"Devil in a Midnight Mass" is the first single released from Billy Talent's second album, ''

Billy Talent II ''Billy Talent II'' is the second studio album by Canadian rock band Billy Talent, released on June 27, 2006. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Canadian Albums Chart, selling 48,000 copies in its first week. The album also reached No. 1 on the G ...

''.

Song information

There are two differing versions of the song: the album version, and an unpolished demo version released in December 2005 via their Myspace account. In the album version

Ben Kowalewicz Benjamin Ian Kowalewicz (; born December 16, 1975) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. He is the lead vocalist of rock band Billy Talent. Early life Kowalewicz, of Polish descent, was born December 16, 1975, in Pierrefonds, Quebec, and raised ...

shouts "Yeah!" at the beginning of the track; in the other, this is omitted, and the pre-chorus and second verse sound significantly different. Both versions of the song were released on the "Devil in a Midnight Mass" single. MuchMusic aired a "Behind the Scenes" look at the video for this song, hosted by Sarah Taylor, and filmed in an

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

church, featuring the members of the band as well as children who took part in the recording of the video. In the feature, drummer

Aaron Solowoniuk Aaron Solowoniuk ( ) is the drummer for the Canadian band Billy Talent. Background Solowoniuk was born and raised in Streetsville, a neighbourhood of Mississauga, Ontario, and began drumming at a young age, his first set being a gift from ...

mentions that an elderly woman walked by and said to him, "A rock band in a church, don't see that everyday". Kowalewicz told Sarah Taylor that the song was created when guitarist Ian D'sa started playing something that he described as an "

evil Evil, in a general sense, is defined as the opposite or absence of good. It can be an extremely broad concept, although in everyday usage it is often more narrowly used to talk about profound wickedness and against common good. It is general ...

guitar riff", and Kowalewicz wondered what sort of evil could fit with that riff, questioning what the worst thing a human being could do to another. He read an article about

John Geoghan John Joseph "Jack" Geoghan (; June4, 1935August23, 2003) was an American serial child rapist and Roman Catholic priest assigned to parishes in the Archdiocese of Boston in Massachusetts. He was reassigned to several parish posts involving intera ...

, an American

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

priest accused of molesting about 150 children, and decided to make the song about that certain topic.

Meaning of the song

Kowalewicz told '' MuchMusics Sarah Taylor,

Music video

The music video opens with Billy Talent playing in a darkened church. The video also follows the path of an altar boy. The boy is asleep in his room when a dark fog enters his room. The fog represents the priest and enters the room when the line "Footsteps down the hallway floor/Getting closer to my door" are sung. The boy runs from the fog and into the church's basement, where he finds an apparently insane man bound in ropes. The boy runs from the room and is followed by the fog. He then grabs an axe trying to defend himself. The boy runs to the main room of the church where Billy Talent are playing. Instead of the band, mouthless altar boys are standing in the room, the young boy also mouthless. The boys are the priest's victims and are mouthless to represent the fact that they have been silenced by the priest, hence the line "Silent night for the rest of my life", and in the demo, "I was told that the world wouldn't believe me". The music video was directed by Sean Michael Turrell and was released via myspace.com on May 1, 2006. The video premiered on Fuse on the show Oven Fresh, which highlights new videos. The music video is #74 on MuchMusic's 100 Best Videos. The music video is #47 on MuchMusic's 50 Most Controversial Videos.
Devil in a Midnight Mass peaked 4 on the Canadian Singles Chart.

Trivia

On 102.1 The Edge's 200 greatest songs of the millennium "Devil In a Midnight Mass" came in at number 98. On 102.1 The Edge's top 102 Canadian new rock songs (March 10, 2007) "Devil In a Midnight Mass" came in at number 52.

Chart performance

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Devil In A Midnight Mass Billy Talent songs Songs inspired by deaths 2006 singles Songs critical of religion Songs about child abuse Songs written by Ian D'Sa Songs written by Benjamin Kowalewicz Songs about death Songs written by Jonathan Gallant Protest songs Songs written by Aaron Solowoniuk Song recordings produced by Gavin Brown (musician) 2006 songs Atlantic Records singles Warner Music Group singles