"Church of the Poison Mind" is a 1983 hit single for the British pop band Culture Club. It was the first single to be released from their second album Colour by Numbers.
The song is characterized partly for its Motown feel; indeed, the opening of "Church of the Poison Mind" sounds similar to Stevie Wonder's hit, "Uptight (Everything's Alright)". The harmonica solo was played by Jud Lander. The subject of the song is an attack on the attitudes of certain churches and faiths on homosexuality.
The song reached #2, being kept off the top spot by David Bowie's "Let's Dance". It was a Top 10 hit in Canada and the United States. In the latter it was still climbing the charts when "Karma Chameleon" was released elsewhere, and subsequently became a huge hit. This prompted Epic Records to release "Karma" ahead of schedule. "Church of the Poison Mind" actually reached its peak position the same week "Karma" debuted on the US charts. In many countries its B-side was the heavily-percussive street song "Man Shake" and in some others, such as the United States, it was the song "Mystery Boy". Both songs were on the 12-inch in many countries, except Canada, where it was issued with an extended version of previous hit "I'll Tumble 4 Ya".
In this single, Helen Terry became famous as the female backup singer with such a powerful voice.
Famous quotes containing the words church, poison and/or mind:
“This is what the Church is said to want, not party men, but sensible, temperate, sober, well-judging persons, to guide it through the channel of no-meaning, between the Scylla and Charybdis of Aye and No.”
—Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801–1890)
“I expect a time when, or rather an integrity by which, a man will get his coat as honestly and as perfectly fitting as a tree its bark. Now our garments are typical of our conformity to the ways of the world, i.e., of the devil, and to some extent react on us and poison us, like that shirt which Hercules put on.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Then one will say, ‘He is not dead, maybe,
Who was mortality’s unshaken lover
Who loved the spring upon the Tennessee,
The hushed fall and, again, the coming clover.’
None will recall, not knowing, the twisted roads
Where the mind wanders till the heart corrodes.”
—Allen Tate (1899–1979)