Hozier's Hymn of Blasphemy

The song "Take Me To Church," by Andrew Hozier-Byrne, anchors his eponymous album. Hozier is the Irish singer-songwriter's first studio album, which Island Records released in September of 2014. Since its release, "Take Me To Church" has achieved international acclaim and success. I argue that this song's multidimensional language and employment of figurative language renders it a refined piece of poetic writing.

Hozier sings the song from the perspective of a person whose lover, identified as a woman, has recently left or exited the speaker's life in some way. This information can be inferred from the lyric, "I should-'ve worshipped her sooner." Beyond establishing the identity of the speaker and the subject, this line also indicates that the speaker's exigence is regretful reminiscence. The speaker wishes that he or she had fully appreciated the subject before she left. The audience seems to be the members of society as a whole; the speaker implores self-proclaimed beacons of morality to "command" him "to be well." According to songfacts.com, that line references a 1554 poem by Greville: "created sick, commanded to be sound." The audience appears to shift at certain points when the speaker appeals to his or her goddess, or ex-lover. During these points in the song, the vocals crescendo and the accompaniment transitions from  a restful half-note/quarter note pattern to a more hectic eighth note pattern. The speaker, exigence, and audience combine to express a discontent with modern religion and systems of morality in general.

Hozier conveys his criticisms of modern morality through intricate and figurative language. The line,

She's the giggle at a funeral

For instance, operates as a metaphor; the vehicle, a giggle at a funeral, describes speaker's ex-lover as repugnant to modern custom. The word "giggle" connotes a lighthearted and humorous temperament, which is juxtaposed to the solemn atmosphere of a funeral. Hozier writes later on that,

Every Sunday's getting more bleak/A fresh poison each week.

This line equates Sunday to organized religion via metonymy. Hozier's diction of "poison"implies that religion kills the speaker, or that religion is insidious. In response to the dominate ideology of organized religion, the speaker argues,

My church offers no absolutes

This lyric implies that the speaker's lover constitutes a personal religion. Rather than dictate morality, the speaker's lover demands sacrifice and promises a concrete reward, or "heaven," in the form of her love.

This song operates on two levels: a critique of organized religion and a mourning of the speaker's relationship. "Take Me To Church" communicates these messages through eloquent prose that infuses pop radio stations with poeticism.