Take Me to Church
| Take Me to Church | |
|---|---|
| Hozier | |
| publication | September 13, 2013 |
| length | 4:02 |
| Author (s) | Andrew Hozier-Byrne |
| album | Hozier |
Take Me to Church is a rock song by the Irish singer Hozier . The piece reached high placements in the music charts in numerous countries .
Emergence
In an interview, Hozier criticized the Catholic Church, among others in his home country Ireland, for its attitude towards women and homosexuals , since in his opinion both groups of people are condemned by the Church as " sinners ". Therefore he wrote the song to portray the act of love, regardless of sexuality, as something positive and human. Hozier was influenced, among other things, by texts by the author Christopher Hitchens .
Lyrics
The song's lyric self pays homage to its love by comparing it to a religion . This is demonstrated, among other things, in the lines of text "I should've worshiped her sooner" ("I should have worshiped her earlier"), "The only heaven I'll be sent to is when I'm alone with you" ("Mit dir being alone is the only heaven I will come to ”) as well as the repeated use of the word Amen .
The line "I was born sick, command me to be well" is attached to the verse "Created sick, commanded to be sound" ("Created sick, obliged to be healthy." “) Based on the poet Fulke Greville .
In the chorus, among other things, the church is criticized for its attitude to (same-sex) love, for example by sentences like "I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies" ("I will worship the altar of your lies like a dog") ) and "I'll tell you my sins so you can sharpen your knife" ("I'll tell you about my sins so you can sharpen your knife").
reception
Adam R. Holz from pluggedin.ca praised the strong and pictorial language of the song as well as the singer's ability to make impressive use of subversions . Nick Messitte of Forbes magazine was positive about the touching and sensitive treatment of a difficult topic. Andy Greene from Rolling Stone described the song as a ballad that combines blues , gospel , folk and soul .
Commercial success and awards
The song was voted the most popular rock song at the 2015 Teen Choice Awards . In the same year it won the title of Best Rock Song at the Billboard Music Awards , and the BBC Music Award named it Song of the Year . It was also nominated for a Grammy in 2015 in the Best Song of the Year category.
In 2014 the piece was the most successful track on Spotify with 87 million streams . In April 2019, the song had 275 million views on YouTube . In the United States, the song went five times platinum . The piece reached high positions in the single charts in Germany, Austria and France , among others .
Chart placements
| Charts | Top ranking | Weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Chart placements | ||
 Germany (GfK)
|
2 (62 weeks) | 62 |
 Ireland (IRMA)
|
2 (138 weeks) | 138 |
 Austria (Ö3)
|
1 (42 weeks) | 42 |
 Switzerland (IFPI)
|
1 (68 weeks) | 68 |
 United States (Billboard)
|
2 (41 weeks) | 41 |
 United Kingdom (OCC)
|
2 (86 weeks) | 86 |
Music video
A music video for Take Me to Church was shot in black and white. This shows the relationship of a homosexual couple. When the connection becomes apparent, the house of one of the two men is pelted with Molotov cocktails by a group of masked people , he is kidnapped and beaten. The video shows televised demonstrations with participants holding up signs in Cyrillic . This is a nod to the widespread homophobia in Russia . In the video, one of the men buries a box with chains that is found by the masked men. The latter try to open the box, but remain unsuccessful and therefore throw it into a self-made fire that resembles a pyre .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hozier on the single “Take Me To Church”: A song about sex, freedom and humanity. Retrieved on March 2, 2018 (German).
- ↑ Laura Barton: Hozier: The best vocalists I can think of are female. July 31, 2014, accessed March 8, 2018 .
- ↑ "Take Me to Church" Track Review (2014) | Plugged in. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on March 9, 2018 ; accessed on March 8, 2018 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Nick Messitte: Why Is Hozier's 'Take Me To Church' So Popular? In: Forbes . ( forbes.com [accessed March 8, 2018]).
- ↑ Behind Hozier's Unlikely Rise . In: Rolling Stone . ( rollingstone.com [accessed March 8, 2018]).
- ↑ Variety Staff: Teen Choice Awards 2015 Winners: Full List . In: Variety . August 17, 2015 ( variety.com [accessed March 2, 2018]).
- ^ Billboard Music Awards 2015: See the Full Winners List . In: Billboard . ( billboard.com [accessed March 2, 2018]).
- ↑ BBC Music Awards 2015. Retrieved March 2, 2018 .
- ↑ Hozier's 'Take Me To Church' is the most streamed song of the year . In: The Independent . December 10, 2014 ( independent.co.uk [accessed March 8, 2018]).
- ↑ https://www.offiziellecharts.de/
- ↑ http://www.austriancharts.at/showitem.asp?interpret=Hozier&titel=Take+Me+To+Church&cat=s
- ↑ http://www.lescharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Hozier&titel=Take+Me+To+Church&cat=s
- ↑ a b c d e f Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US IE
- ↑ James-Michael Nichols: Hozier's 'Take Me To Church' Echoes Russian LGBT Violence . In: Huffington Post . September 26, 2013 ( huffingtonpost.com [accessed March 3, 2018]).
