Hozier's song "Take Me to Church" was released in September 2013. However, it only got global fame starting last year after it released a controversial music video that represents well its equally controversial lyrics.
The video shows Hozier's frustration about the Catholic church and anti-homosexuality stance. With the growing popularity and content that most conservatives would not agree on, "Take Me to Church" also became a subject of criticisms, especially by people from the church.
In an interview with the Guardian, Hozier shared that although "Take Me to Church" has helped his career take off, the song itself was not something the church was happy about. In fact, he received letters from some pastors in the United States for releasing such single.
"I didn't receive any backlash in Ireland," Hozier said. "The message went under the radar until it was in the charts. It was released the same year as the Murphy report and the Ryan report (5), so there weren't too many people who were coming out swinging for the church."
"In America, I've never been approached or received hate mail, but I've had a few delightful open letters from pastors who have a few choice words to say. But the song isn't about Baptist or evangelical Christianity, it references more the Catholic church."
Hozier's "Take Me to Church" song is fulfilling its mission to liberate with the way the church reacted to it. In an interview with the Rolling Stone in January of this year, the Irish musician explained how he came up with the song.
"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."
Right now, Hozier song "Take Me to Church" has already been viewed 190,000,000 times and is Spotify's most-streamed song of 2014, achieving 87 million listens.
