Ed Osborne. © 2024 Ed Osborne. All Rights Reserved. In addition to these song meaning articles, Ed has written our “Year in Music 1960s-1990s” articles.
Produced by:
- Rick Chertoff
Lyrics Written by:
- Eric Bazilian
Ed Osborne
Hi. I got my first record at age two and never looked back, spending a decades-long career in radio and the music business. Even after years of reading about and listening to all types of music, I am still fascinated by it. Apart from that, I’m endlessly intrigued by art, nature, and the inner lives of people (and dogs).