But it’s one thing to be a gay artist, and quite another to be a “gay icon.” There’s a long history of ostensibly heterosexual musicians garnering cult followings of gay fans. There are a plethora of queer female artists who have cemented themselves as gay icons, both in underground indie circles and on a larger, more public scale: Janis Ian, Tracy Chapman, Melissa Etheridge, King Princess, Hayley Kiyoko, girl in red, Pheobe Bridgers, and Mitski, to name a few. “You guys are amazing.” He’s held up various pride flags at his concerts, and he supports his queer fans regularly on social media, whether it’s a simple and funny acknowledgment that he sees and loves them, or a comment on a more serious topic within the LGTBQ community. “I’m becoming more and more informed of my lesbian cult following,” Hozier said in a 2018 Tumblr Q&A session. For his part, Hozier has eagerly accepted the mantle of lesbian icon. A quick scroll through Hozier’s tag on Tumblr or Twitter shows LGBTQ fans - mostly lesbian, bisexual, and pansexual women - sharing memes, tweets, and inside jokes about Hozier being possessed by a lesbian witch. If you’re a human being with internet connection, you know that Andrew John Hozier-Byrne, better known as Hozier, has quite the enthusiastic fanbase of queer women in his corner. I couldn’t have been the only 16-year-old girl who heard this song for the first time in 2013 and had this vivid fantasy? Hozier’s voice fades into the forest, returning to where it came from. Neither of you speak, for there is no need – her eyes, washing over you with the intensity of a mighty ocean, say everything that needs to be said. Nothing feels as holy or sacred as the flesh of her fingers against yours. This is Irish singer-songwriter Hozier’s 2013 hit single “Take Me To Church”. In the madness and soil of that sad earthly scene There is no sweeter innocence than our gentle sin No masters or kings when the ritual begins She smiles at you with the softness of a late spring day and extends her hand to you.Īnd then, a voice in the distance begins chanting so quietly that it more resembles a faint, imagined thought rather than an audible sound, and you hear words being sung:
It’s then that you see it: a cathedral as tall as heaven with stained glass windows and grey stone that blends into the endless sky above. You are Moses, drawing back the Red Sea to reveal a dark secret. Girthy church bells bellow in the distance, beckoning you further into the endless greenery. No, not wanted – needed, desperately, leaving you gasping and thirsty. You know there is something alive about this place, sentient and knowing, beckoning you to a place unknown, but wanted. You allow the fog to lead you along a path blanketed by moss.
Robins perched in the branches watch you with beady, still eyes. The forest seems to inhale and exhale with every step you take.
You take your first steps onto the damp earth, listen to the soft crunch of leaves and twigs beneath your feet. A muddy cobblestone path weaves its way through half-dead wildflowers, leading you to the lip of a forest.