One of Us
Glee Cast (OST Glee) Lyrics

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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?

And yeah, yeah, God is great
Yeah, yeah, God is good
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

What if God was one of us?
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Trying to make His way home
Trying to make His way home

If God had a face what would it look like?
And 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 yeah, yeah, God is great
Yeah, yeah, God is good
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

What if God was one of us?
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Trying to make His way home
Trying to make His way home
Back up to Heaven all alone
Nobody callin' on the phone
'Cept for the Pope maybe in Rome

(...)

And yeah, yeah, God is great
Yeah, yeah, God is good
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

What if God was one of us?
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Trying to make His way home
Just tryin' to make His way home
Just like a holy rolling stone
Back up to Heaven all alone
Just tryin' to make His way home

(Yeah, yeah, God is great) Nobody callin' on the phone

(Yeah, yeah, God is good) 'Cept for the Pope maybe in Rome
Yeah, yeah, yeah...

Overall Meaning

The song "One of Us" by the Glee Cast poses a series of philosophical and theological questions about the nature of God and how humans perceive Him. The song suggests that if God came down to Earth as an ordinary person, what would He look like? How would people react if they encountered Him? Would people still believe in heavenly things like Jesus and the saints if they saw Him in person? The song also brings up the idea of religion as a construct that is created by humans rather than by a divine being, as well as the notion that God is a distant, intangible entity that people often try to understand but cannot.

The chorus of the song reminds us that even though God is seen as a mysterious and distant figure, people still acknowledge His greatness and goodness. But the overall message of the song seems to be that people should not rely solely on religious institutions or dogma to understand God, but instead look for ways to incorporate spirituality into their everyday lives and interactions with others. The idea of God being "one of us" or a "slob like one of us" reinforces the concept that divinity can be found in the ordinary and that one can strive for a more meaningful, spiritual existence without relying on religious institutions as a crutch.

Line by Line Meaning

If God had a name what would it be?
If you had to assign a name to a higher power, what name would you give?

And would you call it to His face?
If you were face to face with this higher power, would you call them by the name you assigned?

If you were faced with Him in all His glory What would you ask if you had just one question?
If you were presented with this higher power's majesty, what is the one question you would have for them?

What if God was one of us? Just a slob like one of us Just a stranger on the bus Trying to make His way home Trying to make His way home
What if this higher power was just like one of us, an ordinary person trying to find their way home? (This verse implies that we may have preconceived notions about what a higher power is supposed to look or act like, when in reality it could be anyone around us.)

If God had a face what would it look like? And 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
If this higher power had a physical appearance, would you be curious to see it? And, if seeing them would mean you have to believe in the faith's teachings, would you want to see it?

Just like a holy rolling stone Back up to Heaven all alone Just tryin' to make His way home
This higher power, like all of us, is trying to make their way back to heaven. Even if they don't have anyone calling them on the phone (i.e. they feel alone), they keep trying to make their way home.

(Yeah, yeah, God is great) Nobody callin' on the phone (Yeah, yeah, God is good) 'Cept for the Pope maybe in Rome Yeah, yeah, yeah...
Despite feeling alone at times, God is still revered by many people, including the Pope in Rome. This reinforces that the question of what a higher power looks or acts like is not as important as the fact that many people believe in them and draw comfort from that belief.

Contributed by Max A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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