"The Prayer" is a song by English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Bloc Party Bloc Party are an English rock band, composed of Kele Okereke (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards, sampler), Russell Lissack (lead guitar, keyboards), Justin Harris (bass guitar, keyboards, saxophones, backing vocals) and Louise Bartle ( ...

. It was released as the lead single from their second studio album, '' A Weekend in the City'', except in the U.S. where it is the second single. " I Still Remember" was the first song from the album to be released in North America. It was released by

Wichita Recordings Wichita Recordings is an independent record label located in London, founded in 2000 by Mark Bowen and Dick Green. Its most notable signees include Bloc Party, The Cribs, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Bright Eyes, My Morning Jacket, Yeah Yeah Ye ...

on 29 January 2007 and is the band's highest charting single worldwide. The lyrics deal with drug use in nightclubs and party environments. Band frontman

Kele Okereke Rowland Kelechukwu Okereke (born 13 October 1981), also known mononymously as Kele, is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the indie rock band Bloc Party. Early life Okere ...

says he was inspired to write the song after hearing Busta Rhymes' song " Touch It". He also described the song as having a "

crunk Crunk is a subgenre of hip hop music that emerged in the early 1990s and gained mainstream success during the mid 2000s. Crunk is often up-tempo and one of Southern hip hop's more dance and club oriented subgenres. An archetypal crunk track fre ...

-like" effect. A cover version of "The Prayer" by KT Tunstall is included in ''

Radio 1's Live Lounge – Volume 2 ''Radio 1's Live Lounge: Volume 2'' is a collection of live tracks played on Jo Whiley's Radio 1 show. The album is the second in a series of Live Lounge albums. It consists of both covers and the bands' own songs. The album was released on 22 Oc ...

'', and on her single "If Only".

Lyrics

The lyrics of the song deal with the use of

club drugs Club drugs, also called rave drugs or party drugs, are a loosely defined category of recreational drugs which are associated with discothèques in the 1970s and nightclubs, dance clubs, electronic dance music (EDM) parties, and raves in the 1980 ...

such as

MDMA 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), commonly seen in tablet form (ecstasy) and crystal form (molly or mandy), is a potent empathogen–entactogen with stimulant properties primarily used for recreational purposes. The desire ...

and

Ketamine Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic used medically for induction and maintenance of anesthesia. It is also used as a recreational drug. It is one of the safest anesthetics, as, in contrast with opiates, ether, and propofol, it suppresses ...

in nightclubs and parties. The song deals with the effects of such drugs on the human body through the eyes of a user, who asks, "Is it so wrong, to want rewarding?/To want more than is given to you?".

Music video

video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syst ...

for the song was released on 5 December 2006, and was directed by Walter Stern, also known for directing videos by

Massive Attack Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol by Robert "3D" Del Naja, Adrian "Tricky" Thaws, Andrew "Mushroom" Vowles and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall. The debut Massive Attack album '' Blue Lines'' was releas ...

, The Prodigy and most notably

The Verve The Verve were an English rock band formed in Wigan in 1990 by lead vocalist Richard Ashcroft, guitarist Nick McCabe, bass guitarist Simon Jones and drummer Peter Salisbury. Guitarist and keyboard player Simon Tong later became a member in ...

's " Bitter Sweet Symphony". In the video, all members of Bloc Party are at a

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

(which, in reality, is Café 1001 in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

). It follows them throughout the night even though they do not appear to be doing much. Okereke is the only one who actually gets up and goes around. The other members just sit around while Okereke goes off on his own journey, whilst cigarette burn effects and other visual distortions appear.

In popular culture

The song was featured in the racing video game '' Project Gotham Racing 4'' (also required for the Tonight Make Me Unstoppable achievement, which requires you to finish a race in second place with this song playing.), while the Does It Offend You, Yeah? remix was featured on '' Need for Speed: ProStreet''. The song was also featured in the general trailer of the sixth season of '' Smallville'' in March and April 2007. The song was also featured in the soundtrack for the video game '' NHL 2K8''.

Track listing

7" vinyls

* Wichita / WEBB118S (UK) (in gatefold sleeve which houses second 7") * Wichita / WEBB118SX (UK)

CD

* Wichita / WEBB118SCD (UK)

Remixes

Bonus download track

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prayer, The 2007 singles Bloc Party songs Song recordings produced by Jacknife Lee Songs about drugs Wichita Recordings singles 2007 songs Songs written by Kele Okereke Songs written by Gordon Moakes Songs written by Russell Lissack Songs written by Matt Tong Music videos directed by Walter Stern