Back when I had a job in the real world, one which involved a shirt and ties as opposed to a bathrobe and pajama pants, we used to have music playing all the time in our office. Now, I have to admit, I hadn’t been up on all the latest pop songs in those days (or these days), but I did have a chance to hear the hottest new songs while I was working. And I would hear them — over, and over, and over again for weeks. One such song that I could not get out of my head was “Take Me to Church” by Hozier. But, I have to admit, I still like this song despite hearing it about 15 times a day within my eight-hour shift.
There’s just something about the song that resonates deeply within me. And I’m not the biggest religious guy, but the reverence of the lyrics speaks to a deep, all-consuming love within one’s soul. Back in 2013, Hozier, a native of Ireland, was still a struggling musician. He was a common fixture at many of the open mic nights in the Dublin-area. It was during this hard period in his life that he wrote: “Take Me to Church.” According to Hoizer, he wrote the song after a very nasty breakup. “The vocals were recorded in my attic at 2 o’clock in the morning. So it’s a real homemade job”, he later recalled. An independent label caught wind of his demo and brought him in to produce a more refined version. In this video, we see Ed Sheeran covering Hozier’s masterpiece single “Take Me to Church.”
Image via YouTube
The song was nominated for Song of the Year at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, and it has since gone five times platinum in the U.S. I think “Take Me to Church” is a truly remarkable testament not just to the love of a person, but to the love of art. One can only imagine how many times Hozier felt like giving up or was told to “get a real job.” Nevertheless, he persevered, and during a flash of inspiration, made possible by his personal and artistic experiences, he wrote a song at 2 am in his attic that changed his life forever. Such is the power of art and the love behind it.
Image via YouTube
You can watch Ed Sheeran’s outstanding cover of “Take Me to Church” in the video below.
