Worship You – Vampire Weekend

I first heard this song on the soundtrack of the EA Sports football video game FIFA 14, when my son and I used to play. I’ve presented a couple of other songs from their soundtracks here, but from different versions of the game, namely Go Wild by Friedberg and Dreaming by Smallpools.

So today’s song, Worship You, ends the FIFA trilogy of songs I adored hearing. Most of the other songs on there made me want to slit my wrists, but not these goodies – they were going straight into the ‘project’. FIFA eventually ended support for their earlier versions, and my laptop doesn’t support the newer games. So it looks like – that’s that, but it was a fun ride.

Worship You is such a fantastic song. The high-paced vocals and frantic snare-drum rhythm are so unorthodox, but the whole thing is bursting with energy and vitality, like a steroid hormone in song form. It’s said the band – Vampire Weekend bonded over a shared love of punk rock and African and Eastern music, and you can definitely hear that in this song.

I find it riveting and so inspiring when they launch into the chorus with We worshipped You, Your red right hand. It’s anthemic and feels like it has jumped straight out of a parallel world. It blows me away every time, despite the obscene number of times I’ve heard it.

Worship You comes from the American indie-rock band’s third studio album, Modern Vampires of the City, released in 2013.

Religious themes have run rampant in the music presented here of late, and Worship You is no different. In fact, the whole song appears to be a direct message to God, presumably the Abrahamic God. There seems to be some conjecture about whether it denigrates God or is an affirmation. Perhaps it’s both.

Vampire Weekend’s frontman Ezra Koenig is Jewish, and this article by Hey Alma discusses how he infused Judaism, Jewish history and culture into the band’s music. Regarding the song Worship You, it says:

Once again, the narrator (again, likely Koenig) is having a conversation with God. In it, he scolds God for being so particular about the way God wants to be worshipped. At the same time, the narrator makes an ironic statement about Jerusalem, singing, “City with the safety of a never-ending blessing on it” and asks, “We worshipped You, Your red right hand / Won’t we see you once again? / In foreign soil, in foreign land / Who will guide us through the end?” Essentially, Ezra is asking when Moshiach will come and references the diasporic Jewish community.

According to a contribution to Genius Lyrics – the beat of Worship You resembles a raga. Rostam Batmanglij’s mother Najmieh elaborated in an interview with The New Yorker, comparing it instead to music she had introduced to Rostam as a child:

Najmieh said she detected a Persian influence for the first time on Vampire Weekend’s new album, and when I mentioned that to Rostam he agreed. On the song “Worship You,” he plays a synthesizer solo that was inspired by Persian folk music and when he played the song “Young Lion” for his parents, they said it reminded them of a Persian melody, too.

[Verse 1]
Only in the way You want it
Only on the day You want it
Only with the understanding:
Every single day You want it
Only in the way You want it
Only on the day You want it
Only with the understanding:
Every single day you want it
You, You

[Verse 2]
City with the weight upon it
City in the way you want it
City with the safety
Of a never-ending blessing on it
City with the weight upon it
City in the way you want it
City with the safety
Of a never-ending blessing on it
You, You

[Chorus]
We worshipped You, Your red right hand
Won’t we see you once again?
In foreign soil, in foreign land
Who will guide us through the end?

[Verse 3]
Calling on a change, You want it
Calling on the same, You want it
Calling on the misery to always be explained
You want it
Calling on a change, You want it
Calling on the same, You want it
Calling on the misery to always be explained
You want it
You, You

[Verse 4]
Energetic praise You wanted
Any kind of praise You wanted
Little bit of light
To get us through the final days You wanted
Energetic praise You wanted
Any kind of praise You wanted
Little bit of light
To get us through the final days You wanted
You, too

[Chorus]
We worshipped You, Your red right hand
Won’t we see You once again?
In foreign soil, in foreign land
Who will guide us through the end?
We worshipped You, Your red right hand
Won’t we see You once again?
In foreign soil, in foreign land
Who will guide us through the end?

References:
1. Vampire Weekend – Wikipedia
2. Worship You – Genius Lyrics