The Breeders - Divine Hammer

"I'm just looking for a faith waiting to be followed."

Album: Last Splash [2nd album]
Genre: Rock, Alternative Rock
Recorded: 
Album Release: August 30th 1993
Single Release: October 25th 1993 [2nd single]
Length: 2:41
Producer: Mark Freegard & Kim Deal
Vocalist: Kim Deal [age 32]
Label: 4AD Records

Music Video


Live on Conan in 1993

Charts, Streams & Sales

Australia (albums): 1x gold
Canada (albums): 1x gold
France (albums): 1x gold
UK (albums): 1x silver
USA (albums): 1x platinum
Spotify: Over 10 million
YouTube Music: Over 350 thousand
NME's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2013): #200
Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2020): #293

Instruments

Bass, drums, guitar [x2]

Details

• 'Divine Hammer' is about not knowing what to think and wanting something to make sense of the world, to be a divine hammer, that will shatter the bullshit and leave only the truth standing, while also knowing that such a thing probably doesn't exist and real answers aren't easily found.
  
  Kim Deal has said the truth doesn't have to be a religious experience, although the imagery of the hammer is common in religion as it denotes something being built. The song specifically references Jesus, who was a carpenter, "oh the carpenter goes bang, bang, bang." The hammer is also synonymous with the Norse god Thor. Thor is the son of the all-father Odin.
  
  The Norse hierarchy, and the symbolism of the hammer, is replicated in Christianity. In Christianity, Jesus is the son of the Father just as Thor is the son of Odin. While the father is all-powerful, it is the son who wields the hammer, to do the work of guiding mortals on Earth.
  
  
  
  
  
• The same instrumental was used for 'Stop Whispering', which was a Breeders demo track made for their debut album Pod. 'Stop Whispering' didn't appear on the finished album however an updated version, featuring new vocals became 'Divine Hammer', and would be the groups second single from their second record.
  
  
• Kim Deal started her career as the bassist in Pixies, but what she really wanted to do was write songs and sing. This inevitably led to tensions with Pixies band leader Black Francis, who took chagrin to Deal wanting to co-opt his group for her own songs and he gradually froze her out. As a result, Deal formed her side-project The Breeders, who would go on to have great success in their own right.
  
  There's speculation that 'Cannonball' is a slight towards Francis. In 1993, Pixies broke up while that same year The Breeders would have a platinum album, whose lead single 'Cannonball' features lines such as "I know you're a real cuckoo." However, Deal has said not to read too much into the lyrics, as they were wrote mainly to compliment the feel of the music.
  
  The loud in the choruses, quiet in the verses dynamic that Pixies became so well known for is present in The Breeders work and especially so here.
  
  
• Breeders guitarist Kelley Deal is Kim's sister.
  
• The Breeders were signed to the same label as Pixies: 4AD Records.
  
• The music video is directed by Kim Gordon from Sonic Youth, Richard Kern and Spike Jonze. Jonze would go on to direct feature films such as 'Being John Malkovich (1999)'.
  
  
• Breeders was a term used to describe mothers who gave up pursuing their personal goals so they could concentrate on raising their children. It was an insult to a certain type of womanhood that was unfashionable in the nineties.
• The Breeders broke up in 1994 after Kelley Deal was arrested for possession of heroin. The band would later reform.
  
  

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