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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The Weight Lyrics

Joan Osborne

Pulled into Nazareth, feeling 'bout half past dead
Just need a place where I can lay my head
Hey mister can you tell me where a girl might find a bed?
He just grinned, shook my hand, 'no' was all he said
Chorus:
Take a load off Fanny
Take a load for free
Take a load off Fanny
and put the load right on me
I picked up my bag, I went lookin' for a place to hide
When I saw Carmen and the Devil walkin' side by side
I said, 'Hey, Carmen, come on, let's go downtown'
She said, 'I gotta go, but m'friend can stick around'
Chorus
Go down, Miss Moses, there's nothin' you can say
It's just ol' Luke, and Luke's waitin' on the Judgement Day
'Well, Luke, my friend, what about young Anna Lee?'
He said, 'Do me a favor, son, woncha stay an' keep Anna Lee company?'
Chorus
Crazy Chester followed me, and he caught me in the fog
He said, 'I will fix your rack, if you'll take Jack, my dog'
I said, 'Wait a minute, Chester, you know I'm a peaceful man'
He said, 'That's okay, boy, won't you feed him when you can'
Chorus
Catch a cannon ball now, t'take me down the line
My bag is sinkin' low and I do believe it's time
To get back to Miss Fanny, you know she's the only one
Who sent me here with her regards for everyone