Today I would like to talk to you about a song that got me obsessed over it: Prayer in C by Lilly Wood & The Prick.
Other than being a wonderfully written song, and other than having a deep text, with what is called an imprecatory prayer towards God, this songs presents an oddity: the title is Prayer in C, which leads to a reasonable expectation that the song is in C…except that it isn’t!
The song is clearly in A minor, so the title appears to be wrong. But why? Don’t you tell me that songwriter, composer, producer, editor, and all the many actors involved on the production of this music didn’t know about the difference between C and A minor. I don’t buy it.
The choice was clearly intentional and, while I don’t know the reason behind it, I can make an educated guess.
Here are the lyrics of the piece, read it carefully before carrying on with my article:
Yah, you never said a word
You didn’t send me no letter
Don’t think I could forgive you
See our world is slowly dying
I’m not wasting no more time
Don’t think I could believe you
Yah, our hands will get more wrinkled
And our hair will be grey
Don’t think I could forgive you
And see the children are starving
And their houses were destroyed
Don’t think they could forgive you
Hey, when seas will cover lands
And when men will be no more
Don’t think you can forgive you
Yah when there’ll just be silence
And when life will be over
Don’t think you will forgive you
One of the most recurring word is See, while also Seas is mentioned. Both of them carry a religious meaning, with Seas covering land representing the biblical great flood and See being an imprecatory invocation of God. Both of them are pronounced the same way as C.
I genuinely believe that Prayer in C sort of stands for Prayer in See, in the sense of “God, please, see!” The author was aware of the fact that the music was not really in C, but decided nevertheless to keep this title to emphasize the connection between the lyrics and the title. It is a well chosen poetic licence.
For a more detailed analysis of the meaning, I remind you to this well written article, although I disagree with the writer when he states that the prayer is in the key of C. It clearly is not. Other than that, it is a great article.
What does “Prayer in C” by Lilly Wood & The Prick mean? — The Pop Song Professor