Meaning of “One of Us” by Joan Osborne
“One of Us” is a song performed by noted American singer and songwriter Joan Osborne. According to fellow American singer and songwriter Eric Bazilian, who wrote the song, contrary to what many think, he didn’t write the song as “a religious thing” considering the fact that he isn’t religious. Bazilian said the song is about experiencing something that totally changes your view of the world. According to him, that experience could range from an encounter with an alien to an encounter with God to a near death experience. It is about how everything you thought you knew ends up being the exact opposite of what you though it was.
When it comes to the lyrics of “One of Us”, they ask us (the listeners) how we would relate to God if He was just an ordinary person (a slob) just like us. The lyrics also ask the listeners other important questions regarding God such as what God’s name would be if He had one, what God’s face would look like if He had one, and if the listener would want to see His face if seeing it meant that they would have to believe in a number of things, including Jesus Christ and Heaven.
Facts about “One of Us”
- The song was solely written by singer and songwriter Eric Bazilian of The Hooters fame with Osborne playing no role in the writing process. According to songwriter Bazilian, the song was written “to impress a girl”, who ended up becoming his wife.
- According to Bazilian, the writing process of the song was very fast. In an interview, he said of the song as being the quickest song he had ever written.
- The album version of the song begins with a recording from legendary American ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax and his wife Elizabeth Lyttleton Harold. The recording goes by the title “The Aeroplane Ride”.
- The song was first released on February 21, 1995 as the first single from Joan Osborne’s debut album titled Relish. The song was re-released on December 28th of that same year.
- Over the years, the song has appeared on a number of films and TV series, including the hit fantasy/family drama TV series Joan of Arcadia and 2003 comedy film Bruce Almighty.
- In 2007, the song was included in VH1’s list of the 100 greatest songs of the 1990s.
- Till date, the song is the most successful work of both Joan Osborne and Eric Bazilian.
How “One of Us” performed on the Charts
The song was number one in many countries including in Australia, Canada and Sweden. On the Billboard Hot 100, it managed to reach the number four position in 1996. In the United Kingdom, it reached number 6.
Who sings the background vocals on “One of Us”?
The song’s writer, Eric Bazilian, sung the backing vocals. Furthermore, Bazilian played both guitar and piano on the song.
Are there any covers of “One of Us”?
Yes. Since this song came out in 1995, it has been covered by numerous artists, including the late American singer Prince on his nineteenth studio album titled Emancipation. In Prince’s version, he slightly altered the song’s lyrics, changing the line “just a slob” to “just a slave”. It’s not precisely clear why he did that.
Did “One of Us” win a Grammy?
In 1996, this song received as many as 3 Grammy nominations, including the Grammy nomination for Song of the Year. However, it did not win any of the nominations. For example, it lost the Grammy for Song of the Year to Seal’s smash hit “Kiss from a Rose”.
Does “One of Us” contain any sample?
Yes. It samples The Beatles’ hit song “In My Life”.
Does this song have any connection to ABBA’s song of the same name?
No. The Swedish pop band ABBA also has a hit song titled “One of Us“. Although the two songs share the same title, they have nothing in common.
I just found out about this AWESOME SONG. I don’t know why it has such an affect on me . But, it does. I can’t explain it. My Faith says that God did walk among us thru JESUS Christ ,God’s Son. I believe that with all my heart. No doubt. Thank you to the writer of the song and some of those that respectfully sing it. Thank you.
LOL! Did you read the article? The irony is lost on you.
No, the irony is lost on you. To even ask the question “what if GOD was one of us” is to acknowledge HIS existence.
I agree with F U. The article clearly states that the writer didn’t intend for this to be a religious song, but one of critical thinking. When she says “yeah yeah God if good..” it almost felt to be more like a sort of sarcasm. When you listen to the words that makes more sense. The song points out the absurdity in the idea of God. It’s not a praise or worship song at all. Instead it asks the listener to imagine a God dealing with the struggles of being one of us. It would appear that if we were created, our creator probably hasn’t got a clue what it’s like to be one of his creations, and doesn’t appear to care either. That’s probably because well, truth bomb, he doesn’t exist.
I agree with your interpretation. Well said!
Obviously there is a God. Eyes, brains, lungs, hearts and flamingos are brilliant designs
George Lynch just did a cover of this very song and he(as well as I) are lifelong Atheists.
Christ died an utterly miserable death … isn’t that a lot like being “one of us”, like people who are massacred during wars, for example? As far as God not existing, just because we are limited to perceiving only three dimensions doesn’t mean that He doesn’t exist in, say, the fourth dimension where time isn’t relevant. He cares about justice … because people weren’t able to abide by the old covenant, a new one had to be created; the punishment for transgression has been paid, accounting for people’s foibles.
Think again, more deeply this time.
I told agree. It’s akin to saying “yadda yadda yadda” ala Seinfeld.
And you know this with such certainty how? Truth bomb, what an arrogant fool!
F U, you are doing precisely what the artist didn’t want anyone to do. He wrote it to leave it up to the individual listener’s interpretation. He did not write it as a sarcastic, anti-God song as you may desire it to be. Even if he’s an atheist, the last thing he wanted was for you to come along and state that he meant one thing by it. Reread the article, but this time with an open mind and from the artist’s perspective.
Totally agree! It’s up to the individual how you interpret it.
Well, I the song touches a human point of view of God. He is a spirit, he is not a material thing, not even an human. It is in our mind. Basically we are not able to understand His nature at all. The only way we can be connected to him is through the faith which is a gift we can take advantage of it, or not.
Despite the songwriters declaration that the song was n’t meant to be a Christian song,the fact remains that it all depends on the listeners interpretation of the words.I knew of the song , but had not given much thought to the lyrics until recently.
When I did listen carefully to the lyrics, I considered that it could be used as a good discussion topic for anyone who is exploring their Christian faith. I would like to see it posted on a Christian YouTube channel somewhere.
I agree completely!
Good song to criticise all the fanatics alleluyas, god doesnt exist 😉
boring argument here
Bye
No matter why or how the writer meant for this song…the important thing is everyone takes in all songs in a different meaning. I believe this song is referring to God walking among us as a broken human and how would we treat Him, in other words…we should treat everyone with love, even tho they’re broken or appear to be broken.
This song is amazing and is a Christian song to me, even tho it wasn’t meant that way to the writer.
God knows how we interpret things and He knows our hearts.
I agree. I was thinking of this song, listened to it along with the lyrics. Regardless of what reason the song was written if you think about it with faith, God was one of us. He came to us in human form and walked among us. He died for us making a way for us through this, and rising from death in Glory. He suffered with and for us. Also since we are created in HIS image when you are looking at a stranger you are seeing His image. Without faith that will not make sense to you.
I LOVE how so many in the comments are proclaiming who God is, indeed He was sent to earth to die for us, we know that this is how God showed His love for us! He is true and real and no matter what people say to deny it that is the truth :”) The faith that He gives is what adds sense, satisfaction and purpose to our lives. May everyone accept Jesus as their Lord and savior and that is when they will know whom God is and how much he cares!
Without faith. You mean a belief in something without any evidence of its existence whatsoever. Yeah, I kinda leave that to the scared people who are to terrified to be themselves for fear of pissing off the non existent thing that created hell to throw you into if you dont worship his horrendous ego, because he loves you, lol.
Wait…you left? Dang.
Well there is many God fanatics because he is the reason you are here. When something goes wrong the first thing people do is go to ask God. So obviously we know there’s a God.
Love God, love this song, how deeply and beautifully it can make you reflect on God and God’s nature.
In the middle of the night when i was in my mind that Jesus was just right in this time in dark cold prison ..just waiting to next day.. this song came up to my mind and i had to play it. 🙂
I was watching a documentary of the history of the United States last night and it talked a lot about religion and it’s evolution to America and how it was basically used to manipulate and control people, force beliefs in people. You either conformed to the doctrine and not your own or you would be punished. The church did not care that we were massacring millions of Native Americans so long as they got their cut in the profits. As a matter of fact, the church funded massacres of the Native population. If you study religion, and how it became indoctrinated by force into people and people became more dumbed down out of fear and necessity you will look at religion in a new light. Also, the Bible says the world is 5,000 years old. The gas in your tank, the plastic bottle your water is in, the mountains are all Billions of years old. 1 billion is a bunch of 5,000s. Also, in the first couple of pages in the bible it talks about Cain & Abel. Sons of the first men.. but then when they grow up all of the sudden, there’s a world full of people? It says he’s afraid to go out into the world in fear of what everyone would think about what he did to his brother. He then meets a wife. How? If he is among the first creations of God, how did procreation happen for all of these other beings. I think the Bible was made to cause conflict between thinking people and people who just believe what they are told.
Have you ever read Mayflower it gives good understanding on religious tyranny and American history, the how when and why… FYI, try reading the bible starting with book of John after all the whole bible is really the story of how God became a man “Iesus” entered into this world to save us from our sins and give us eternal life. Old testament points to Jesus but its impossible to understand until one asks the Lord 😊
He married his sister at that time men were closer to perfection so interbreeding would not effect their future kids
Why were they “closer to perfection”? That’s so dumb. Why would that be?
And you know this with such certainty how? Truth bomb, what an arrogant fool!
For myself this song is about the commonality we all share, the divine spark of consciousness that some people identify with “gods”…
For all those bashing this as admitting existence of God and instead say it’s sarcasm, I say even if it’s a little sarcastic which can see, the fact is it still acknowledges God and asks legit questions someone who would be interested in God can ask. Even if a songwriter is non spiritual it doesn’t mean he can’t write a spiritual song. Even if the song wasn’t per say intended that way, doesn’t mean others can’t take a faith element from it…
The song itself speaks of what has already taken place. God has walked among us. The main tenet of Christianity states this very clearly- The Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
There are so many proofs of Jesus as a legitimate historical figure even in Roman history of that time.
If you feel the need to answer the questions put to us in the song, read carefully the words of Christ as the answers are all there.
Jesus walked the earth in order to reconcile Humanity to God, returned to the Father and still ministers to us through the Holy Spirit.
In regard to Historical references of wrongdoing and inhumanity, which in fact still continue to this day; these are done by humans in error and are not from God. Jesus also led and taught by example, clearly showing us how to behave towards our fellow men and women; this was from God.
Even the the song was not written as a religious tone, it clearly poses the question – How should we behave if God is among us and watching ?
I believe he is !
Lol.. there is literally no real historical facts/proof that jesus christ ‘The son of God’ was a real person. Now you could say he was a ‘historical figure’ as in a folk lore that’s been written about in history for that long.. then yeah I’d say that’s likely to be true.. as well as many other ‘gods/deities’ with extremely similar tales/stories/backstories as christianity’s ‘god/jesus’ that has also been recorded throughout history in much the same way for just as far back, some even farther.. I’m not trying to be mean or anything. I support people having faith and belief in whatever helps them through life no matter what religion or what have you they are. If it helps people become/stay better humans beings towards each other/all living things then that’s fantastic and I hope for it.. but this big business organized religion/the church that’s used to control, manipulate, judge and repress. Anonymous above commented about how controlling, horrible and twisted the church has been through the history of the US. Its starts even far before that.. as the church branched from England and “converted” other countries they were horribly cruel to anyone who wouldn’t denounce their from birth religion to follow the church. There were diseases, starvation, lack of heat, ect that the church had the resources to treat their sicknesses, had food and means of warmth. Instead of helping the people in desperate need, people who’s families and children are dying horrible deaths while helpless to save them, the church refuses help to anyone that wasn’t a member of the church. They then after letting them suffer for awhile made them publicly renounce their faith and curve to every demand/will of the church if they wanted the churches help. By then many were already to late and lost their/their children’s lifes anyway.. the church treated those people like lower class and taxed the crap out of them with church fees, contributions and ‘sin tax’ til they were barely better off. Stayed that way for a long time and in some ways is still very much the same. I could point out many other instances, policies, actions, ect all the way to now but I think anyone still reading gets my point.. I’m not saying that is ALL churches.. there are always ‘exceptions to the rule’ but throughout history major organized, big business, money in fear and sin, ‘The Church’- has been on the bad side of things. Believing in what you feel is correct/ makes most since to you/is what you want to believe in is your right (in most places on earth anyway) and your decision no matter what other people say (as long as your not hurting anyone or stifling others). That being said I hope people will pick their beliefs wisely, ask questions and think critically. Belief/spirituality can be an amazing very helpful thing.. let’s keep it that way. Thanks to anyone still reading my silly rant and thanks for letting me get it out lol
Jesus didn’t ask for a religion to be started.. He said go spread the good news.. funny how we blame God for our actions when we have free will.. especially on whether to believe in Him or not.. many people have gone looking to disprove Jesus and found their eyes opened.. many books have been written.. would suggest you dig further into the historical facts so you’d get a better picture for yourself.. not for me not for others but just you.. after all that you can believe what you want to believe but being lazy or trying to look “cool” or blaming God for the acts of men/women.. c’mon dude..
I found that your reaction is the best I have yet read, what’s important is that people really want to be good inside but bad things happen and it forces them to react accordingly, its alright to react, after all, there is no escaping death, and when it comes, all of us will know whether we were wrong in what we believe or not. that’s the ultimate argument ender, when it’s too late to change your mind…
Of what has already taken place ?. Proof !!!, not ridiculous faith. Proof !!!
actually, it’s simple, you need proof of the wind but you cant see it, you feel what it does to you, to those around you, so when you “feel” what God does in your life then you’ll know, nobody needs to convince you when that happens.
For the faithful – have you actually listened to the Hooters song ‘Satellite’? Pretty much demonstrates their position. Just sayin’. Funnily enough discarded the song because back in the day I thought it *was* religious!
I don’t believe in Atheists. Do they really exist? Do you have PROOF?! NO! Storytime!
How can all of these people say no proof when there are numerous archaeologists finding proof all of the time? That confuses me a bit. You have to look for these articles because they are not publicized a lot but the articles are there. If you go by that alone, you have to question if the Bible is true because of their findings. The artist asked questions and left it to your critical thinking to answer them.
How can all of these people say no proof when there are numerous archaeologists finding proof all of the time?
Prove it !!!
Of course, it is a religious song, but rather on the protestant – Luther’s line. This is why it wonders whether you need to believe in angels and saints, and the closing line about the Pope. Or, perhaps, the song may be seen as Calvinistic. Remember that Calvinism is the base of American democracy, that is, the ideological base of an extremely individualistic society.
To be fair, the song says that you have to have your personal god, but a humble, hippy community style god. While the song does not assert, neither deny, that Darwin was right, in a more romantic sense, it regrets the Darwinian reality, and recreates God out of human loneliness:
Descartes: ‘I think, therefore I am’ … “yes, but alone”….
I interpret the song to be a recognition that we are all created in HIS image…so treat each other well and love each other. That’s how I like to think of it and I enjoy my interpretation immensely. Everyone is entitled to their beliefs.
there are almost as many comments as there are people, one thing is for sure: death is inescapable, and when it comes, finally you will know if what you believed in is true, the argument stops there… only the truth will prevail!
One thing I believe: it is difficult to listen when one spends so much time yelling. It’s okay to hold belief; it is okay to listen . If you want to be a better human being, then just do that. Stop trying to prove everyone else is wrong; even if you could prove they’re wrong, it doesn’t make you right.
I really like this song. It touches something deep in my spirit. I do not care if it was written by an atheist or a devout Christian. It reminds me of Christ’s words…things done to the least of these are also done to me. It reminds me to treat the person next to me with dignity, respect, forgiveness and love because it could just be God in the flesh.
I much prefer to see the world through eyes employing a biblical view. It explains things that I have pondered for my entire life of searching for truth. So like it or not boys and girls…to me this song glorifies The Creator.
Religion was for the downtrodden, when there was nothing to believe in to relieve them of thier subsistence based, painful existence. There is no proof of the Divinity of Jesus. He’s just a revolutionary advocating for the poor. I understand why they believed, but science says no.