Friday, March 13, 2015

TAKE ME TO CHURCH

I have heard this song in the past, and then recently heard it again on Globe Radio, Goshen College's FM Station - Link on the Right Panel of This Blog.  And interestingly, Jerry Coyne hosted a guest post about the song, so go over there to read some very interesting comments.  Summary - many take it to be a very anti-theistic, anti church song, while a couple of wags said that it is simply a metaphor for sex.  And then one person trumped that by saying virtually every pop song is a metaphor for sex!!!  Har!  I will let you decide.


"Take Me To Church"

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's the last true mouthpiece
Every Sunday's getting more bleak
A fresh poison each week

'We were born sick,' you heard them say it

My Church offers no absolutes
She tells me, 'Worship in the bedroom.'
The only heaven I'll be sent to
Is when I'm alone with you.

I was born sick,
But I love it
Command me to be well
Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

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

If I'm a pagan of the good times
My lover's the sunlight
To keep the Goddess on my side
She demands a sacrifice

Drain the whole sea
Get something shiny
Something meaty for the main course
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

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

No Masters or Kings
When the Ritual begins
There is no sweeter innocence than our gentle sin

In the madness and soil of that sad earthly scene
Only then I am Human
Only then I am Clean
Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

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

12 comments:

Biz said...

First time I have heard of the song, then again, I haven't kept up with pop music since the late 70's and don't listen to any music stations. (Rush is "music to my ears.") There was a country hit several years ago titled "Heaven's Just A Sin Away," and another lamenting, "How can it be so bad when it feels so good?" No one can deny that most sin does "feel good." Lol! But when the consequences are examined, one can understand why certain fleshly impulses are deemed sinful. Am sure the drug addicted slut with three kids, each by a different daddy, and no money and no future and nothing in her life, save for a few feel good moments of orgasm and intoxication, would be a good poster child for the writer of the song.

Lance Sterling said...

Get with it, Biz. Way back when it was wine, women, and song, which later became sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll. Am sure you had your fill of those. Now you come along and "Tsk, tsk" every little breach of your rigid norms.

Yodie Yoder said...

The song is seriously anti-a-religion-that-appears-to-be-Christianity. “Offer me that deathless death” [heaven is eternal death rather than eternal life]. “There is no sweeter innocence than our gentle sin” [fornication.] “In the madness and soil of that sad earthly scene” [a messed up and unhappy place]. “Only then I am human, Only then I am clean” [fornication humanizes and purifies me, not religion].

Hugh G. said...

The singer wages war against God with his musical gift and is content with the booby prize of an out-of-wedlock orgasm.

Steve Heller said...

The singer is a POS revolutionary Nihilist. "The first duty of man, on becoming intelligent and free, is to continually hunt the idea of God out of his mind and conscience. For God, if he exists, is essentially hostile to our nature. Every step we take in advance is a victory in which we crush Divinity. Humanity must be made to see that God, if there is a God, is its enemy."

Lou SIefer said...

It made my day to hear you listened to Take Me To Church on Goshen College’s FM station. Mwahahahaha…

DES said...

Lucifer - that was indeed a bit ironic, eh? However, they might be like me and never listen to the words, but rather simply enjoy the tune.

My opinion is that songwriters need to make it clear exactly what they are trying to say. Otherwise, for me, their lyrics are a failure. IMHO, all of this strange language is generally not deep thoughts but rather semi-random nonsense written in a dope-filled haze. If one writes bizarre lyrics, folks can interpret it any old way they want to suit their biases. I will listen to lyrics that tell me a straight-forward story - otherwise, it better be a good tune!! :-)

Bizzy Brain said...

Agree it’s mostly all about the tune and not the lyrics, and, like you, DES, have enjoyed a song for years without knowing the lyrics. Guess part of poetry is the obscurity, since poets don’t necessarily spell things out owner’s manual style. I suppose certain “truths” emerge from the sub-conscious that can be deciphered, depending on the degree of intoxication of the creator and the listener, or simply enjoyed for the tune alone. Am thinking the songwriter starts with lyrics, but your sis and niece would be the experts in the song creating process. There may be some kind of “communication” that occurs, from the sub-conscious of the creator to the subconscious of the listener that transcends logical thought and analysis. And some think if an artist could explain in detail the meaning of everything in his work of art, he may as well write an essay. The depth and substance of the song are a whole other story. After all, it is entertainment, and Aaron Spelling dismissed his huge body of work as “cotton candy for the mind.”

DES said...

My, my Bizzy - waxing philosophical on a Monday :-) I throw obfuscating poets in the same bucket. Guess that explains why I never have liked poetry. What always p***** me off in college is that after reading a poem, the prof would say "here is what it means" which of course is only his opinion versus mine which was usually "it is meaningless" :-)

Ole Biz said...

Just call me the LAZY philosopher, DES. Interested in ideas, but not interested enough to blog about them. Good thing you aren't in school these days. Everything that has ever been written by a white male is racist, sexist, bigoted, patriarchal, and oppressive.

DES said...

Good one Biz - and yes, I am certainly glad that I am not in school now, mainly because I never want to take another test [may have to give up driving ;-] About the dead white guys - of course they were!!!! Get with the program....

Smart One said...

Mr. Hozier would benefit from the thinking of Blaise Pascal, who proposed Pascal's Wager, which explains the wisdom of believing in God. If one believes in God and God exists, one wins. If one believes in God and God does not exist, nothing in lost. However if one does not believe in God and God exists, then all is lost.