Roll of the Dice: Jesus Was an Only Son

I wasn’t sure what to make of “Jesus Was an Only Son” when I first heard it.

I’m used to hearing a lot of religious imagery in Bruce’s music, but nothing as overt and dominant as in this track.

Even when he performed it on VH1 Storytellers, I couldn’t quite track him at first. I couldn’t find the link from the song to his assertion that it “starts from the premise that everybody knows what it’s like to be saved.”

But halfway through that performance, during which he explained the song’s imagery line by line, he stopped and wistfully noted:

Well, every parent wants to keep their children safe from harm. It’s such a primal thing. I was shocked when I first felt it so deep inside myself. And then I had a conversation with a friend where I was afraid that my kids were gonna grow up and… might not have to struggle, you know, like I struggled. Maybe that’s not such a good thing. And he said, “No, no, no, no… you’re a parent, man. You give them the best, because the world is gonna take care of the rest.” And that’s true. The world awaits us all, and there’s not much that parents can do about it.

And then I understood. Viscerally. At the time “Jesus Was an Only Son” came out, my oldest daughter was turning twelve, and I was already starting to grapple with the dilemma that every parent faces: throttling back on parenting and letting your child grow into themselves, all the while fighting every deeply ingrained protective instinct. Bruce’s oldest son is only a few years older than my first-born daughter, so I imagine he was grappling with the same inner struggle.

Most of the lyrics trace the events and emotions of Jesus’ last day and night, but for me, the key verse comes toward the end:

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

That verse transcends its context. On its face, Bruce is writing about Mary about to forever lose her child to death. But those lines also resonate with the pride and heartache of a parent losing their child to adulthood, watching them of necessity pull away, distance themselves, and set off on their own journey. That verse played through my mind a lot during those years. They didn’t provide comfort, but they reminded me to pay attention–to notice and savor and remember the rest of their childhood, so that their transition into adulthood would feel more like a gift than a loss.

Bruce performed “Jesus Was an Only Son” live throughout his 2005 solo acoustic tour, but my favorite performances were from his Seeger Sessions tour the following year. There’s a delicacy in his guitar work that conveys the tenderness of the song in a way that his solo piano performance doesn’t, and his harmonica is filled with the parental anguish of losing a child.

…but those 2005 solo performances are remarkable for Bruce’s narrative before and interwoven through the song.

Despite its historical subject matter, “Jesus Was an Only Son” feels like one of Bruce’s most intimate songs, tied to a particular time and place of life. It’s unlikely ever to be performed in an E Street Band concert, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we never hear it performed live again.

Jesus Was an Only Son
Recorded: Unknown–likely 2004
Released: Devils & Dust (2005)
First performed: April 4, 2005 (Red Bank, NJ/VH1 Storytellers)
Last performed: November 19, 2006 (Dublin, Ireland)

Looking for your favorite Bruce song? Check our full index. New entries every week!