"Devil in a Midnight Mass" is the first single released from Billy Talent

Billy Talent

Billy Talent is a Canadian post-hardcore band from Streetsville, Ontario. They formed in 1993 with Ben Kowalewicz as the lead vocalist, Ian D'Sa on lead guitar, bassist Jon Gallant and drummer Aaron Solowoniuk ....

's second album, Billy Talent II

Billy Talent II

-Themes:The album has less anger and language than their previous self-titled album, as they had mellowed out and matured as men and as a band. More of the songs dealt with real-life issues, to the praise of fans and critics.-Personnel:Billy Talent...

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Song information

There are two differing versions of the song: the album version, and an unpolished demo version released in December 2005 via their myspace.com account. In the album version Ben Kowalewicz shouts "Yeah!!!" at the beginning of the track; in the other, this is omitted, and the pre-chorus and second verse sound significantly different. Both versions of the song were released on the "Devil in a Midnight Mass" single.

MuchMusic

MuchMusic

MuchMusic is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned by Bell Media. MuchMusic is dedicated to music-related programs, pop and youth culture.-History:...

 aired a "Behind the Scenes" look at the video for this song, hosted by Sarah Taylor

Sarah Taylor (personality)

- Early life :Taylor is from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. She studied English and Women's Studies at McMaster University.- Career :She was discovered in the audience for the MuchMusic show MuchOnDemand in 2004, and was asked to be one of the VJs for the channel....

, and filmed in an Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

 church, featuring the members of the band as well as children who took part in the recording of the video. In the feature, drummer

Drummer

A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...

 Aaron Solowoniuk

Aaron Solowoniuk

Aaron Solowoniuk , is the drummer for the Canadian band Billy Talent.- Background :Solowoniuk was born and raised in Streetsville, Ontario and began drumming at a young age, his first set being a gift from his parents...

 mentions that an elderly woman walked by and said to him, "A rock band in a church, don't see that everyday".

Kowalewicz told Sarah Taylor that the song was created when guitarist Ian D'sa started playing something that he described as an "evil

Evil

Evil is the violation of, or intent to violate, some moral code. Evil is usually seen as the dualistic opposite of good. Definitions of evil vary along with analysis of its root motive causes, however general actions commonly considered evil include: conscious and deliberate wrongdoing,...

 guitar riff", and Kowalewicz wondered what sort of evil could fit with that riff, questioning what the worst thing a human being could do to another. He read an article about John Geoghan

John Geoghan

John J. Geoghan was a key figure in the Roman Catholic sex abuse cases that rocked the Boston Archdiocese in the 1990s and 2000s and led to the resignation of Boston's archbishop, Cardinal Bernard Francis Law, on December 13, 2002.-Career Summary:...

, a Catholic

Catholic

The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

 priest accused of molesting about 150 children, and decided to make the song about that certain topic.

There is also a longer demo version of the song.

Meaning of the song

Kowalewicz told MuchMusic

MuchMusic

MuchMusic is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned by Bell Media. MuchMusic is dedicated to music-related programs, pop and youth culture.-History:...

s Sarah Taylor,

Billy Talent, has stated that their aim is not to attack Christianity through the song, but rather to point out that the events which led to the molestation of a child by a priest did happen.

Music video

The music video opens with Billy Talent playing in a darkened church. The video also follows the path of an altar boy. The boy is asleep in his room when a dark fog enters his room. The fog represents the priest and enters the room when the line "Footsteps down the hallway floor/Getting closer to my door" are sung. The boy runs from the fog and into the church's basement, where he finds an apparently insane man bound in ropes. The boy runs from the room and is followed by the fog. He then grabs an axe trying to defend himself. The boy runs to the main room of the church where Billy Talent were playing. Instead of the band, mouthless altar boys are standing in the room, the young boy also mouthless. The boys are the priests' victims and are mouthless to represent the fact that they have been silenced by the priest, hence the line "Silent night for the rest of my life", and in the demo, "I was told that the world wouldn't believe me".

The music video was directed by Sean Michael Turrell

Sean Michael Turrell

Sean Michael Turrell is a director of music videos. He has directed videos for Canadian bands such as Billy Talent, Protest the Hero, Hedley, Pilot Speed, Crash Parallel, Magneta Lane and Sum 41. He has also directed videos for Hawksley Workman, David Usher, Lindsay Robins, Tegan and Sara and Good...

 and was released via myspace.com on May 1, 2006. The video premiered on Fuse

Fuse TV

Fuse is an American national television network dedicated exclusively to music. It features original series and specials, exclusive interviews, live concerts and video blocks....

 on the show Oven Fresh, which highlights new videos. The music video is #74 on MuchMusic's 100 Best Videos. The music video is #47 on MuchMusic's 50 Most Controversial Videos.
Devil in a Midnight Mass peaked 4 on the Canadian Singles Chart

Canadian Singles Chart

The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays....

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Trivia

On 102.1 The Edge's 200 greatest songs of the millium Devil In a Midnight Mass came in at number 98

On 102.1 the Edge's top 102 Canadian new rock songs (March 10, 2007) Devil In a Midnight Mass came in at number 52

Chart performance

Chart (2006)	Peak position
Canadian Singles Chart Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays....	4
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...	66