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.
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Strenuous Acquaintances Lyrics

Joan Osborne

Strenuous Acquaintances
Written by Joan Osborne
From Mr. Wrong Soundtrack
I take my baby to the cornfield
I lay him down between the rows
I ask him if he really loves me
He tells me only heaven knows
If I owned a TV station
This is the message I would send:
A hundred strenuous acquaintances can't meet the loss of one true friend
Give me his old Montana jacket
His favorite shirt is Panama
And I can tell you where he's buried
Tell you the last thing that he saw, saw...
I am the keeper of your fetish
There is so much that you don't know
You're gonna drown in your own bathtub
You're gonna miss me when I go
If I owned that big transmitter
This is the message I would send:
A hundred strenuous acquaintances can't meet the loss of one true friend
And on the mornings after parties
I pick the bottles from the floor
I open every single window
I cough until my ribs are sore
Callin' out to all you vampires,
"I got molasses in my veins!
I think it's time I should be leavin'
And you can fight for my remains!"
For every word on every paper
For every dollar you will spend
A strenuous acquaintances can't meet the loss of one true friend
The loss of one true friend