Sarah Horner

Hozier Fast Facts• Hozier was born on the 17th of March 1990• Born in Ireland in Bray, County Wicklow.• He released his debut EP, featuring the hit single "Take

Me to Church", in 2013 and his second EP, From Eden, in 2014.

• His debut studio album, Hozier, was released in Ireland in September 2014 and globally in October 2014.

What Is His story?• Hozier is the son of a local blues musician.

• He attended St. Gerard's School before he began studying music at Trinity College, Dublin, but dropped out midway through his first year to record demos for Universal Music.

• While at Trinity, he became involved with the Trinity Orchestra. He was a member of the chorale ensemble Anúna from 2007 to 2012, and appears as a soloist on their 2012 release Illumination singing "La Chanson de Mardi Gras".

• He toured and sang with the group internationally including performances in Norway and the Netherlands.

Take Me to Church… • In 2013, Hozier released the EP Take Me to Church (also containing "Like Real

People Do", "Angel of Small Death and The Codeine Scene" and a live version of "Cherry Wine"), with the title track becoming his breakthrough single after it went viral on YouTube.

• It reached number one on the Irish iTunes singles chart and number two in the official chart on 25 October 2013.

• Hozier released his self-titled album, Hozier on 19 September 2014. It featured five singles, including Take Me to Church, Work Song, and From Eden, which were hits on his earlier EPs.

• On December 5, 2014, it was announced that "Take Me to Church" was nominated at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards for Song of the Year in 2015.

• He performed for the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2014, Saturday Night Live,[9] and Late Night with Seth Meyers.

• He performed "Take Me to Church" with Annie Lennox at the 2015 Grammy Awards.[12]

• He then performed "Take Me to Church" once again at the 2015 Billboard Music Awards.

• In June 2015 he sang the recessional hymn at the funeral of Olivia Burke, the 21 year old Irish J-1 visa student, killed when an apartment balcony collapsed and killed six students in Berkeley, California.[The same month, he also played the prestigious Glastonbury Festival.

• Hozier has stated he is a feminist.

Take Me to Church Film Clip

What is this song about? • A mid-tempo soul song, its lyrics detail Hozier's frustration with

the Catholic Church and its stance on homosexuality.

• It first caught the attention of independent label Rubyworks, where producer Rob Kirwan overdubbed the original demo with live instruments.

• Only two musicians feature on the track, Andrew Hozier-Byrne (Hozier) and drummer Fiachra Kinder.

• The song's music video has contributed to its widespread popularity. The clip, directed by Brendan Canty and Conal Thomson of the small production company Feel Good Lost, follows the relationship between two men in a same-sex relationship and the subsequent violent homophobic backlash. Upon its YouTube release in September 2013, it quickly began to go viral, leading to Hozier's license with Columbia Records.

Lyrical Interpretations… • Lyrically, "Take Me to Church" is a metaphor, with the protagonist comparing his

lover to religion. • The song grew out of Hozier's frustration with the Catholic Church's teachings.

"Growing up, I always saw the hypocrisy of the Catholic church," Hozier said in an interview with Rolling Stone. "The history speaks for itself and I grew incredibly frustrated and angry. I essentially just put that into my words."

• In an interview with The Irish Times, Hozier stated, "I found the experience of falling in love or being in love was a death, a death of everything. You kind of watch yourself die in a wonderful way, and you experience for the briefest moment–if you see yourself for a moment through their eyes–everything you believed about yourself gone. In a death-and-rebirth sense."[

• In an interview with New York magazine, he elaborated: "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.“

• The song draws inspiration from atheist author Christopher Hitchens and paraphrases the poet Fulke Greville's verse "Created sick, commanded to be sound."

Lyrical Interpretations… "Take Me To Church"

My lover's got humourShe's the giggle at a funeral

Knows everybody's disapprovalI should've worshipped her sooner

If the heavens ever did speakShe's the last true mouthpiece

Every Sunday's getting more bleakA fresh poison each week

Verse Interpretations

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

My church offers no absolutesShe tells me, "Worship in the bedroom."

The only heaven I'll be sent toIs when I'm alone with you

I was born sickBut I love it

Command me to be wellAaay. Amen. Amen. Amen.

Take me to churchI'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your liesI'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your

knifeOffer me that deathless death

Good God, let me give you my life

If I'm a pagan of the good timesMy lover's the sunlight

To keep the Goddess on my sideShe demands a sacrifice

Drain the whole seaGet something shiny

Something meaty for the main courseThat's a fine-looking high horse

What you got in the stable?We've a lot of starving faithful

That looks tastyThat looks plenty

This is hungry work

Take me to churchI'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 deathGood God, let me give you my life

No Masters or KingsWhen 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 humanOnly then I am clean

Ooh oh. Amen. Amen. Amen.

Take me to churchI'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your liesI'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your

knifeOffer me that deathless death

Good God, let me give you my life

Conclusion

• Overall summary about the song and what the writer is expressing, what do you think

Take Me To Church Lyrics

My lover's got humourShe's the giggle at a funeral

Knows everybody's disapprovalI should've worshipped her sooner

If the heavens ever did speakShe's the last true mouthpiece

Every Sunday's getting more bleakA fresh poison each week

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

My church offers no absolutesShe tells me, "Worship in the bedroom."

The only heaven I'll be sent toIs when I'm alone with you

I was born sickBut I love it

Command me to be wellAaay. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[Chorus 2x:]Take me to church

I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your liesI'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife

Offer me that deathless deathGood God, let me give you my life

If I'm a pagan of the good timesMy lover's the sunlight

To keep the Goddess on my sideShe demands a sacrifice

Drain the whole seaGet something shiny

Something meaty for the main courseThat's a fine-looking high horse

What you got in the stable?We've a lot of starving faithful

That looks tastyThat looks plenty

This is hungry work

[Chorus 2x:]Take me to church

I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your liesI'll tell you my sins so you can sharpen your knife

Offer me my deathless deathGood God, let me give you my life

No Masters or KingsWhen the Ritual begins

There is no sweeter innocence than our gentle sin

In the madness and soil of that sad earthly sceneOnly then I am humanOnly then I am clean

Ooh oh. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[Chorus 2x:]Take me to church

I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your liesI'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife

Offer me that deathless deathGood God, let me give you my life