Hymn

Album: Rainbow (2017)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Here, Kesha addresses those people who feel like they're standing alone. She wrote it along with her mother Pebe Sebert, Cara Salimando, and the producers Ricky Reed and Jonny Price.

    "Because of the subject matter of this song, I had to work with my mom on the lyrics - like me, her head lives high above the clouds in outer space, she she wrote in an essay on Mic. "I'm a fragile soul for this world - I feel like I live by something unexplainable and magical in outer space. I love the idea of people with similar philosophies being brought together, and that was one of the inspirations for this song."

    Kesha added that she hoped 'Hymn' would be a song that "will find and connect with people who feel like outcasts, especially young people today growing up with the omnipresent internet."
  • Kesha explained what motivated her to write the track. "I think that one of the reasons why my music connects with people who feel like they don't fit in is because I have never fit in either - this is why the song 'Hymn' is so special to me," she wrote. "The longer title was 'Hymn for the Hymnless.' And when I say "hymnless," I'm talking about people who feel like they don't fit in, people who feel like they don't have a hymn."

    "That's how I have always felt myself - there was never one group or scene that was entirely mine," Kesha added. "The lyrics are, 'This is a hymn for the hymnless, kids with no religion.' Religion, for me, in this song doesn't mean necessarily religion as in your spiritual belief, but more like kids with no set way of life. I'm still trying to figure out what I believe and what the truth is in my heart, and I know I'm not alone. My mind and opinions keep changing and expanding."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

James Williamson of Iggy & the Stooges

James Williamson of Iggy & the StoogesSongwriter Interviews

The Stooges guitarist (and producer of the Kill City album) talks about those early recordings and what really happened with David Bowie.

Roger McGuinn of The Byrds

Roger McGuinn of The ByrdsSongwriter Interviews

Roger reveals the songwriting formula Clive Davis told him, and if "Eight Miles High" is really about drugs.

Ian Gillan of Deep Purple

Ian Gillan of Deep PurpleSongwriter Interviews

Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan explains the "few red lights" in "Smoke On The Water" and talks about songs from their 2020 album Whoosh!

Gary Lewis

Gary LewisSongwriter Interviews

Gary Lewis and the Playboys had seven Top 10 hits despite competition from The Beatles. Gary talks about the hits, his famous father, and getting drafted.

Dick Wagner (Alice Cooper/Lou Reed)

Dick Wagner (Alice Cooper/Lou Reed)Songwriter Interviews

The co-writer/guitarist on many Alice Cooper hits, Dick was also Lou Reed's axeman on the Rock n' Roll Animal album.

Little Richard

Little RichardFact or Fiction

Was Long Tall Sally a cross-dresser? Did he really set his piano on fire? See if you know the real stories about one of rock's greatest innovators.