#“til reaching up for the sunlight only to be ripped out by the stem”

[ineffably-poetic]

guys guys guys

HOZIER SONG ALERT

[youcouldbewonderful]

did hozier know that writing first time meant he was directly responsible for what that did to my mental health

[edalynn-ink]

Hozier is so crazy like who writes the words:

“this life lived mostly underground

Unknowing either sight nor sound

‘Til reaching up for sunlight, just to be ripped out by the stem

Sensing only now it’s dying

Drying out, then drowning blindly, blooming forth its every color in the moments it has left

To share this space with simple living things, infinitely suffering, but fighting off, like all creation, the absence of itself.”

ONLY TO FOLLOW IT IMMEDIATELY WITH “but AnYwAYs-”

[youwerelikeanangel]

a collection of some lyrics from unreal unearth that have a particularly intense chokehold on me

And though I burn how could I fall? / When I am lifted by every word you say to me I, Carrion (Icarian)

But feel at home, hearing a music that few still understand/ A butchered tongue still singing here above the ground Butchered Tongue

Let all time slow, let all light go/ I don't need to know where we begin and end/ I'd still know you, not being shown you/ I only need the working of my hands De Selby (Part 2)

One bright morning goes so easy/ Darkness always finds you either way/ It creeps into the corners as the moment fades First Light

I will not be great, but I'm grateful to get through/ The feeling came late, I'm still glad I met you Abstract (Psychopomp)

I would not change it each time/ Heaven is not fit to house a love/ Like you and I Francesca

At last, when all of the world is asleep/ You take in the blackness of air/ The likes of a darkness so deep/ That God at the start couldn't bear De Selby (Part 1)

These days I think I owe my life/ To flowers that were left here by my mother/ Ain't that like them, gifting life to you again/ This life lived mostly underground/ Unknowing either sight nor sound/ Til reaching up for sunlight just to be ripped out by the stem First Time

Do you know I could break beneath the weight?/ Of the goodness, love, I still carry for you Unknown / Nth

So someone with your eyes might come in time/ To hold me like water/ Or Christ, hold me like a knife Who We Are

[idiasmentalhealth]

GOD DAMNIT

MY HOZIER OBSESSION IS GOING TOO FAR‼️‼️‼️

I AM NOW LINKING MULTIPLE HOZIER SONGS NOT ONLY TO KURAS AND LEANDER BUT TO GRIM

SO I'M GONNA TELL YOU EXACTLY WHAT SONGS ARE REMINDING ME OF HIM BECAUSE THE BRAINROT FROM FINISHING MY FIRST PLAYTHROUGH IS VERY REAL

there's so many...

cut just so the post doesn't look too long

OBVIOUSLY THIS ONE HAS TO BE FIRST SUNSHINE.

"But whose heart would not take flight?

Betray the moon as acolyte

On first and fierce affirming sight

Of sunlight, sunlight, sunlight"

"Once I had wondered what was holdin' up the ground

But I can see that all along, love, it was you all the way down

Leave it now, I am sky-bound

If you need to, darling, lean your weight to me

We'll float away, but if we fall

I only pray, don't fall away from me"

THE WAY I HAD TO STOP MID PLAYTHROUGH TO PLAY THIS SONG ON REPEAT AND THEN CONTINUE

"My life was a storm, since I was born

How could I fear any hurricane?

If someone asked me at the end

I'll tell them put me back in it

Darling, I would do it again, ah, ah

If I could hold you for a minute

Darling, I'd go through it again, ah, ah"

AGAIN WITH THE LIGHT

"Could this be how every day begins?

The sky set to burst

The gold and the rust

The colour erupts

You filling my cup

The sun coming up

Like I lived my whole life

Before the first light"

psychopomp... get it cuz he's... the grim reaper...

"The feeling came late

I'm still glad I met you

The memory hurts

But does me no harm

Your hand in my pocket

To keep us both warm

The poor thing in the road

Its eye still glistening

The cold wet of your nose

The Earth from a distance

See how it shines"

"Some part of me must have died

The first time that you called me baby

And some part of me came alive

The first time that you called me baby

These days I think I owe my life

To flowers that were left here by my mother

Ain't that like them, gifting life to you again

This life lived mostly underground

Unknowing either sight nor sound

'Til reaching up for sunlight

Just to be ripped out by the stem"

"When you move

I'm put to mind of all that I wanna be

When you move

I could never define all that you are to me

So move me, baby

Shake like the bough of a willow tree

You do it naturally

Move me, baby"

and last, but certainly not least,

"I didn't care much how long I lived

But I swear I thought I dreamed her

She never asked me once about the wrong I did

When my time comes around

Lay me gently in the cold, dark earth

No grave can hold my body down

I'll crawl home to her"

[namaiki-fuyu]

The second verse of First Time really didn’t need to fucking do that huh

These days I think I owe my life

To flowers that were left here by my mother

Ain't that like them, gifting life to you again

This life lived mostly underground

Unknowing either sight nor sound

‘Til reaching up for sunlight

Just to be ripped up by the stem

Sensing only now it’s dying

Drying out then drowning blindly

In the moments it has left

To share the space with simple living things Infinitely suffering

But fighting off like all creation

The absence of itself

Well, Anyway…

Good Christ, Andrew wtf man

[hbhtasm]

THESE DAYS I THINK I OWE MY LIFE

TO THE FLOWERS THAT WERE LEFT HERE BY MY MOTHER

AIN'T THAT LIKE THEM GIFTING LIFE TO YOU AGAIN

THIS LIFE LIVED MOSTLY UNDERGROUND

UNKNOWNING EITHER SIGHT NOR SOUND

TIL REACHING UP FOR SUNLIGHT JUST TO BE RIPPED OUT BY THE STEM

SENSING ONLY NOW IT'S DYING

DRYING OUT THEN DROWING BLINDLY

BLOOMING FORTH ITS EVERY COLOR IN THE MOMENTS IT HAS LEFT

TO SHARE THE SPACE WITH SIMPLE LIVING THINGS

INFINITELY SUFFERING BUT FIGHTING OFF LIKE ALL CREATION THE ABSENCE OF ITSELF

Well anyway

[fawnforevergone]

Dante's Inferno References in Hozier's song "First Time" (+ a lil' song explanation) !!

Guys, I know I did the whole "Dante's Inferno references in 'Unreal Unearth'" already but I have thought of more things particularly with "First Time" and it's context of being in circle one, 'Limbo'.

Firstly, important context that 'Limbo' isn't so much a punishment as it is a placeholder in Inferno. It's for the unbaptized and virtuous pagans, essentially those who did not believe in God and therefore could not enter heaven, but also didn't do anything bad enough to be punished in the other eight circles. The punishment is to live eternally in circle one whilst feeling an infinite sensation of emptiness that is meant to represent the lack of God in their lives.

Now, moving onto the song and the GENIUS that it is.

"And the soul, if that's what you'd call it, uneasy ally of the body, felt as nameless as a river, undiscovered underground." The lost souls of Inferno find their way to their assigned circle by using the 'transportation system' of the five rivers of the Underworld. The first river that Dante and Virgil encounter is the river Acheron that Charon, the Greek psychopomp that transported souls through the underworld, delivers them down to arrive at Limbo.

Another one of the five rivers of the Underworld is the well-known river Styx that souls had to cross over in order to enter the afterlife. All of these things are referenced in this one lyric.

"And the first time that you kissed me I drank dry the river Lethe." Here, Hozier mentions another one of the five rivers. Those who drank from the Lethe would experience mental oblivion, unable to remember anything. Souls who were to be reincarnated usually drank from this river in order to forget their past lives. Hozier is also referencing the idea of being reborn, as he does throughout this whole song, but instead he's reborn by the relationship he has with his partner.

"As it was, and ever shall be, unearth without a name." This lyric seems to be a reference to the 'Glory Be' prayer - "As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end." As aforementioned, Limbo's punishment is a never-ending emptiness; It's described as sorrow without torment, something so deprived that rational minds couldn't comprehend it. Hozier's "unearth without a name" mirrors the prayer's "world without end", showing that Limbo has the same infinity that God intends the world to have, but Hozier cannot even put a name to the feeling of Limbo, only that it is underground.

"Some part of me must have died/Some part of me came alive the first time that you called me 'Baby'." This lyric repeats throughout the whole song with minor changes, and references back to that idea of being reborn that Hozier establishes from the very start of the album with "De selby (Part 1)". The album compares Hozier's relationship with his partner to the journey of 'Inferno', and here we see Hozier effectively 'dying' as the relationship begins, allowing him to enter Limbo reborn as who his lover made him.

"These days I think I owe my life to flowers that were left here by my mother. Ain't that like them, gifting life to you again?" Since we have the context that Hozier is now 'dead', this lyric can be seen as his mother leaving flowers on his grave, literally gifting his body life. In the following lyrics, Hozier compares his life in Limbo to the life of the flowers gifted to him.

"This life life lived mostly underground, unknowin' either sight nor sound, 'til reaching up for sunlight just to be ripped out by the stem." Flowers are birthed beneath the soil on Earth, as Hozier has been reborn beneath the world in Hell, both lives lived underground. The theme of darkness that is regularly visited in both 'Inferno' and the album is shown here "unknowin'...sight", where the darkness of Inferno simulates a sort of blindness. The second half of the lyric references that loss of hope in Limbo, mirroring it to the idea of a flower being torn away from its only purpose of growing - similarly to how a soul is torn from its only purpose of living.

"Sensing only now it's dyin', drying out then drowning blindly, bloomin' forth its every colours in the moments it has left." The literal meaning of this lyric is the act of pulling flowers from their roots to simply put them in vases of water. The metaphorical meaning is Hozier attempting to hold up hope in Limbo. "Unreal Unearth" is very clearly a breakup album, and "First Time" tells us the compressed story of the relationship from beginning to end. We can take this song as Hozier beginning to lose faith in his relationship but desperately holding on, the way flowers know they're dying in a vase but continue blooming nevertheless.

"To share the space with simple living things, infinitely suffering, but fighting off, like all creation, the absence of itself. Anyway." Again, this references the ideas of flowers dying in a vase whilst trying to live cut off from their roots. The idea of "infinitely suffering" gives us that imagery of Limbo, but "fighting off...the absence of itself" also emphasises Hozier's attempts to rekindle this relationship the way flowers ignore the prospect of death in the hopes of living for a few moments longer. This little "anyway" at the end gives us the impression that, like Limbo, this is hopeless, and, as the flowers will, Hozier's relationship will die.

"When I was young I used to guess, 'Are there limits to any emptiness'?" The whole third verse shows us the final breaking of the relationship, but this lyric shows us that specific hopelessness that is felt in the decay of love. It really wraps up the idea of Limbo in this relationship; this soft acceptance that their love has died no matter how hollow it makes Hozier feel.

I personally think he is once again a MASTERMIND. Relating the death of a relationship to the wilting of flowers, especially flowers forced to stay alive, is perfect, like are you kidding me. Anyway, yes! That's my extra fathoming of "First Time" because there is simply too much to say.

If anyone else has anything to say, please lmk because there's nothing more I love than a Hozier deep dive :]

[darlinghowl]

hey don’t cry. these days i think i owe my life to flowers that were left here by my mother ain’t that like them gifting life to you again this life lived mostly underground unknowing neither sight nor sound til reaching up for sunlight just to be ripped out by the stem sensing only now it’s dying drying out then drowning blindly blooming forth its every color in the moments it has left to share space with such simple living things infinitely suffering but fighting off like all creation the absence of itself. anyway. okay?

[wordsinhaled]

every so often i forget crowley IS a canonical hozier enjoyer and then i remember

and i know everyone’s heard “take me to church,” but like, listen. it really is the most crowley song???

the only heaven i’ll be sent to is when i’m alone with you

if i'm a pagan of the good times, my lover's the sunlight. to keep the goddess on my side she demands a sacrifice; drain the whole sea, get something shiny (acts of service crowley acts of service crowley acts of service crowley)

something meaty for the main course; that's a fine-looking high horse. that looks tasty—that looks plenty—this is hungry work (“have an ox-rib…”)

and then i picture crowley after aziraphale leaves - lying on the floor of his new flat, all concrete and sharp edges again. newly moved in, and he’s listening to unreal unearth and staring up at the ceiling

i mean, have you actually imagined crowley hearing “first time” after aziraphale goes back to heaven?

remember once i told you about how before i heard it from your mouth my name would always hit my ears as such an awful sound

this life lived mostly underground, unknowing either sight not sound, ‘til reaching up for sunlight just to be ripped out by the stem; sensing only now it’s dying, drying out then drowning blindly, blooming forth its every color in the moments it has left to share the space with simple living things; infinitely suffering but fighting off, like all creation, the absence of itself

the last time it was heard out loud, the perfect genius of our hands and mouths were shocked to resignation as the arguing declined; when i was young i used to guess, are there limits to any emptiness? when was the last time? c’mere to me, when was the last time?

and “francesca”???

if someone asked me at the end, i’d tell them “put me back in it.” darling, i would do it again. if i could hold you for a minute, darling, i’d go through it again. though i know my heart would break, i’d tell them “put me back in it.” i would not change it each time. heaven is not fit to house a love like you and i

“who we are”???

you and i burned out our steam chasing someone else’s dream; how can somethin’ be so much heavier but so much less than what it seems? darling, we sacrificed, we gave our time to something undefined. this phantom life sharpens like an image, but it sharpens like a knife

i literally think he’d have to turn off “first light” after the first verse

you know he’d track down mister andrew hozier byrne just to ramble at him over a whisky, you just couldn’t leave off at “from eden,” could you, when i said ‘have at it’ i meant, y’know, that thing artists do, what is it? artistic liberties, not a bloody prophecy

poor crowley being subjected to this record. i feel for him, i really do

[lazyypumpkin]

First Time by Hozier is ridiculously Maurice coded and here’s proof (long comparisons between the two incoming& also SPOILERS)

“Remember once I told you 'bout

How before I heard it from your mouth

My name would always hit my ears

As such an awful sound”

“And the soul, if that's what you'd call it

Uneasy ally of the body

It felt nameless as a river undiscovered underground”

“And the first time that you kissed me

I drank dry the River Lethe

The Liffey would have been softer on my stomach all the same”

“This life lived mostly underground

Unknowing either sight nor sound

'Til reaching up for sunlight

Just to be ripped out by the stem”

“Sensing only now it's dying

Drying out then drowning blindly

Blooming forth its every colour

In the moments it has left”

“The last time it was heard out loud

The perfect genius of our hands and mouths were shocked

To resignation as the arguing declined”

“Some part of me must have died

The final time you called me baby

But some part of me came alive

The final time you called me baby”

Anyhow thank you for coming to my Ted Talk

[lifemod17]

These days I feel a lot like:

Unknowing either sight nor sound

'Til reaching up for sunlight

Just to be ripped out by the stem

Sensing only now it's dying

Drying out then drowning blindly

Blooming forth its every colour

In the moments it has left

To share the space with simple living things

Infinitely suffering

But fighting off like all creation

The absence of itself

[shallanspren]

These days I think I owe my life To flowers that were left here by my mother Ain't that like them? Gifting life to you again This life lived mostly underground Unknowing either sight not sound 'Til reaching up for sunlight Just to be ripped out by the stem

Sensing only now it's dying Drying out, then drowning blindly Blooming forth its every colour In the moments it has left To share the space with simple living things Infinitely suffering, but fighting off Like all creation The absence of itself Anyway

IF YOU EVEN CARE

[feelbetterlove-books]

To celebrate one year of Unreal Unearth I am listening to it (and the EPs) and wanted to share my favorite lyrics from each song. Fellow Hozier fans, please feel free to add yours! 🖤🪱

Through Me (The Flood)

But try measure loss,

Measure the silence of a house,

The unheard footsteps at the doorway,

The unemployment of the mouth,

The waking up having forgotten,

And remembering again the full extent of what forever is.

De Selby (Part 1)

But still the mind rejecting this new empty space,

Fills it with something or someone,

No closer could I be to God

Or why he would do what he's done

De Selby (Part 2)

What you're given

What you live in

Darling it finds a way to live in you

And your heart, love

Has such darkness

I feel it in the corners of the room

First Time

These days I think I owe my life to flowers

That were left here by my mother

Ain't that like them, gifting life to you again

This life lived mostly underground

Unknowing either sight nor sound

'Til reaching up for sunlight

Just to be ripped out by the stem

Sensing only now it's dying

Drying out, then drowning

Blindly blooming forth its every color

In the moments it has left;

To share the space with simple living things

Infinitely suffering but fighting off,

Like all creation,

The absence of itself

Anyway...

Francesca

Now that it's done

There's not one thing that I would change

My life was a storm

Since I was born

How could I fear any hurricane?

I, Carrion (Icarian)

You have me floating like a feather on the sea

While you're as heavy as the world

That you hold your hands beneath

Once I wondered what was holding up the ground

But I can see that all along, love

It was you all the way down

Eat Your Young

It's a kindness, Highness

Crumbs enough for everyone

Old and young are welcome to the meal

Damage Gets Done (ft. Brandi Carlile)

All I needed was someone

When the whole wide world felt young

Who We Are

You and I burned out our steam

Chasing someone else's dream

How can something be so much heavier

But so much less than what it seems?

Darling, we sacrificed

We gave our time to something undefined

This phantom life sharpens like an image

But it sharpens like a knife

Son of Nyx

...

(It's an instrumental track of course but it's stunning and absolutely worth listening to! I can't leave it out)

All Things End

I know we want this to go easy by being somebody's fault

But we've gone long enough to know this isn't what we want

And that isn't always bad

When people say that something is forever

Either way it ends

To Someone From A Warm Climate (Uiscefhuaraithe)

And I wish I could say

That the river of my arms have found the ocean

And I wish I could say the cold lake water of my heart

Christ, it's boiling over

Butchered Tongue

So far from home

To have a stranger call you "darling"

And have your guarded heart

Be lifted like a child up by the hand

In some town that just means

"Home" to them

With no translator left to sound

A butchered tongue

Still singing here above the ground

Anything But

In a shot I'd swap my body for a body of water

Worry the cliffside top as a wave crashing over

I'd lower the world in a flood or better yet I'd cause a drought

If I was a riptide,

I wouldn't take you out

Abstract (Psychopomp)

Sometimes there's a thought

Like you choose what you're doing,

But it comes to nought

When I look back through it

I remember the view

Street lights in the dark blue

The moment I knew

I'd no choice but to love you

Unknown/Nth

Do you know, I could break beneath the weight

Of the goodness love I still carry for you

That I'd walk so far just to take

The injury of finally knowing you

First Light

And I can scarce believe what I'm believing in

Could this be how every day begins?

Too Sweet

I aim low

I aim true and the ground is where I go

I work late where I'm free from the phone

And the job gets done

But you worry some, I know

But who wants to live forever babe?

Wildflower and Barley (ft. Allison Russell)

(The healers) This year, I swear it will be buried in actions (Are healing)

This year, I swear it will be buried in words (The diggers are digging the earth)

Some close to the surface, some close to the casket

I feel as useful as dirt, put my body to work

Empire Now

After all darling, I wouldn't sell the world

For all the gold or sterling

If it falls, I would hold on for all its worth

The future so bright it's burning

Fare Well

Joy, disaster, come unbound here

I'll deny me none while I'm allowed

With all things above the ground

Nobody's Soldier

Sick to my skin

Watching the news again

Whatever you choose, you lose out in the long run

Paint on the walls

Come down like a waterfall

The goal I was aiming for was the wrong one

July

Put in all of that time, only to find

By the end that your God has flown

Or all alone he sank like a stone

Took root where he fell and started to grow

That You Are (ft. Bedouine)

Every moment of the working day

The twitching muscles in each step I take

The prayer is all of me

That I'd be anywhere that you are, that you are

[pandemonium108]

these days I think I owe my life

to flowers that were left here

by my mother

ain’t that like them

gifting life to you again

this life lived mostly underground

unknowing neither sight nor sound

‘til reaching up for sunlight

just to be ripped out by the stem

sensing only now it’s dying

drying out the drowning blindly

blooming forth it’s every color

in the moments it has left

to share this space with simple living things

infinitely suffering

but fighting off

like all creation

the absence of itself

anyway

[steveharrington]

this life lived mostly underground unknowing either sight nor sound til reaching up for sunlight just to be ripped out by the stem sensing only now it's dying drying out, then drowning blindly blooming forth its every colour in the moments it has left to share the space with simple living things infinitely suffering, but fighting off like all creation the absence of itself ……… anyway!