This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Life is a mystery
Everyone must stand alone
I hear you call my name
And it feels like home
When you call my name it's like a little prayer
I'm down on my knees, I wanna take you there
In the midnight hour I can feel your power
Just like a prayer, you know I'll take you there
I hear your voice
It's like an angel sighing
I have no choice, I hear your voice
Feels like flying
I close my eyes
Oh God, I think I'm falling
Out of the sky, I close my eyes
Heaven help me
When you call my name it's like a little prayer
I'm down on my knees, I wanna take you there
In the midnight hour I can feel your power
Just like a prayer, you know I'll take you there
Like a child
You whisper softly to me
You're in control just like a child
Now I'm dancing
It's like a dream
No end and no beginning
You're here with me, it's like a dream
Let the choir sing
When you call my name it's like a little prayer
I'm down on my knees, I wanna take you there
In the midnight hour I can feel your power
Just like a prayer, you know I'll take you there
When you call my name it's like a little prayer
I'm down on my knees, I wanna take you there
In the midnight hour I can feel a power
Just like a prayer you know I'll take you there
Life is a mystery
Everyone must stand alone
I hear you call my name
And it feels like home
Just like a prayer
Your voice can take me there
Just like a muse to me
You are a mystery
Just like a dream
You are not what you seem
Just like a prayer
No choice, your voice can take me there
Just like a prayer, I'll take you there
It's like a dream to me
Just like a prayer, I'll take you there (I'll take you there)
It's like a dream to me (oh)
Just like a prayer, I'll take you there (I'll take you there)
It's like a dream to me (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
Just like a prayer, I'll take you there (oh)
It's like a dream to me
Just like a prayer
Your voice can take me there
Just like a muse to me
You are a mystery
Just like a dream
You are not what you seem
Just like a prayer
No choice, your voice can take me there
Just like a prayer
Your voice can take me there
Just like a muse to me
You are a mystery
Just like a dream
You are not what you seem
Just like a prayer
No choice, your voice can take me there
Your voice can take me there
Like a prayer
(It's like a prayer)
(It's like a prayer)
(Your voice can take me there)
(It's like a prayer)
(It's like a prayer)
(Your voice can take me there)
(It's like a prayer)
Everyone must stand alone
I hear you call my name
And it feels like home
When you call my name it's like a little prayer
I'm down on my knees, I wanna take you there
In the midnight hour I can feel your power
Just like a prayer, you know I'll take you there
I hear your voice
It's like an angel sighing
I have no choice, I hear your voice
Feels like flying
I close my eyes
Oh God, I think I'm falling
Out of the sky, I close my eyes
Heaven help me
When you call my name it's like a little prayer
I'm down on my knees, I wanna take you there
In the midnight hour I can feel your power
Just like a prayer, you know I'll take you there
Like a child
You whisper softly to me
You're in control just like a child
Now I'm dancing
It's like a dream
No end and no beginning
You're here with me, it's like a dream
Let the choir sing
When you call my name it's like a little prayer
I'm down on my knees, I wanna take you there
In the midnight hour I can feel your power
Just like a prayer, you know I'll take you there
When you call my name it's like a little prayer
I'm down on my knees, I wanna take you there
In the midnight hour I can feel a power
Just like a prayer you know I'll take you there
Life is a mystery
Everyone must stand alone
I hear you call my name
And it feels like home
Just like a prayer
Your voice can take me there
Just like a muse to me
You are a mystery
Just like a dream
You are not what you seem
Just like a prayer
No choice, your voice can take me there
Just like a prayer, I'll take you there
It's like a dream to me
Just like a prayer, I'll take you there (I'll take you there)
It's like a dream to me (oh)
Just like a prayer, I'll take you there (I'll take you there)
It's like a dream to me (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
Just like a prayer, I'll take you there (oh)
It's like a dream to me
Just like a prayer
Your voice can take me there
Just like a muse to me
You are a mystery
Just like a dream
You are not what you seem
Just like a prayer
No choice, your voice can take me there
Just like a prayer
Your voice can take me there
Just like a muse to me
You are a mystery
Just like a dream
You are not what you seem
Just like a prayer
No choice, your voice can take me there
Your voice can take me there
Like a prayer
(It's like a prayer)
(It's like a prayer)
(Your voice can take me there)
(It's like a prayer)
(It's like a prayer)
(Your voice can take me there)
(It's like a prayer)
Lyrics submitted by Novartza, edited by Prettydoll_Pebetsi
Like a Prayer Lyrics as written by Madonna Ciccone Patrick Leonard
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, MUSIC.INFO FINLAND OY, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
I cant believe how many people think this is about a blowjob. Its ridiculous.
Tbis song is about the correlation between being in love and having a relgious experience. Let me break it down.
"Life is a mystery, everyone must stand alone I hear you call my name And it feels like home"
Ok, here she is saying that she loves this person so much that when she hears him call her name she feels safe and secure kind of like someone who has been saved feels safe in the home of God's kingdom.
"When you call my name it's like a little prayer I'm down on my knees, I wanna take you there In the midnight hour I can feel your power Just like a prayer you know I'll take you there"
Again, its like prayer has been answered that she has fallen so madly in love. Also, some religons are known for late night masses such as Catholics and their midnight masses where the "power" of the Lord is felt.
"I hear your voice, it's like an angel sighing I have no choice, I hear your voice Feels like flying I close my eyes, Oh God I think I'm falling Out of the sky, I close my eyes Heaven help me"
When she hears his voice, its melodic and soothing like an angel singing and being in love with him is like walking on air. Falling out of the sky refers to the intensity that she is falling for me and "Heaven help me" is saying she is out of control with her feeling.
"Like a child you whisper softly to me You're in control just like a child Now I'm dancing It's like a dream, no end and no beginning You're here with me, it's like a dream Let the choir sing"
This refers to being love just like being a child with not a care in the world.In other words, her love is a dream, something she hopes to never wakes up from.
The on my knees bit is not a blow job but symbolizes prayer in relgion and in love which she is praying to. This song shows how we as people tend to put more faith in the ones we "love" than the ones that created us. I hate religon and this song was the easiest to figure out. A blowjob? Perverts I say.
I agree, it's absolutely ridiculous how much this song and its accompanying video have been misunderstood so much. It has so much more depth and meaning than that. It's clear that she finds a magnetic attraction to the saint (and I might add it is definitely no coincidence that he looks so much like the wrongly accused man), and that she feels deep romantic love for this man (hence the sensual kiss they share on the floor of the church), but it is not about a specific sexual act at all. It is, simply put, a song about being free through love, love for herself, and this man she is with. I'd also like to add that it deals with the issues of sexism, racism, and organized religion. In the end of the video, she frees the wrongly accused man from jail, signifying her empowerment as a woman, and also his freedom as a black man oppressed by a racist society. They have both broken their chains, and it celebrates finding that freedom from oppression, injustice, and subjugation and equates that feeling with having a great mystical experience. Her love for this man whom has suffered injustice and her feeling of empowerment, that she has freed both herself and him, and what they feel for each other is the essence of spirituality. I think it's a very powerful and symbolic scene that he kisses her on the church's floor, because she's saying that this is the closest that anyone can ever get to that higher power, because what they have together is so beautiful and real. The music video for this song is one of the best ever made, and it's really a pity that the meaning is lost on most.
@acidsex Heeey! Comparison to spiritual experience is very interesting! It fits indeed!
@acidsex Madonna grew up in a Satanic environment. \r\nWhen I first heard this I assumed it was about a "relationship" with God.\r\n\r\nBut the costumes and set say she is praying to Satan.\r\n\r\nShe might be coming out of her MK-Ultra Programming and expressing she really feels.\r\n\r\nIt\'s interesting that a song about Satan is also a song about God.\r\n\r\n"On your knees" is showing a reverence to a deity.\r\nAny other assumptions are taking this totally out of context. LOL\r\n\r\nSelena Gomez - "Nobody" is quite similar.\r\n"Nobody\'s gonna lead me to the truth."
The song isn't about a blowjob or worshipping the devil!
If you look at the lyrics of the song, other songs in the album, and even parts of the music video, the answer seems clear to me - Madonna is questioning her faith as a Catholic/Christian, and is looking to god (the power itself, not of a religion) for an answer. There is so much hypocrasy in religion that she's found it hard to believe everything that she was taught to believe from the bible. This also explains why there's a burning of a cross in the music video. The controversy of it is an added bonus for her as well. Finally, not long after Like a Prayer, Madonna started getting interested and involved with Kabbalah. Therefore, the song is about religion, NOT a sexual experience.
I don't understand why some people find it so outrageous that it could be about giving a Blowjob... I think 'I wanna take you there' gives you enough of an idea that shes talking about a loved one. And it's not religious... 'It's like a little prayer'. 'A little prayer' takes all the seriousness off of a religious message... she's just on her knees trying to get him off. It's cute I think... People attribute blowjobs to kinkiness and sluttiness... but no... she likes the man enough to make the effort to get him off...
@vix993 I agree , gives a chance to multiple interpretation
@vix993 this song is not about blowjobs or loving somebody...it is just about how life is and that's it
this song is definitely about something sexual. I mean HELLO, this is a madonna song. Maybe it is about "heavenly sex" or what someone had stated before, or a blow job. but it definitely has little to do with actual religion. The song is titled "LIKE a prayer"...like is the key word
Sorry, but I agree that it's about a sexual experience (not specifically a blowjob, but that does work).
To be more exact, my interpretation was it's a more submissive girl singing to someone more dominant over her. She may be considering him almost as her god, hence the religous sounding references. But the sexual references are too blatent for it to just be a "religous experience".
apologies about my english, not my first language
@koyisxoxo Your English is absolutely fine. I would've never realized if you hadn't said anything about it.
I think it is about love that is so freely spirited that she feels like she is having a religous experience. You have to read between the lines or you will think it is about a blow job. You can have lots of fun trying to interpret Madonna's songs.
@suttonmom I agree with your point
I think the song is about a woman giving a guy a blowjob.
"I'm down on my knees, I wanna take you there In the midnight hour I can feel your power"
Those two lines are repeated throughout the song and this is just my interpretation of it. I would like to know what everyone else thinks.
hahahah yes it is just a F blowjob music
to the person above me.... you shoudnt be a fan of madonna if the thought of a heavenly sexual experience makes you sick to your stomach.. you probably don`t understand half of her songs :/
It sounds too romantic to be about a bj...:/ I think it's the way someone feels in the beginning of falling in love. "In the midnight hour i can feel your power", she probably can't stop thinking about him no matter where he is. She's started to worship him like a god, he makes her "feel like home"
i think its a sexual song. she talks about "falling", and "heaven help me" its like a religious reference to her love turning to LUST. its like doin something wrong but it feels so right. hahaha
It's a Sub/Dom song from the Submissive's point of view.