What is ‘Unholy’ by Sam Smith about, and is it based on a true story?

Even if you didn’t watch the Grammys last night, in fact, even if you still have no idea who singer Sam Smith is, there’s almost no possible way you’ve not heard their hit single “Unholy” if you’re even minimally dialed into social media. The ubiquitous song by Smith and German singer Kim Petras has been one of the main sounds to score videos on TikTok, Reels, and Instagram stories and if you’ve spent even a few hours doom-scrolling over the past few weeks you are practically guaranteed to have heard it at least once.

But what’s it all about, with its synth-pop hooks and choral licks that, if anything, make the song seem like it’s pouring out of a set of church doors at times? Is it a celebration of the dark side? Or is it a warning about the perils of sin?

The tune, which was first released via TikTok, is a vast departure from Smith’s somber piano-oriented earlier work. Smith commented on as much, explaining to NME that the recording process was “cathartic and freeing” and that the song “is about liberating oneself from the clutches of others’ secrets.” It’s obvious that the hit single is about at least an adulterous affair, recounting a story of a husband giving into wayward lust at a strip club called “The Body Shop” — speculated to be based on the infamous L.A. club of the same name.

Perhaps less sexy than the song’s dance club grind is the fact that the POV might be coming from one of the husband’s kids: “Mummy don’t know daddy’s getting hot” and “She’d kick you out if she ever, ever knew / ‘Bout all the shit you tell me that you do.” and are a bit more shocking than any discovery of infidelity by a partner.

However, at least as far as anyone has admitted, the song doesn’t appear to be based on anything other than the songwriters’ (which include Smith, James Napier, Ilya Salmanzadeh, Henry Walter, Blake Slatkin, Omer Fedi, and Petras) own imaginations.

In any case, Smith doesn’t seem to be showing any shame over the outright sexiness of the single and even seems to own the sinfulness of the narrative. Speaking with Entertainment Tonight they allowed, “It’s time for my villain era, I think. Time to get sexy.”