Cirice

Single by Ghost

"**Cirice**" (Old English: 'church') is a song by Ghost. The track was released as the lead single to Meliora, the band's third studio album. The song won the Grammy Award for 'Best Metal Performance' in 2016.

## Background and Release

The song was originally conceived together with "Devil Church", which was its opening, as a very dark and doomy nine-minute instrumental without a chorus. With the assistance of producer Klas Åhlund, a chorus materialized and the two parts were split. The name of the song, "Cirice", is the Old English word for church and is intentionally mispronounced as *sir-ees*, similar to the feminine name Clarice, in order to trick people into thinking it is a love song. This is intended to further the duality and ambiguity in the song as a whole: Seemingly romantic and comforting, but covertly manipulative. Additionally, the single cover is a nod to the 1991 film The Silence of the Lambs, in which the main character's name is Clarice.

"Cirice" was released as a free download from the band's official website on May 30, 2015. It was first performed live at their June 3, 2015 concert in their hometown of Linköping, the first performance of Papa Emeritus III.  A CD-single coupled with the B-side "Absolution" was released on July 31, 2015 exclusively in independent record stores in the United States. Chad Childers of *Loudwire* noted the track as "building in tension and heaviness as it progresses." The song was performed live on *The Late Show with Stephen Colbert* on October 31, 2015, marking the band's first appearance on American television.

## Music Video

The song's music video, directed by Roboshobo, was inspired by the 1976 film *Carrie*. The video shows the band as schoolchildren performing the song at a school talent show, with a boy playing Papa Emeritus III. As he sings the song, he is focused on a girl in the crowd with the two sharing a psychic connection of some kind. As the song climaxes, the principal tries to remove the boy from stage. The girl angrily rises to her feet and reveals "Carrie-like" psychic powers by mentally forcing the principal to release the boy, and then using her powers at random on the rest of the crowd. People run from the auditorium screaming, while the girl continues to smile. Eventually the principal manages to unplug the band's amplifier and puts an end to the madness. After the song ends, a man and a woman, presumably the boy's parents, stand up and cheer for the band with glee.

## Ritual

In the context of Ritual, when Papa holds an audience member's hand during the performance of Cirice, it is referred to as "being **Ciriced**".  When being Circied, you and whoever happens to be Papa at the time are recreating the scene in the music video.

## Reception

"Cirice" peaked at #4 on *Billboard'*s Mainstream Rock Songs chart. *Loudwire* ranked the song second on their list of the 20 Best Metal Songs of 2015. "Cirice" and its music video were nominated for Best Metal Song and Best Metal Video in the 2015 Loudwire Music Awards.

The song won the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 2016. A member of the band said that when he got the text message informing him of the nomination, he assumed it was for a Grammis, which are considered the Swedish equivalent to the American awards and which Ghost has won in the past.

## Personnel

* Papa Emeritus III - Vocals
* Fire (formerly also known as Alpha) – Lead Guitar
* Water – Bass
* Air – Keyboards
* Earth – Drums
* Aether (formerly also known as Omega) – Rhythm Guitar

## References

1. ↑ Nameless Ghoul at Carolina Rebellion 2016 - *Big Smash Radio*
2. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/Ghostbc/comments/11m05xg/what\_is\_the\_name\_of\_the\_action\_when\_papa\_holds\_a/