In Hozier’s hit “Take Me to Church,” the singer calls his lover “the giggle at a funeral.” The striking image appears near the beginning of the song, pairing joy and irreverence with a setting normally associated with grief and solemnity.
Hozier wrote the song in 2013 while living with his parents in County Wicklow, Ireland, and recorded an early demo in an attic studio. Its religious language is metaphorical: the lover becomes an object of devotion, while the song challenges institutional shame and the policing of sexuality.
Released as a single in September 2013, “Take Me to Church” first became a major hit in Ireland before spreading internationally. Its black-and-white video, which depicts violence against a same-sex couple, reinforced the song’s criticism of homophobia and intolerance. The track later reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned a Grammy nomination for Song of the Year.