What does Take Me To Church mean?

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Hozier: Take Me To Church Meaning

Song Released: 2014

Covered By: Matt McAndrew (2014)

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Take Me To Church Lyrics

My lover's got humour
She's the giggle at a funeral
Knows everybody's disapproval
I should've worshiped her sooner

If the Heavens ever did speak
She is the last true mouthpiece
Every Sunday's getting more bleak
A fresh poison each...


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    Jan 4th, 2015 1:42pm report

    This song is not specifically about homosexuality even if that's what the music video is about. It's about being human and how the church/religion condemns you for being just that. Lying, lust, pride, jealousy etc. are all "sins" but they are part of being human.

    "My church offers no absolutes", basically saying that church/religion will not love me unconditionally, I must meet expectations, and ask for forgiveness when I do not.

    "I was born sick, but I love it", the "born sick" means born with sin (just like we told when we were young), but "I love it" follows because we born unique yet flawed, and that's something worth loving because we were born human.

    "Command me to be well", force me to confession, pray for my sins, force me to apologize for being human.

    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"

    "Take me to church, I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies" means that religion is one rigged game because you can pour your soul out to it but you'll never be worth anything to it because you were born "sick"

    "I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife" basically picture a godfather and your begging for forgiveness for a "wrong" you've committed but he's just sitting there not giving a damn because he'll kill/condemn you anyways ("you can sharpen your knife").

    "Offer me that deathless death, Good God, let me give you my life". Deathless death means the eternal life mentioned in the bible, and because of this you will give the church your life because you will not sin or at least to your best not to in order to obtain your eternal life, hence “Good God, let me give you my life”.

    "That's a fine looking high horse
    What you got in the stable?
    We've a lot of starving faithful
    That looks tasty
    That looks plenty
    This is hungry work"

    high horse is basically pride which is considered a sin, these lines shift to a different point of view, to god/religion/church, and how it's "eating" or taking people on to its side "church" because people need something to believe in for their sins "starving faithful".

    "No masters or kings when the ritual begins. There is no sweeter innocence than our gentle sin" this basically means there is no God "masters or kings", when you die "when the ritual begins". And how being human is pure and beautiful and "sin" is part of that beauty "sweeter innocence than our gentle sin".

    "Only then I am human
    Only then I am clean", means only when I'm dead will I be 100% human free from religion/church.

    The lines when a lover is mentioned I believe it’s a mockery towards religion like, “ooh look what I'm doing”, basically being a renegade towards the whole concept of church.

    This song basically ridicules the idea of church/religion because religion it is constantly attacking human nature, it makes us feel horrible for being human, this is where the topic of homosexuality comes into play. Sex or love is a very natural act but suddenly when is a man w/ man (or woman and woman) it is not. And sex in general is also viewed as something to be ashamed of. We are human, we feel pride, lust, we feel hate and anger, we lie, we steal but we are human beings and we should not apologize and ask for forgiveness for being just that.


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    Jan 11th, 2015 1:42pm report

    I believe this song talks about 2 different "Gods" if you will. Let me explain.

    "My lover's got humor, She's the giggle at a funeral, Knows everybody's disapproval, Should've worshiped her sooner."

    He begins by stating that if others knew his "lover." This would be God #1. I'll call her the Goddess of love. No body approves of the Goddess since it is only natural for her to go against the normal way or the correct way. He also wishes to have worshiped her sooner, allowing the listener to imply that he had worshiped someone else before her.

    "If the heavens ever did speak, She's the last true mouthpiece, Every Sunday's getting more bleak, Fresh poison each week."

    Sunday, is a day when many people go to church to listen to a priest give the word of God. The singer compares listening to this as poison, or people just being fed poison, but listening to his "lover" is so much more like listening to a true God.

    "We were born sick, You heard them say it."

    Sin is what he is talking about here. There are many different types of sin and I won't mention them all. But it is known that sin is a bad thing. Therefore we are all just bad to begin with.

    "My church offers no absolutes, She tells me worship in the bedroom.

    This means that the Goddess of love has no expectations, limitations, or restrictions. The church welcomes anybody and everybody with any type of sin you were born with. The Goddess is also okay with the natural desire to be sexual. In fact, not only is the Goddess okay with it but she encourages it.

    "The only heaven I'll be sent to is when I'm alone with you."

    This could be the singer talking to a human lover, or the singer talking to his Goddess that he has been talking about throughout most of the song.

    "I was born sick, but I love it."

    The signer is okay with being human, he loves it.

    "Command me to be well."

    The singer is sort of saying: shame one anyone who tells me to hate myself for my sins and who I was born to be. Shame on you for telling me being human is wrong, or being homosexual is wrong or being whatever it is that I am is wrong.


    It means that you agree, or allow it to be so.

    "Take me to church, I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of you lies. I'll tell you my sins so you can sharpen your knife, offer me that deathless death, Good God let me give you my life."

    Here is where the second God comes into play. This would be the common God, such as the God that many people are used to worshipping. Here the singer is saying he does not agree with the way the church is made out to be, or the rules that must be followed in order to get to heaven but he will worship anyway.

    I'll tell you my sins so you can sharpen your knife: Telling your sins to someone is common at confession, or a time where you would say all the bad things you have done to a priest. This is supposed to lead to forgiveness but the singer doesn't feel this way. Instead he feels betrayed by this but he will still ask for forgiveness anyway.

    Offer me that deathless death, Good God let me give you my life: Deathless death also meaning eternal life is something well known to some religions. If you behave here on earth you just might get to live an eternal life. The singer wants that eternal life and the acceptance from the common God into heaven, which would be why he would still ask the common God for forgiveness and why he will still attend church on Sunday, and why he will still worship this God even though he really approves of the Goddess because she accepts him as he is.

    The whole second part of the song is him discussing love. The Goddess is okay with love but she demands a sacrifice. Love demands sacrifice, anyone who has ever loved anyone could understand that. The singer mentions that he will even drain the seas if he has to but he knows he will be rewarded "Get something shiny." And many people want to find love or be loved as they starve for it.

    "No masters or Kings when the ritual begins."
    No one is in command when someone is being tortured for being themselves.

    "There is no sweeter innocence than our gentle sins"
    The sin that the singer has was never hurting anyone, yet he still gets shamed for being a sinner by others. Religion has caused him to feel guilty for his sins when he has been innocent the entire time because he is only human.

    "In the madness and soil of that sad earthy scene, Only then I am human, only then I am clean."

    In all the hurt that the world has to offer those the sin is when the singer feels human. He is clean because he is reminded of his innocence as the world torments him to feel guilty.

    On a side note, the singer may be referring to his lover as a female because that would be the exact opposite of the common God. No body knows the gender of God but many refer to him as a male and a father. The singers God would be a Goddess because she is nothing like the common God.


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    Feb 23rd, 2015 2:40am report

    (Lyrics: The only heaven i'll be sent to is when in with you)I would say his church does not support homosexuals so members and others say that if he is going to hell if he is homosexual.
    (Lyrics: My lover's got humor. She's the giggle at a funeral. Knows everybody's disapproval. I should've worshiped her sooner) I am not 100% sure but I would say judging by the lyrics "I should have worshiped her sooner" I think his peers are saying that he should have dated girls and like worshiped and dated girls, IDK :p sorry...
    (Lyrics:"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") That being in love with the same sex isn't a bad thing, and he rather die then not be with is love.

    Thanks every one who read my post :D
    I really love this song, and I feel god loves every one the way they are :)


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    May 9th, 5:48pm report

    it is about that churches think jelousy , envy, anger,and lots of other feelings are "sins" , but that is actually just part of being a human


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    Jan 2nd, 1:38am report

    Its an idea of the writers and they are just questioning why they should be victimized at all. When the answer is that they judge themselves. Its not that the church is to blame, just that they are questioning if they are being judged by the church. They have been wronged in a big way and robbed of all virtue and they have pride despite ridicule. They believe in truth and that is all they have and faith in God who knows all.


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    Aug 15th, 2017 8:06am report

    Take Me To Church Video said EVERYTHING. Now I understand the real meaning of the song. No need to say sorry, I understand what you are trying to say. Peace to you.


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    Aug 14th, 2017 8:17pm report

    the song is about churches not acepting gay love check out the offical video it explains EVERYTHING there is no female in this love story just beautiful gay love and how a church hates that and wont let the guys go to church. THE OFFIACL VIDEO EXPLAINS IT ALL WATCH IT.sorry for caps just trying to make the importent stuff stand out.


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    Aug 27th, 2016 8:37pm report

    First, I must say Hozier is a good songwriter if his lyrics can generate such a passionate conversation. Secondly, I think this song is about his love
    For the woman discussed at th beginning of the song. "Knows everybody's disapproval/should've worshiped her sooner" suggests that she is already aware of everybody's disapproves of her, but he is saying he should've been with her sooner. I think (just guessing) that this song is about a man who becomes involved with a woman of a different religion and the struggle to explain that love is a strong force.


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    Oct 3rd, 2015 10:30am report

    This song Is about the beauty of Sex and loving somebody but not being accepted by others and bieng hated by others because your being you and loving the person you choose to love.I have something to say to you Christians my intire life I was raised by Christians and I realized something in that time, they are backbiters, hypocrites, prideful, Lyers, Cheaters.But not all of them.I do believe in God. Churches are the entrance to HELL! Its were demons are dropped of every Sunday It's a daycare for demons church is where all the gossippers goes where all the snobs go when I was a teen all the church kids were mean to me but all my best friend where the ones who didn't go to church and guess what the church kids called my besties WICKED how dare they. I could go on.My point is God loves you for you :) <3


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    Mar 21st, 2015 3:14pm report

    This is from an interview Hozier did with NY Magazine. Straight from the horses mouth:

    "'Take Me to Church' is essentially about sex, but it's a tongue-in-cheek attack at organizations that would … well, it's about sex and it's about humanity, and obviously sex and humanity are incredibly tied. Sexuality, and sexual orientation — regardless of orientation — is just natural. An act of sex is one of the most human things. But an organization like the church, say, through its doctrine, would undermine humanity by successfully teaching shame about sexual orientation — that it is sinful, or that it offends God. The song is about asserting yourself and reclaiming your humanity through an act of love. Turning your back on the theoretical thing, something that's not tangible, and choosing to worship or love something that is tangible and real — something that can be experienced.

    But it's not an attack on faith. Coming from Ireland, obviously, there's a bit of a cultural hangover from the influence of the church. You've got a lot of people walking around with a heavy weight in their hearts and a disappointment, and that shit carries from generation to generation. So the song is just about that — it's an assertion of self, reclaiming humanity back for something that is the most natural and worthwhile. Electing, in this case a female, to choose a love who is worth loving."


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    Mar 7th, 2015 3:43pm report

    LOL at some of these posts. This song has nothing to do with being gay you homophobes!
    It is the artists interpretation of the Catholic church and how hypocritical their views can be. The video uses being gay as an example since the church bashes anyone gay yet countless priests sexually abuse young boys. LOVE this song and what it represents.


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    Feb 27th, 2015 2:38pm report

    This song is disrespecting god. I cant believe this song gay is bad and everybody should try to not sin and they do that all the time.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway


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    Feb 27th, 2015 2:25pm report

    This song is just plain wrong as a Christian who has struggled with being bi sexual before I was saved I know it is nothing but a sickness from the pit of hell if you are gay then I'm sorry to say you will go to hell Jesus is the only way and if the bible says it's wrong it's wrong I will pray for those who approve of sin I know
    we are all human but God says put off the old man and live by the spirit not the flesh bur not all hope is lost JESUS STILL SAVES!!!!!
    AMEN!!!!!!!! JESUS LOVES ALL YALL!!!!!

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway


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    Feb 26th, 2015 2:12am report

    This song is maybe about how a lot of Christians/Catholics hate homosexuality. I am a Christian myself, but I KNOW and believe that everyone is born with sin(I was born sick) and that homosexuality is a sin, but God sees all sin the same way, so if religious people say that all gays will go to hell, they should go to hell themselves because they have sinned a lot as well. Nobody is worthy to God. God loves and accepts everyone.


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    Feb 19th, 2015 2:17pm report

    I think this song is criticizing the Christians as a hole because of one persons bad experience with a particular church or denomination. It seams to me like this song is speaking towards the catholic church. I am a Christian but I do not agree with denominations in the church. I agree with a church speaking and preaching the bible not what a particular denomination as a hole believes. So just because one person had a bad experience with one denomination Christians as a hole are to not blame.


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    Feb 11th, 2015 2:17am report

    The meaning is actually quite simple. The song speaks on the wrongs of calling something so human, such as love, a sin. Hozier uses the church as an analogy, but he is really speaking against anyone who condemns basic humanity


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    Feb 8th, 2015 2:49pm report

    So I'm kinda upset bout how people think Christians are. Because I love God and I'm a Christian so yea I don't support gay people but that doesn't mean I'm going to "kill" you or judge you or even make you feel any less of a person. God can only judge us. Nobody's perfect not even me everybody's a sinner but I'm so tired of people thinking Christina's are against everybody when we're not. I thought I liked this song but guess not now.


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    Dec 21st, 2014 12:47pm report

    This is a beautiful song. It is saying, as you can see in the music video, the two men who are gay have a "secret", the box with the chain. Someone discovers this secret and many people in this world they think anyone who is different is weird, so this person gets his group and they kill the homosexual man. (Kinda like KKK with racism). It's okay to be different, society tells us to embrace our flaws then makes fun of them. I believe love is love, if you feel a certain way you should embrace that not keep it from everyone for fear of being judged.

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