Singer Joan Osborne was born on July 8, 1962, in the town of Anchorage, KY, but it wasn't until relocating to New York City in the early '90s (to study at N.Y.U.'s film school) that she began to take a singing career seriously after singing Billie Holiday's classic "God Bless the Child" at a local bar's "open mic night." In addition to Holiday, Osborne looked to such legendary vocalists as Etta James and Ray Charles as role models, as the up-and-coming singer decided not to cater to major record companies and formed her own label, Womanly Hips, which resulted in such releases as 1992's in-concert Soul Show, among others. But eventually, Osborne decided to sign on with a major label, Mercury, which in turn issued the singer's next release, Relish, in March of 1995. The album proved to have a long life, as almost a year after its initial release the track "One of Us" became a massive MTV and radio smash, camping out at the number one spot on the U.S. singles chart for two weeks and Relish eventually racked up sales of three million copies. Further tracks ("Right Hand Man" and "St.
last.fm page

Similar Artists

Shake The Devil Lyrics

Joan Osborne

i guess i had to find out the hard way
the things that i have come here to learn
the fire of this pleasure it can warm me
but in the end it only burns
he could put me high on a pedastal
he could rob me of my shame
he could hold me down under water
till i could not remember my own name
in my mind i see the house i'm building
in my hands the hammer and the nail
gonna send my wishes up to glory
gonna shake that devil of my trail
in my time i've done some meanness
brought the ones i love so much pain
pride it was eating all my heart away
my soul, it was rusted in the rain
and all these things i am confessing
they still come knocking on my door
but i know better than to answer
and tell them
that girl don't live here anymore
in my mind i see the house i'm building
in my hands the hammer and the nail
gonna send my wishes up to glory
gonna shake that devil of my trail
every living thing is calling out to me
the leaves on the trees wake me up
got a wind to lift me when i'm falling
got a road to put my feet upon
in my mind i see the house i'm building
in my hands the hammer and the nail
gonna send my wishes up to glory
gonna shake that devil of my trail