Some artists and actors eventually want to run away from the song or role that made them famous. Others embrace it.

Soulful singer Joan Osborne falls into the second camp, calling her 21-year-old breakout hit “One of Us” nothing but a blessing.

“You can’t really pigeonhole a song like that,” said Osborne in a phone call from New York last week.

Osborne is articulate and thoughtful in conversation and has a naturally optimistic outlook.

“The song over the years has morphed into something very different,” she said. “I’ve discovered different shades of meaning in playing it. It doesn’t get dated and still affects a lot of people. There are lots of different versions of it that have been featured on ‘The Voice’ and ‘American Idol.’ There’s a life beyond the original version.”

“Relish,” which contained “One of Us,” was Osborne’s debut album. The album was rereleased last year on CD, vinyl and in digital form with bonus material, to mark the 20th anniversary of the recording.

“We end up doing songs from ‘Relish’ because it’s well known,” she said of playing on her current tour with fellow musician Keith Cotton. “Still love doing them.”

Osborne’s most recent record, “Love & Hate,” was a long-term studio project — a labor of love devoted to the theme of love.

“At this point in my life, the definition of love tends to be different than when I was young,” she said. “When you are young, it’s simple to curb love. It’s either ‘I love you’ or ‘I don’t love you.’

“As you get older it gets more complicated. There’s a power dynamic. I’m more inspired now to write about the terrain of love — staying in love and living in love.”

“Love & Hate” was an album that Osborne “started years and years ago,” she said, with songs reminiscent of Van Morrison’s soulful style. Then she decided to make the subject of love the album’s central theme.

“I had put out a couple of albums while I was writing ‘Love & Hate,’” she said. “I kept coming back to it and adding new songs.”

Osborne has released seven albums since her “Relish” debut, which was a contender for Album of the Year at the 1995 Grammy Awards.

The pop song “One of Us” was actually a departure stylistically for Osborne, who is known more for singing the blues. (A concert of note includes her live renditions of of “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted” and “Heat Wave” in the Grammy Award-winning documentary “Standing in the Shadows of Motown.”)

The distinctive, somewhat melancholy-sounding “One of Us,” though, still draws people to see her perform. Attendees can expect a stripped-down version of “One of Us” on this tour, she said.

“Keith and I get down to the bare essence of it, and people love it,” she said.

The song that pointedly asks “What if God was one of us? Just a slob like one of us?” was written by Eric Bazilian of the rock band the Hooters. Rick Chertoff, who produced “Relish,” suggested to Bazilian that Osborne sing it.

Osborne said the song’s strength lies in its innocent but insistent questioning.

“It asks, ‘What are your feelings like?’” toward God, she said. “It’s like a little kid coming up and tugging on your sleeve.”

Although this is the first time Osborne has played a public show in Hawaii, let alone a string of shows in the state, it’s not the first time she has played at a Blue Note jazz club. She’s performed at the Blue Note in Japan, where there are two clubs in the franchise. There are also locations in Washington, D.C., New York and France.

“I love it,” said Osborne of the Blue Note clubs, noting their well-tuned sound systems and intimate settings.

Osborne will play at the Blue Note Hawaii nightly from Tuesday through Sunday. She also has a series of performances on other islands before she heads to Japan to continue doing more shows.

“I don’t think of this as a stand-alone tour,” she said. “I really enjoy performing live. It’s kind of a never-ending tour, in the way that Bob Dylan is always on tour.”

Osborne has appeared onstage with many other performers over the years, including Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight, Pavarotti and, more recently, Mavis Staples, with whom she performed on a two-month tour.

“I am so blessed to be able to perform with people who are my heroes and also have these amazing experiences,” she said.