Queer Theory Applied to “Take Me to Church” by Hozier
This was written for a course entitled Literary Criticism. I applied Queer Theory to a popular song without using any sources; I used knowledge gained through the class and no supporting texts. It was the final paper for the class, and it shows how we were able to use the content from the course and apply it to almost any medium available to us.
In the hit song, “Take Me to Church” by Andrew Hozier-Byrne, the writer offers criticism of the current atmosphere found surrounding the LGBTQ community. While his lyrics clue the reader into the meaning of his song, the video component pulls the whole text together in order to offer a full meaning and complete commentary. Hozier (his album name) uses the church as the reference point for his criticism of the social issue, but he does not fully attack it. Rather, he uses the constructed institution to highlight the recent concerns with the community he defends; the church is at the forefront of the fight, advocating against rights for those associating as LGBTQ. Hozier used his song-writing skills and his place in popular culture to shed light on the growing issue, and he used a powerful video with the music to enhance the message.
The song opens with the lyrics, “My lover’s got humor, she’s the giggle at a funeral […].” These are rebellious words with which to begin a song. The act of giggling at a funeral is non-normative; an act of natural defiance, whether on purpose or not. Just as being solemn and somber at a funeral is a Western social construct, heterosexual relationships are seen as the norm in many societies throughout the world. The words, though not explicitly pertaining to heterosexual activity, sets the tone of the song as non-normative. The mention of a “lover” also sets the stage for a romantic song, though it cannot be labelled as a traditional “love song,” it is a song about romantic relationships. The first ten words of the song inform the reader of the romantic and rebellious tension that will be present throughout the following verses and chorus.
The theme of religion continues with the lyrics, “… I should’ve worshipped 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.” The use of the pronoun “she” is interesting in this context. The text can, and most commonly is, interpreted as one of commentary on the persecution of those in the LGBTQ community. If viewing the writer and the subject of the song with their prescribed gender, then the lyrics would seem to be speaking of a heterosexual relationship. However, in order to correctly apply Queer Theory, the reader must look at the non-normative activity the text holds rather than activity that is purely sexual. One must also be open to the ways in which individuals choose to identify; many LGBTQ members choose to identify with a pronoun that Society did not construct for them or prescribe. The use of “she” adds depth to the lyrics that may not be there if Hozier had used the traditional gender binary in relation to his gender and songwriting.
Hozier writes that “she,” referring to the lover, is the last true mouthpiece of the heavens. It does not matter what the church says about heaven and truth, the writer’s truth is with the relationship with a lover. At this point in the song, the audience still does not have enough clues to deem the message as one about homosexual relations. The next line, however, gives the listener an idea of more tension with the church. Saying that each Sunday is bleaker than the last proves that something in the religious institution is unsettling. A fresh poison each week wraps up the image, and the writer begins to delve into the social issue on which he is making a statement.
“’We were born sick,’ you heard them say it.” This line is the first one that effectively delivers the intended message. In many societies today, there is an ongoing conversation and debate over whether or not sexuality is something that the individual is born with, if it’s a social construct, or if it should even be considered a natural lifestyle. Many people, while they “do not agree with” the homosexual lifestyle, do come to a consensus that those living in the LGBTQ community were born with an “affliction.” These people believe that homosexuality is a sickness that can be cured with religion. Hozier makes a bold statement here, saying that those identifying as homosexual have heard that many identifying as heterosexual believe they were “born sick,” and going to church will make them healthy and natural again. To be born with an affliction sets these individuals apart. While it is not uncommon for babies to be born with natural illnesses, it is much more common to see healthy children brought into the world. An illness will immediately set an individual apart. Queer Theory identifies the traits that set individuals apart from a normative society.
The next stanza directly addresses sexual relationships. The first line, “My church offers no absolutes,” shows a deviance from the traditional church; full of absolutes, such as good and evil; heaven and hell. Hozier is asserting here that “church” is something different for him. One could say that church in this context is queer, if using the direct denotation of the word: odd or unusual. “She tells me ‘worship in the bedroom.’ The only heaven I’ll be sent to is when I’m alone with you.” These are the next lines of the song, connoting a strong sexual essence, and one in defiance of the church. Also, worthy to note here, the pronoun “she” is used in reference to church. This takes the original thoughts of a heterosexual relationship between two humans and makes it instead a hetero relationship between the church and the writer. According to many in the church, those who practice homosexual relations will not enter “heaven” in the afterlife. The writer acknowledges this and says the only heaven he will ever know is in his romantic relationship with his partner, since he will not be permitted into an eternal paradise in the afterlife. The ideas of an afterlife, of an absolute heaven and an absolute hell, are constructs of the church; though based on biblical text, it is a construct that has been torn down and rebuilt multiple times, and one that does not usually comply with people identifying as LGBTQ.
“I was born sick, but I love it. Command me to be well.” This line revisits the assigned sickness that is placed on many homosexuals. However, the writer now states that he “loves it.” The socially prescribed sickness no longer matters. His happiness in his relationships trumps the sickness that sets him apart from the “normal.” The next line feels cynical in nature. He is demanding that someone command him to be well, but we know that he does not want to perform to the standards of an assigned gender that he is not. Perhaps this is his struggle between loving his sickness/identity yet wanting to have a “normal” place in Society.
The chorus is the part of the song that offers the swiftest kick to religious institutions and Society’s set standards:
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.
The writer makes another demand here, saying “Take me to church…” and he then immediately asserts his cynicism with the next lines. He writes that he will “worship like a dog,” which is to give himself an inhuman quality. He is seen as sick, as abnormal, to those living a heteronormative life. He will not worship like a believer, or like an equal member of Society, but like a dog because those in church view him as nothing more than a dog. Hozier then writes that the worship will happen at a “Shrine of lies.” This is in reference to the claim of Western religion to be loving and accepting of everyone, but when issues, such as homosexuality, become concrete and personal to members of the church, their religion begins to falter from its true form and becomes a shrine of lies. This shrine of lies leads to the next line; once his sins are told in church, even if he wanted to “get better,” many would sharpen their hypothetical knives. Rather than love and acceptance, the church often spews hatred and disapproval. To be “queer” is to be abnormal, and Hozier is making a statement that the church will not actually accept those with a socially prescribed sickness, but rather will continue persecuting those identifying as non-binary.
“Offer me that deathless death,” could be alluding to a couple of thoughts in this context. The church will try to make the subject clean; to cleanse them of their affliction with religion and normal societal practices. To the writer, this is a form of death without physically losing life. If he/she cannot be with their partner, death is preferable. Church offers a deathless death, and in order to become normal and clean, the subject pleads, “Good God, let me give you my life.” Another interpretation could be that the subject is making the act and sensation of falling in love synonymous with a deathless death, one that consumes him and will ultimately destroy him because of his “condition” in a religiously structured environment. It is also worth noting that a deathless death is a euphemism for an orgasm. While this seems like a stretch in context of the words surrounding it, the song is about homosexual relations, and the act of sexual relations between two people of the same gender is often what deters many from accepting this lifestyle.
Another powerful stanza of the song is the following: “That’s a fine-looking high horse. What you got in the stable? We’ve a lot of starving faithful.” Hozier is using the well-known idiom of telling someone they are on a “high horse,” or that they are sitting so far above everyone else and they are not grounded in reality. He also uses the horse, another domesticated animal, to paint a picture of someone who takes care of their position in society. He says the horse is “fine-looking,” then proceeds to ask what is in the stable. He is inquiring of this because there are many faithful people to the church, though they do not fit the traditional standards, and they are starving because they are not allowed in; they are not allowed such a position in the church or in Society because of their place in the LGBTQ community. If the subject on the “high horse” would share what it is he feeds the horse (again, only a metaphorical domesticated animal but with higher importance than those starving for acceptance), then perhaps these “starving faithful” could find a place at the table and contribute to Society, despite their abnormal desires and relations.
The final section of the song to be analyzed is the bridge between the final two choruses (as used above). The lyrics here are, “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,” followed by a string of “Amen.” God is often referred to as a transcendental deity; a master or a king. Hozier here writes that there is no religious deity present during sexual relations between lovers, hetero or homosexual. He then writes that their “gentle sin” (since sexual relations outside of marriage are viewed as a sin in most Western, Christian religions) is merely that of sweet innocence. Just as heterosexual relations outside of marriage are a “gentle sin” caused by a “sweet innocence,” homosexual relations are the same. There is nothing abnormal in their love and their desires, it is not a sickness, and it should be treated as such. Hozier then makes a statement that homosexual relations are natural as he refers an “earthly scene” and “madness and soil.” All of these are natural, just as love and desire are natural despite gender. The writer then says “Only then I am human, only then I am clean.” This line ties the whole song together. He has compared the homosexual subject of the song as a dog worshiping at a shrine of lies, trying to become “clean,” to rid himself of his affliction. Here, however, he realizes that only in this form of love and desire is he human and clean. He does not need to define himself by social constructs; when he does this, he is “like a dog,” but when he is performing in his natural state of identity and self, he is human and he is clean, free from the restraints and sickness of a life built on societal pressures.
In order to fully understand and experience the text, one must watch the video created to go along with the music. The video opens with an image of a box burning in a fire. The audience then sees the box pulled from a shelf and bound with chains, followed by a man burying it in fresh soil. The video continues to follow two men, one of whom just buried the chained box, meet alone in a place that is seemingly away from the public eye. As they are spending time together, there is a camera redirection to a man dressed in dark colors; it is obvious that he has caught sight of their secret relationship. When the chained box is taken from its spot on the shelf in the beginning of the video, the movement of the box to the soil outdoors symbolizes the relationship being “outed.” While it is clear it was not the man’s intention to out their relationship, the immediate discovery of their intimacy proves that their secret is in the open.
As soon as they kiss, the video transitions to a mob, walking with purpose, and faces covered with masks. They raid a house and search for something or someone. The video transitions between the two men kissing, the raid, and one of the men running towards the house the mob is invading. At one point, a television screen in the house shows a clip from the recent Russian protests of LGBTQ persecution. This adds extra commentary to the song, showing footage of actual societal prescriptions of gender and normative sexuality. The clips of their relationship interspersed throughout the angry montage of persecutors shows them performing in their natural state. This is a strong statement in the video; it shows how homosexual couples are not “sick,” and how their actions and desires are “normal” but with someone of the same gender rather than the traditional hetero relationship. These actions, skipping rocks, smoking, laughing, etc., are a deep contrast to the end of the video.
As the song concludes, the handful of persecutors have taken the man and the chained box he had buried. When the partner does not find the box on the shelf, he runs outside to find it has been dug up and exposed. He then runs and finds the box in the fire, destroyed by a crowbar, and his lover on the ground, being kicked by the men in the gang. There is nothing he can do, because they outnumber him. The expression of hurt on his face as he stares at the fire, at their exposed forbidden relationship and beaten partner, ends the video. The song is powerful on its own, but the video enhances the message and delves deeper into this current social issue.
When utilizing Queer Theory, one must ask how the characters of the text are being perceived, and if they are having difficulty facing any socially constructed issues. There are two individuals in the video for the song representing an entire group of people who face crises every day because of their sexuality. Andrew Hozier-Byrne wrote this song in order to raise awareness of the hypocrisy that arises in religion when institutions and Society begin constructing their own rules of what it means to be human or to love. While it does not seem as if Hozier is condemning the church, he is highlighting the underlying problems of the persecution of an entire group of people by certain religious groups and pockets of Society. The words written by this songwriter are powerful and relevant in today’s world, and while many may disagree with the message, the voice of this mistreated and underrepresented group of people is strengthening through texts such as these.
