At first glance Martyn Joseph is (just) another gifted singer songwriter. First impressions are there to mislead of course: Joseph's ambition is broader than entertainment, deeper than commerce. Some musicians want to move your feet, some just want to move you: Martyn Joseph wants to move heaven and earth. Somewhere back in the middle distance Martyn Joseph emerged from the pack and we began to notice. For a moment there he might have been a pop-star, certainly a protest-singer, a balladeer now and then, a Celtic rock star before they were in vogue, a folk troubadour and then, just, Martyn Joseph. Darkness on the edge of Cardiff. If he has a reputation onstage as a raconteur, extemporizing lyrics to fit every occasion, his songs have always been infected with a discreet but defiant god bothering, music more interested in the forgotten than the remembered, the way things might be than the way they have become. It is less the ghost of Tom Jones than a Holy Ghost music, an aching and a longing for another way, another place, where you can treasure the questions that have no answers. Depending on where he was at the time, some of these songs have had a fortune spent on colouring them in while others are the second-take line drawings from the home studio or Polaroid's snapped live in the back of beyond.
The consistency is the voice the place where he stands, from where he chooses to look at life. This is music that articulates a yearning for another world that is yet to be born, songs of sorrow acquainted with grief but, nevertheless, melodies carried in sunlight, thunder and rainbows from the same sky. And as his 'Best Of' collection illustrates, Joseph's work matures with age. If these songs are already word-perfect to fans, in the future they will be covered by Britain's two leading contemporary music magazines Q, and, MoJo, respectively, describe Martyn Joseph as having 'a depth, resonance and emotional punch, which belies comparisons', and as being 'an artist of enduring worth'. Meanwhile The Guardian was transfixed by this gifted and gracious Welshman's 'burnished voice' whilst Tom Robinson of BBC 6 Music and iconic songwriter himself, regards Martyn as one of Britain's 'most charismatic and electrifying performers'. The Boston Globe concluded that the man was a 'profound experience'. Such press plaudits, and there are many more to choose from, would make any publicist purr with pleasure, but for Martyn Joseph, he regards them in a detached, almost incidental kind of way. For Martyn, 'it's the song that matters'. Yet such is Martyn's stature as an acoustic artist of almost hypnotic ability that BBC Radio 2, Britain's most listened to radio network, featured Martyn in their peak-time series on Singer/Songwriters. To be awarded the garland of your own programme on the Sony 'Station Of The Year', and placed alongside the likes of Elvis Costello, Richard Thompson and Mary Chapin Carpenter really says it all about Martyn's abilities.
Martyn's 20 year career has embraced some notable achievements including 5 Top 50 UK chart positions, with such songs as 'Dolphins Make Me Cry', 'Working Mother' and 'Let's Talk About It In The Morning', and appearances and tours with, amongst others, Suzanne Vega, Marc Cohn, Joan Armatrading, Clannad, Chris De Burgh, Jools Holland, Art Garfunkel, and even, Celine Dion. However, for Martyn, these various accomplishments, satisfying though they are, count as just part of the process, the necessary presentation aspect. As he says, 'Really what I do is try and write songs that might make a difference'.
His touring work and appearances over the years, on both sides of the Atlantic, have helped to establish this gifted and gracious Welshman as one of the foremost singer/songwriters of his generation. As Janis Ian said of sharing a stage with Martyn 'I loved working with him. I loved listening to him, I'd love to work with him again, anytime, anyplace'. Martyn's particular strength is in the lyrical narrative of his songs, be they contemporary protests against injustice and inhumanity, a musical psalm to the fulfillment and fragilities of love, or a piercing précis of social history, 'it's the song that can soothe, explain, and even in a small way save us'. In this manner he carries on in the tradition of the six string balladeer as both catalyst and interpreter of our raddled and rewarding times, our personal and communal stories sung out loud in the spirit of Woody Guthrie, Ewan MacColl, Hank Williams and Bruce Springsteen. That tradition, and sound, that thankfully still emerges from The Hallowed Hobo's Hall of Fame.
Across a 10 year cycle of albums from the Sony days of 'Being There' to his recent two volume live compilation 'Don't Talk About Love, Martyn's song catalogue is an awesomely impressive archive of our times, our tribulations, our wonder and our wounds. Amongst the considerable collection of positive reviews of Martyn's recording and live work, the two regularly recurring words describing, in particular, his performances are 'passion' and 'humour'. One observer after seeing Martyn in concert likened the experience and content to 'the beautiful business of being alive with all its jokes, absurdity and sadness, seared by music for the heart and head'. When you encounter Martyn Joseph, you'll hear likewise...
One of Us
Martyn Joseph Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
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?
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?
If God had a face, what would it look like?
And would you want to see it there
If seeing meant that you would have to believe
In things like heaven and in Jesus, the saints
And all of 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
Just trying to make his way home, back up to heaven all
Alone.
Nobody calling on the phone,
'cept for the Pope maybe in Rome.
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 trying to make his way home, just like a holy rolling
Stone?
Back up to heaven all alone, just trying to make his way
Home.
Nobody calling on the phone,
'cept for the Pope maybe in Rome
The song One of Us by Martyn Joseph explores the idea of what God would be like if He was a mortal being on earth. The first verse asks the listener to imagine what they would say to God if they were face-to-face with Him, and what kind of questions they would ask. The chorus reiterates that God is great and good, but then poses the question of what He would be like if He was just an ordinary person, a slob, or a stranger on a bus trying to make His way home. The second verse touches on the idea of what God's face would look like and whether seeing it would require belief in things like heaven, Jesus, and the prophets. The song concludes with the idea that if God was just another person, He might be alone and without anyone calling Him, except perhaps for the Pope in Rome.
Martyn Joseph's One of Us has been interpreted as a commentary on organized religion's emphasis on the divine being high up in heaven, disconnected from the everyday struggles and concerns of humanity. The repetition of the lines "Yeah, yeah, God is great. Yeah, yeah, God is good" could be seen as a way of acknowledging God's greatness and goodness, while also questioning whether these concepts are truly relevant or meaningful to us mere mortals. The song asks us to imagine a God that is approachable, relatable, and above all, human.
Line by Line Meaning
If god had a name, what would it be?
Imagine a scenario where God is assigned a name. What name would that be?
And would you call it to his face
If you were to face God in person, would you address Him by that name directly?
If you were faced with Him in all His glory?
If you had the opportunity to be in the presence of God, would you be able to look at Him in His full grandeur and exaltation?
What would you ask if you had just one question?
If you only had one question to ask God, what would it be?
What if god was one of us,
What if God was just like any other ordinary human being?
Just a slob like one of us,
God would be considered an average and unremarkable person just like everyone else.
Just a stranger on the bus trying to make his way home?
God would be just an anonymous person travelling in a public vehicle, hoping to reach a destination.
If God had a face, what would it look like?
In this theoretical scenario, where God has a physical appearance, what would that appearance be like?
And would you want to see it there
If given the opportunity, would you want to see how God looks like in person?
If seeing meant that you would have to believe
The condition for seeing God's face is that you must also believe in the existence of heaven, Jesus, and other prophets mentioned in the Bible.
In things like heaven and in Jesus, the saints
To see God's face, you must accept the teachings of Christianity, including belief in the afterlife, and the existence of holy figures like Jesus and the saints.
And all of the prophets?
Belief in the existence and messages of all the prophets mentioned in the Bible is also necessary to see God's face.
Just trying to make his way home, back up to heaven all
God is an ordinary person trying to make his way back to heaven, his true home.
Alone. Nobody calling on the phone,'cept for the Pope maybe in Rome.
God is lonely and has no one communicating with him, except for the Pope in Rome, who is the leader of the Catholic Church, which represents God on earth.
Just trying to make his way home, just like a holy rolling
God is making his journey back to heaven, like a devout and committed religious believer.
Stone?Back up to heaven all alone, just trying to make his way
God is making his way back to heaven alone, without the company of other divine beings.
Nobody calling on the phone, 'cept for the Pope maybe in Rome.
God is experiencing isolation, with no one trying to contact or communicate with him, except for the Pope.
Contributed by Aaliyah O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Willywombat
great song ,great voice , great guitar... sends a shiver down my spine.
relcychoho
love the photos along with the words