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| - The video captured a gathering of the Go Sing Choir — a secular, open pop choir based in Munich, Germany. A film crew recorded the choir singing "Like a Prayer" on Dec. 17, 2022, not at a church but rather the Isarphilharmonie concert hall in Munich. TikTok users misleadingly shared audio from the video in a track named "Red Hat Anthem," essentially (and falsely) claiming the choir consisted of supporters of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.
A rumor circulating online claimed a video showed members of a church singing Madonna's hit 1989 song "Like a Prayer." In the clip, people dressed for the Christmas season loudly and enthusiastically belt out the tune. The reason this might raise eyebrows: Some people believe Madonna's lyrics allude to oral sex with the words, "I'm down on my knees. I want to take you there."
Snopes received reader emails about this matter, after online users mocked the purported church choir for their supposed ignorance of the lyrics. For example, in November 2024, one reader asked, "Is Madonna's 'Like a Prayer' being sung in churches?" Another person emailed in late December, "Was Madonna's 'Like A Prayer' really sung at a church in 2024 without the people realizing the lyrics?"
On Nov. 20, 2024, an online creator named Ethan Trace reposted a prominent example of this rumor. His clip featured the on-screen caption, "Madonna really fooled the next generation of Gen Z Christians." He claimed in his spoken remarks in the clip that a church recorded the video and called the singers "really sheltered or really dumb." His YouTube video received more than 34,000 views. Meanwhile, his Instagram and TikTok uploads tallied 3.9 million and 11 million views, respectively.
However, the clip did not show a church choir singing "Like a Prayer." The video showed a gathering of the Go Sing Choir — a secular, open pop choir based in Munich, Germany. A film crew recorded the "Like a Prayer" clip on Dec. 17, 2022, not at a church but rather the Isarphilharmonie concert hall in Munich. Further, Trace's assertion the choir consisted of "Gen Z Christians" did not square with reality, seeing as the choir in the video featured several generations of singers.
As for the meaning of "Like a Prayer," Madonna told The New York Times in 1989, in part, the tune "is the song of a passionate young girl so in love with God that it is almost as though He were the male figure in her life." She also said part of the music video for the tune featured "erotic feelings" and an "orgasmic crescendo of sexual fulfillment."
We reached out to Trace via an email address on his YouTube channel to ask whether he had realized he incorrectly described the video and will update our story if we receive a response.
TikTok Users Misleadingly Politicized Choir's Song
On Nov. 26, 2024, the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung (archived) published an article featuring an interview with Jens Junker, a leader for the Go Sing Choir. Junker addressed the misinformation surrounding their 2022 performance of "Like a Prayer," saying he was well aware of the meaning of and theories about Madonna's song. He also called the virality of Trace's clip "absurd."
The newspaper's article addressed the fact a TikTok user stripped out the audio from the choir's performance and named it "Red Hat Anthem" — a reference to "Make America Great Again" caps supporting U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. The creation of the audio track made the partial song clip available to TikTok creators to add to their own videos. As of Dec. 31, 2024, more than 1,600 TikTok users posted videos with the audio track (without footage of the choir). Those TikTok videos promoted a false rumor that mocked the choir's singers as a supposed gathering of Trump supporters.
For example, one user's video (archived) receiving more than 5.3 million views posited, "You're meaning to tell me that these people are SO repressed that not a single one of them understood the lyrics when they were learning this for their CHURCH CHOIR?"
Another TikTok posted a video (archived) receiving more than 2.2 million views. That clip featured the misleading caption, "One of my favorite things is when Christians fundamentally misunderstand what a song is about and truly believe it's a worship song. And it's even better when the lyrics are REALLY overt. Nothing will EVER be funnier."
Junker told the newspaper (translated from German), "People trust each other blindly as long as it serves their own message and gives them ammunition against the other camp. That's our society in a nutshell."
In early December 2024, the Go Sing Choir announced plans on their website for an annual Christmas and holiday gathering. They wrote, "Given the occasion, we can't miss the opportunity to sing LIKE A PRAYER (Madonna) with you," adding a winking emoji.
Madonna's Description of 'Like a Prayer' Music Video
Madonna's 1989 interview with The New York Times featured a lengthy description of the "Like a Prayer" music video, which genuinely featured a church choir singing the chorus of the song.
She told the Times the song is about a "passionate young girl so in love with God that it is almost as though He were the male figure in her life." At the same time, she said, "As the choir sings, she reaches an orgasmic crescendo of sexual fulfillment intertwined with her love of God."
"'Like a Prayer,'" said Madonna, "is the song of a passionate young girl so in love with God that it is almost as though He were the male figure in her life. From around 8 to 12 years old, I had the same feelings. I really wanted to be a nun."
What follows is a description in Madonna's own words of what happens in the video:
"A girl on the street witnesses an assault on a young woman. Afraid to get involved because she might get hurt, she is frozen in fear. A Black man walking down the street also sees the incident and decides to help the woman. But just then, the police arrive and arrest him. As they take him away, she looks up and sees one of the gang members who assaulted the girl. He gives her a look that says she'll be dead if she tells."
"The girl runs, not knowing where to go until she sees a church. She goes in and sees a saint in a cage who looks very much like the Black man on the street, and says a prayer to help her make the right decision. He seems to be crying, but she is not sure."
"She lies down on a pew and falls into a dream in which she begins to tumble in space with no one to break her fall. Suddenly she is caught by a woman who represents earth and emotional strength and who tosses her back up and tells her to do the right thing. Still dreaming, she returns to the saint, and her religious and erotic feelings begin to stir. The saint becomes a man. She picks up a knife and cuts her hands. That's the guilt in Catholicism that if you do something that feels good you will be punished."
"As the choir sings, she reaches an orgasmic crescendo of sexual fulfillment intertwined with her love of God. She knows that nothing's going to happen to her if she does what she believes is right. She wakes up, goes to the jail, tells the police the man is innocent, and he is freed. Then everybody takes a bow as if to say we all play a part in this little scenario."
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