Prayer By Seamus Hozier Analysis
Hozier begins by singing about an imaginary girlfriend who “giggles at a funeral,” and who “knows everybody’s disapproval.” He regrets not having “worshipped her sooner.” Hozier is strongly attracted to this woman, whomever she is.
In the next stanza, he claims that “if the heavens ever did speak / she’s the last true mouthpiece.” He believes that if God exists, He would speak through this woman. And compared to her, he believes church to be a “bleak” place, that spits out “poison” at those who attend, telling them that they were “born sick” in sin. This girl is more desirable than church and, he thinks, a better way to understand the meaning of life.
In the next stanza, Hozier sings that his girlfriend invites him to “worship in the bedroom” …show more content…
Hozier sings, “Take me to church / I’ll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies / I’ll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife.” He claims that the church demeans its attendees and attacks them for the things they do when those things go against the church’s doctrine.
Then, Hozier reinforces his opinion that sex (whether heterosexual or homosexual, his interviews show) is an act of love far better than being beholden to a religion. He claims to be “a pagan of the good times” who worships his lover who is “the sunlight.” But, in keeping with the pagan imagery, this “goddess . . . demands a sacrifice,” and that is the act of sex, which Hozier refers to with innuendoes referencing “something shiny,” “draining the whole sea,” and “something meaty for the main course.”
Near the end of the song, he re-summarizes his thesis: “In the madness and soil of that sad earthly scene / Only then I am human / Only then I am clean.” What the church considers an “earthly scene”–intercourse not within a heterosexual marriage–Hozier finds to be one way to ultimate satisfaction in life, something to be pursued and claims it to be “innocence.” To end the song, he compares the love he has just described to his view of the church, repeating the chorus twice, emphasizing the stark contrast he sees
In the next stanza, he claims that “if the heavens ever did speak / she’s the last true mouthpiece.” He believes that if God exists, He would speak through this woman. And compared to her, he believes church to be a “bleak” place, that spits out “poison” at those who attend, telling them that they were “born sick” in sin. This girl is more desirable than church and, he thinks, a better way to understand the meaning of life.
In the next stanza, Hozier sings that his girlfriend invites him to “worship in the bedroom” …show more content…
Hozier sings, “Take me to church / I’ll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies / I’ll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife.” He claims that the church demeans its attendees and attacks them for the things they do when those things go against the church’s doctrine.
Then, Hozier reinforces his opinion that sex (whether heterosexual or homosexual, his interviews show) is an act of love far better than being beholden to a religion. He claims to be “a pagan of the good times” who worships his lover who is “the sunlight.” But, in keeping with the pagan imagery, this “goddess . . . demands a sacrifice,” and that is the act of sex, which Hozier refers to with innuendoes referencing “something shiny,” “draining the whole sea,” and “something meaty for the main course.”
Near the end of the song, he re-summarizes his thesis: “In the madness and soil of that sad earthly scene / Only then I am human / Only then I am clean.” What the church considers an “earthly scene”–intercourse not within a heterosexual marriage–Hozier finds to be one way to ultimate satisfaction in life, something to be pursued and claims it to be “innocence.” To end the song, he compares the love he has just described to his view of the church, repeating the chorus twice, emphasizing the stark contrast he sees