Name: Dones, Aisha Nicole L.

Section: Knuth

Song analyzed: “One of Us” by Joan Osborne

Method used: Socratic Method

“One of Us” by Joan Osborne: A Song Analysis

“One of Us” is a song written by Joan Osborne. This song poses a lot of

rhetorical questions to the listeners’ minds, such as “If God had a name, what would it

be? And would you call it to his face?”, “If you were faced with Him in all His glory, what

would you ask if you had just one question?”, “If God had a face what would it look like?”,

“Would you want to see if, seeing meant that you would have to believe in things like

heaven and in Jesus and the saints, and all the prophets.”, and lastly, “What if God was

one of us?”. These rhetorical questions within the song’s lyrics make listeners ponder

about God’s existence, but the main question is “Is One of Us a religious song?”.

I believe One of Us is not a religious song. On the other hand, Westendorf (n.d.)

said that this song leads us closer to Jesus Christ, who became one of us and sacrificed

his perfect life, for us to be redeemed from our sins. Due to the song’s lyrics, listeners

may think that this song is religious as it is talking about God.

Yet, according to SMF (2020), the songwriter, Eric Bazilian, said that the song

wasn’t written for religious intentions as he, himself, isn’t religious. “The song is about

experiencing something that totally changes your view of the world.” Anytime, we could

encounter some sort of supernatural being, or even encounter a near-death experience.

We could meet a random person who might actually be God in disguise. The song is

about how things do not end up the way you expect them to be. Since the songwriter
Name: Dones, Aisha Nicole L.

Section: Knuth

Song analyzed: “One of Us” by Joan Osborne

Method used: Socratic Method

himself explained that this song was not intended for religious purposes, therefore, I

conclude that this song isn’t religious.

Word count (excluding title and references): 300 words

References used:

SMF. (2020, September 8). Meaning of “One of Us” by Joan Osborne. Song Meanings

and Facts. https://www.songmeaningsandfacts.com/meaning-one-us-joan-

osborne/

Westendorf, T. J. (n.d.). What if God was one of us? WELS. Retrieved September 3,

2021, from https://wels.net/what-if-god-was-one-of-us/