"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:
“To impose celibacy on such a large body as the clergy of the Catholic Church is not to forbid it to have wives but to order it to be content with the wives of others.”
—Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778)
“They love not poison that do poison need.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“The word “civilization” to my mind is coupled with death. When I use the word, I see civilization as a crippling, thwarting thing, a stultifying thing. For me it was always so. I don’t believe in the golden ages, you see.... Civilization is the arteriosclerosis of culture.”
—Henry Miller (1891–1980)