Divine Hammer (song)

"Divine Hammer" is a song by American alternative rock band the Breeders, released as the second single from their second album, Last Splash (1993), in October 1993.

"Divine Hammer"
Single by the Breeders
from the album Last Splash
B-side	"Hoverin'" "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love with You)" "Do You Love Me Now Jr?"
Released	October 25, 1993 (1993-10-25)[1]
Label	4AD Elektra
Songwriter(s)	Kim Deal
Producer(s)	Kim Deal, Mark Freegard (album version) Fred Maher (single version)
The Breeders singles chronology
"Cannonball" (1993) "Divine Hammer" (1993) "Saints" (1994)

Meaning

"Divine Hammer" has been interpreted as expressing a search for spiritual or romantic fulfillment—an ultimately unattainable ideal.^[2]

Kim Deal, who wrote the song, described it as being about "existential angst," explaining, "I'm just looking for some divinity to come down and, you know what, I don't think there is anything." She noted that while she never used syringe drugs, people often seek transcendence or divinity through various means, including religion. She also criticized the symbolic language commonly used in Christian folk music, calling it "stupid symbolisms."^[3]

In a separate interview, she told Rolling Stone that the song was rooted in disillusionment with her religious upbringing: "It's mainly about looking for something so hard through your life that people said was there. When I grew up and went to Sunday school, they said it was going to be really great ... I believe[d] everything everybody told me. And that's why I'm so pissed off now."^[4]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Divine Hammer" (single version)	Kim Deal	2:42
2.	"Hoverin'"	Deal/Murphy	2:53
3.	"I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love with You)"	Hank Williams	2:32
4.	"Do You Love Me Now Jr?"	Kim Deal, Kelley Deal[a]	3:00

"Divine Hammer" is a different version than the LP version, and "Do You Love Me Now Jr?" is an alternate version of the LP version featuring J Mascis on backing vocals.

Music video

The music video for Divine Hammer was directed by Spike Jonze, Kim Gordon, and Richard Kern.^[7]

Reception

AllMusic critic Heather Phares described "Divine Hammer" as "two and a half minutes of flirty pop perfection," noting that it contrasted with Last Splash's more experimental tracks such as "Mad Lucas".^[8]

Tom Maginnis of AllMusic called the track "the most faithful attempt at pure pop" on the album, highlighting its "hook-laden arrangement with a feel-good vocal melody that belies the song's otherwise weighty subject." He described the instrumentation as featuring "a chiming, three-note riff" with "jangling guitar and a steadily pumping bass line" beneath Kim Deal's "dulcet singsong melody," enhanced by "a constant, tight harmony."^[9]

In a review of the EP, Jack Rabid praised the band's cover of Hank Williams' "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love with You)", suggesting it demonstrated their aptitude for country material. However, he criticized the version of "Do You Love Me Now Jr?" featuring J Mascis, calling the result "irritating," and dismissed "Hoverin'" as "just a herky-jerky piece of nothing."^[10]

Charts

Chart (1993)	Peak position
UK Singles (OCC)[11]	59
US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[12]	28

Painting

During Kim Deal's live performance at the Trianon (Paris, France) on june the 11th, 2025, french artist Thomas Perino publicly offered the singer and songwriter, for her sixty-fourth birthday, his own rendition of the "divine hammer" of the title, in the form of a hand-colored print made from an original drawing he previously engraved on japanese wood. Deal displayed the item on stage for the rest of the show.

Notes

1. The "Divine Hammer" single liner notes list only Kim Deal as songwriter of "Do You Love Me Now Jr?"^[5] while the "Safari" single liner notes give both Kim and Kelley Deal songwriting credit for "Do You Love Me Now?"^[6]