Salwa Audrie Nadhifa - Take me to Church ( Hozier )

 LYRICS INTERPRETATION TAKE ME TO CHURCH

Name: Salwa Audrie Nadhifa

Number: 12

Tells of a person who uses his lover as a metaphor for a religion, and his

commitment to their relationship is represented by the devotion a devoted

practitioner of this religion will show. Indeed Hozier wrote this song while he

was recovering from a breakup. Moreover, the reason he chose the theme of

religion is because he grew up in Ireland where the Catholic Church is very

influential. And being not a big fan of the Church, he uses this song as a medium

to explain some of his feelings about a particular institution, because it’s not

meant to attack faith in general.

During the music video, we can see that one of Hozi’s clear criticisms of the

Church is their anti-gay stance. In fact he has said on the tape that he doesn’t

agree with the idea of ‘damaging humanity’ through because of someone’s sexual

orientation, out of preference, such preference is natural. That is one reason why

many correlations between sensuality and religion are found in “Take Me to

Church”. Another reason is that this is indeed a love song, especially affectionate

love with her partner. Hozier sees intimacy as a way in which individuals can

assert and express themselves as human beings. So in the end, Hozier’s clever

use of popular faith-based symbols and ideas is not only to tell his lover how

strong he is about her, but also to appreciate him valuing their life despite morally

based opposition. And in the end it is the use of widely recognizable collaborative

imagery like that which makes “Take Me to Church” such a strong mass appeal.