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Hozier: Singer-Songwriter or Activist?
I first heard Hozier at a music festival in Maryland a few summers ago. I decided to take the opportunity during what I thought was a filler act to grab something to eat before the main acts came on.  Little did I know that after his first song the hundreds of people within just 50 feet of me would be asking their friends who the guy performing was and gushing about his incredible voice.  Soon after the festival the impression of his performance fell to the depths of my memory and until the following summer, while on a road trip with my dad, it remained there. The peaceful catchy lyrics and calming melody of Take Me To Church drew me in once again and it became my favorite song for the next few months.  I went on a church mission trip a few weeks later and introduced it to my friends and they quickly became obsessed too.  We listened to it on repeat, only to find out later what the song is all about…
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The lyrics:
The first time few times I heard Take Me To Church I took the lyrics for what they were at the surface level and I’m sure most of the other people at the festival were doing the same and paying more attention to the overall sound.  It wasn’t until I was in a car full of Catholics on my mission trip that I realized what Hozier was actually trying to present with his lyrics.  I’ve faced similar situations to this one, especially when in the car with my mom and a song like “Side to Side” comes on and finally the dirty lyrics hit me. Then the rest of the song is occupied by me debating changing the station and bringing more attention to it or waiting it out and hoping my mom isn’t actually listening to the lyrics. So, not surprisingly,  it took a full car of Catholics and some self-reflection for me to realize that Take Me To Church was written specifically against the church and its anti-gay ideals. Â
Hozier wrote the song after longstanding frustration with the Catholic Church’s homophobic preaching’s and failure to accept same sex couples, even when the rest of the world seemed to be becoming more tolerant.  He expresses his message by comparing love and the church and by pointing out the differences between them.  In the context of the speaker being gay, the song alludes to the idea that his partner has been loving and accepting whereas the church has not. Since the Catholic church has a very strong belief that same sex couples are sinful and that a real relationship in God’s eyes is between a man and a woman, he will never be accepted by the church as a gay individual.  One strongest messages in this song is in the chorus:
“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
Offer me that deathless death
Good God, let me give you my life”
Here, Hozier is expressing his overall frustration with the church in that many individuals go to church, worship God’s teachings even if they believe some of them are lies, and confess their sins so they can be forgiven, but as long as that individual is gay the church will never accept him and will believe that he is living his life in sin.  This contrasts with the idea that the speaker’s lover is accepting of who he is no matter the insignificant details of his life.
The speaker states that
“Ever Sunday’s getting more bleak
A fresh poison each week”
which shows his growing frustration over time with the church and the “poison” that they preach every week during sermons and readings. Following the progression through the song as a timeline the speaker beings to stand up for his “illness” that the church believes he has when he says
“I was born sick But I love it Command me to be well”.
This shows that the speaker is stating that although the church believes he is “sick” and demands that he be cured of his illness to be accepted, he loves who he is and is happy with his sexuality.  He believes that the church is on “a fine-looking high horse” which ultimately shows that he believes the church thinks that they are above homosexuals and that if they got off their pedestal they would understand that they are real people too and that they should be treated just like any human being.  The phrase “There is no sweeter innocence than our gentle skin” shows that Hozier believes that homosexuality is something that is slightly different about some people but is not as big of a deal as the church sees it to be.  Someone being gay is an innocent part of their life that should not be seen as a sin and that the church should learn to accept it. Â
The bridge of the song:
“In the madness and soil of that sad earthly scene
Only then I am human
Only then I am clean”
exposes the brutality of the church to only see a homosexual as a real person after they have died and been buried because then they are not living in sin anymore.
Take Me To Church made it to Number 2 on the top charts when it first hit the radio, but most people probably didn’t grasp Hozier’s message at first.  Although the message is strong and important, if he had made the message more clear and surface level, then people could have been quick to reject it if they do not agree with his support.  However, his ability to mask the real message and leave it up to the interpretation of the listener allowed the song to gain popularity.  Although some people believe that popular artists shouldn’t present their political and social opinions in their music, when they express them in metaphor like Hozier did it allows for more people to relate and create their own opinions and beliefs about the song without being smothered by the artist’s agenda.
The music video:
While drafting ideas for the music video for Take Me To Church, Hozier decided that he did not want it to be strictly against the church, but rather express more about his personal beliefs on equal rights for people of all sexual orientations. Â The anti-gay movement is not exclusive to the Catholic church, but also is present in certain political groups and individuals themselves. Â By incorporating religious, political, and social rejection of homosexuality, Hozier is able to further reach his campaigning and show the more widespread effects and presence of homophobia.
The storyline of the video is that of two men who are deeply in love but cannot expose their relationship out of fear of being harmed by members of the anti-gay movement.  In the scene at 1:30 a TV screen is shown with what could be a protest in Russia to fight for gay rights after Putin enacted laws to criminalize homosexuality.  The violence of the hooded men is rather ironic because they are burning down homes and jumping men just because they do not agree with their actions and way of life, but their violent actions are condemned by many as well.  This can be related to the irony of the church’s disapproval that the lyrics present in that the church is supposed to be a loving and accepting place for people to seek solace but instead many are faced with repudiation and struggle when it comes to being a member of the church.
I didn’t immediately watch the video when it came out, but it quickly gained popularity on YouTube and is currently up to 140,000,000 views.  It got a lot of attention for the message that it presented and received both backlash and praise.  If you read the comments on YouTube there is a mix of people thanking Hozier for speaking up and bringing the problems with homophobia to the attention of the public, and a fair amount of people ridiculing him for his opinions and activism. Â
LeBron James Beats commercial:
The big take away of Take Me To Church’s lyrics and music video is that everyone should accept themselves for who they are and embrace their qualities. Love is a great way to claim your individuality and find people who appreciate you for who you are rather than who they want you to be.  In 2014 Beats released a TV advertisement featuring LeBron James who had just announced that he would be leaving Miami and going to play for his home team of the Cleveland Cavaliers. He faced a lot of backlash from fans around the country, but the people in his hometown welcomed him back.  This instance is a prime example of how in certain situations we have both people that support our choices and people, like the church, who will not accept us for who we are and what we want to do. Â
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By choosing Take Me To Church to feature in this advertisement, Beats was able to promote their product in a serious manner and appeal to people’s emotions.  As you can see from the ad, walking through his old high school and looking at his Akron tattoo makes LeBron feel comfortable and at peace with his decision.  The intertwining of Hozier’s message to embrace who you are and find love that will help you reclaim your humanity and LeBron’s actual steps to pursue that makes the ad that much more effective.  By incorporating LeBron’s story and the somber and meaningful lyrics of the song, the advertisers were able to make the world feel as though they can use their product when following their heart along the path it wants. Â
On a more surface level interpretation of the product itself, the wireless aspect of the earphones can be related to the severing of ties to something that might tie you down. Â This can be related to the song because the message can also be seen as telling us to sever ties that hold us back from being who we really are, and being free to live the lives we want.
Hozier as an activist:Â
Hopefully the discussion and interpretation of the lyrics and music video of Take Me To Church has brought light to the admirable activism that Hozier takes part in.  I find the balance that he maintains between amazing music and self-purpose incredible because there are many artists that put too much of themselves in the music, and others that seem distant from it.  Take Me To Church is not Hozier’s only song that deals with issues that he wants to bring to the attention of the public.  His song Cherry Wine deals with relationship abuse and how problematic it can be for both the abuser and the abusee when neither of them do anything to stop it and no one steps in.  Although these are just a few of Hozier’s songs that currently have an activist vibe, I’m sure he will later find more causes that he wants to support and incorporate that into his future albums.
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References:Â
The New York Times
Harvey Fierstein
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/22/opinion/russias-anti-gay-crackdown.html
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