JESUS WAS AN ONLY SON

Well Jesus was an only son
As he walked up Calvary Hill
His mother Mary walking beside him
In the path where his blood spilled

Jesus was an only son
In the hills of Nazareth
As he lay reading the Psalms of David
At his mother's feet

A mother prays, "Sleep tight, my child, sleep well
For I'll be at your side
That no shadow, no darkness, no tolling bell,
Shall pierce your dreams this night."

(Whoaaa...)

In the garden at Gethsemane
He prayed for the life he'd never live
He beseeched his Heavenly Father to remove
The cup of death from his lips

Now there's a loss that can never be replaced
A destination that can never be reached
A light you'll never find in another's face
A sea whose distance cannot be breached

(Whoaaa...)

Well Jesus kissed his mother's hands
Whispered, "Mother, still your tears,
For remember the soul of the universe
Willed a world and it appeared."

(Whoaaa...)

From the Devils & Dust album. Known to be rehearsed on 09 Mar 2005 at the Paramount Theatre, Asbury Park, NJ. Also played on 04 Apr 2005 at the Two River Theatre, Red Band, NJ, during the taping of the Storytellers series for VH1. Bruce played it on solo piano and harmonica, and then played it again, stopping at each verse, and explaining the lyrics line by line and talking about the meaning and symbolism in each. The footage was broadcasted on VH1 on the 23rd and 25th of Apr.

Reported to be rehearsed on 15 and 20 Apr 2005 at the Paramount Theatre, Asbury Park, NJ. Also played solo piano during the warm-up shows for the Devils & Dust tour on 21 and 22 Apr 2005 at the Paramount Theatre, Asbury Park, NJ. Played during each show of the tour.

The song was reported to be rehearsed by Bruce with his Seeger Sessions Band on 13 Mar 2006 at the Paramount Theater, Asbury Park, NJ. Some comments from the people who listened to the rehearsals:

• "Starts off sort of the same as we've heard it [during the Devils & Dust tour] then the band kicks in." [13 Mar]

Track credits:
vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass, drums - Bruce Springsteen
background vocals - Patti Scialfa, Soozie Tyrell, Lisa Lowell

galvestonbay at Greasy Lake wrote about the song preview on 19 Mar 2005 at Waterloo Records, Austin, TX:

a slightly gospel tune, with Patti and Soozie providing a nice vocal towards the end.

Highway 9 Revisted at Live Daily wrote about the Storytellers taping:

Jesus Was an Only Son (on piano) – Funny, Bruce started to play the song then realized he forgot to put the harmonica on and stopped after playing the beginning of the song and explained how he started starring at the harmonica as he was playing the piano and saying to himself, "What's the harmonica doing there... oh sheet!!!" Then he played the song twice because he thought he could do it better. In one line he explained that the song was "about a mother and son." He joked about the Catholic upbringing keeps coming up in his songwriting.

Kevtrane at Live Daily wrote about the Storytellers taping:

He said the song was written from the secular side, seeing Mary as just a mother or all mothers. Who didn't care about anything else, she was just losing her child.

LoverInTheCold at Greasy Lake wrote about the Storytellers taping:

5th song--HIGHLIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Jesus was an Only Son is friggin' awesome. Like a modern Thunder Road. Cool Religious imagery, strong lyrics, Bruce says the hill where Jesus was crucified was his "Darkness on the Edge of Town".

live poet at BTX wrote about the Storytellers taping:

He goes to the piano. Says, "Maybe a little more piano?" Then he does "Jesus Was An Only Son." I got most of the lyrics, because he did this one twice, too. There are probably some mistakes and some holes:
[partial lyrics]
After the song, which is very pretty, he said everyone knows what it's like to be a son. He's done several songs with mothers and sons, but he hadn't really written about the relationship between parent and child. In explaining the lyrics, he said Calvary Hill was Jesus' proving ground, his darkness on the edge of town. Once you're a Catholic there's no getting out. The song presents an image of parental love, nurturing, life, peace, before what was to come. Every parent wants his children from harm. "I was shocked when I felt it for the first time in myself. The world awaits us all and there's not much parents can do about it." In explaining the line "to remove the cup of death from his lips," he said you could imagine Jesus thinking "I could open a little bar in Galilee, Mary Magdalene can tend bar, and I can preach on weekends." And in this song, Mary was losing her boy. The line "soul of the universe" is about transformation. Our children have their own destinies apart from us. So this song is about Jesus as a son.