"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 Wale ...

band

Bloc Party Bloc Party are an English Rock music, rock band that was formed in London, England, London in 1999 by co-founders Kele Okereke (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano, sampler) and Russell Lissack (lead guitar). Their first four albums all featur ...

. It was released as the lead single from their second studio album, ''

A Weekend in the City ''A Weekend in the City'' is the second studio album by British indie rock band Bloc Party. It was recorded at Grouse Lodge Studios in Westmeath, Ireland, in mid-2006 and was produced by Jacknife Lee. The album was refined and mixed at severa ...

'', except in the U.S. where it is the second single. "

I Still Remember "I Still Remember" is a song by English rock band Bloc Party. It was released as a single from their second studio album, '' A Weekend in the City'', being the first U.S. single and second UK single from the album. The single was released in B ...

" 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 Yea ...

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 "Kele" Okereke (born 13 October 1981), also known :wikt:mononym, 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 Part ...

says he was inspired to write the song after hearing

Busta Rhymes Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, singer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after National Football League, NFL and Canadian Football Lea ...

' song " Touch It". He also described the song as having a "

crunk Crunk is a subgenre of Southern hip-hop that emerged in the early 1990s and gained mainstream success during the early to mid 2000s. Crunk is often up-tempo and one of Southern hip hop's more nightclub-oriented subgenres. Distinguishing itself w ...

-like" effect. A cover version of "The Prayer" by

KT Tunstall Kate Victoria "KT" Tunstall (born 23 June 1975) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and musician. She first gained attention with a 2004 live solo performance of her song "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" on ''Later... with Jools Holland'', and h ...

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 1 ...

such as

MDMA 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), commonly known as ecstasy (tablet form), and molly (crystal form), is an empathogen–entactogenic drug with stimulant and minor Psychedelic drug, psychedelic properties. In studies, it has been used ...

and

Ketamine Ketamine is a cyclohexanone-derived general anesthetic and NMDA receptor antagonist with analgesic and hallucinogenic properties, used medically for anesthesia, depression, and pain management. Ketamine exists as its S- (esketamine) a ...

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 Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...

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, England, by Robert Del Naja, Robert "3D" Del Naja, Daddy G, Grant "Daddy G" Marshall, Tricky (musician), Adrian "Tricky" Thaws and Andrew Vowles, Andrew "Mushroom" ...

The Prodigy The Prodigy are an English electronic music band formed in Braintree, Essex, in 1990 by producer, keyboardist, and songwriter Liam Howlett. The original line-up also featured Rapping, MC and vocalist Maxim (musician), Maxim, dancer and occasi ...

and most notably

The Verve The Verve were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Wigan in 1990 by lead vocalist Richard Ashcroft, guitarist Nick McCabe, bass guitarist Simon Jones (musician), Simon Jones and drummer Peter Salisbury. Guitarist and keyboard player Sim ...

's "

Bitter Sweet Symphony "Bitter Sweet Symphony" is a song by the English rock band the Verve, released on 16 June 1997 by Hut Recordings and Virgin Records as the lead single from their third album, ''Urban Hymns''. It was produced by Youth (musician), Youth at Olympi ...

". In the video, all members of Bloc Party are at a

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

(which, in reality, is Café 1001 in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

). 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 ''Project Gotham Racing 4'' is a 2007 racing video game developed by Bizarre Creations and published by Xbox Game Studios, Microsoft Game Studios. The fourth main title of the ''Project Gotham Racing'' series, it was released exclusively for the ...

'' (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? Does It Offend You, Yeah? are an English dance-punk band from Reading, Berkshire. They played their final show on 12 December 2015 at the Electric Ballroom, Camden Town. In September 2021, they announced a new album, titled ''We Do Our Own Stun ...

remix was featured on '' Need for Speed: ProStreet''. The song was also featured in the general trailer of the sixth season of ''

Smallville ''Smallville'' is an American superhero fiction, superhero television series developed by writer-producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The series was produce ...

'' in March and April 2007. The song was also featured in the soundtrack for the video game ''

NHL 2K8 ''NHL 2K8'' is an ice hockey video game made by 2K, and published on the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 consoles. It features former Ottawa Senators centre Jason Spezza on its cover. Bob Cole and Harry Neale return from '' NHL 2K ...

''.

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