#lyrics are from Wasteland Baby! from hozier

[rjl11898]

…𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘯… 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘢𝘻𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥, 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘣 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘴… 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘺… 𝘐'𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶…

[starry-eyed-adam]

what I don’t really like about people calling hozier a bog man or a mythical spirit or anything ethereal and inhuman is that it’s exactly the opposite of what his music conveys. Hozier’s songs embody the rawest human experiences, from love to lust to religion to loss. and to say that a man who experiences these things isn’t a man simply because his lyrics are ’too beautiful’ or anything along those lines takes away a lot of what humanity is

Hozier is incredibly talented and he makes absolutely enchanting music. but he’s still just a human, singing about the beauty and the pain of being just a human.

also I’m pretty sure he’s bothered by it too because it has something to do with disrespecting Irish culture? can’t totally remember

[tryingnsmiling]

Hozier oh my fucking god, bro

I feel it is only fair to my Tumblr self that this lands a spot on my blog. So without further ado:

god is real and I held his hand.

REWIND...

EXPLANATION: my sister and I bolted to Hozier's b-stage before he played cherry wine. we were lucky with our timing. we high-fived the man himself. he stared into my fUCKing soul and healed every sin and every aching bone. I think flowers are growing in my lungs and my tears are laced with pixidust. I am constantly in awe of how beautiful and talented this man is.

OH - and then he pOSTED my hand to his fUCKINg instagram. THE MOMENT my fucking life changed (changed is a strong word, but stfu let me have a moment)

Anyways that is all. Sorry for the brag. Hozier has been an important artist to me for a long time, and Cherry Wine especially is a really important song to me for a plethora of reasons, so this moment meant the world to me. Feeling very grateful, and I hope others who love his music get to experience it live, too.

oh bonus: my sister held this picture up to him and he looked at it for like a full ten seconds. She is very sorry, Hozier.

[33misc]

what if I started a notion database with each and every reference in hozier songs? Including music, literature, history, mythology, etc? Nevermind I already started

[whim513]

🗣️ I'm gonna be nobody's soldier🗣️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

[lifemod17]

it is disgustingly late and i cannot sleep so i SHOULD be grumpy, HOWEVER, having Wasteland, Baby! and Be (Acoustic) playing back to back has me smiling stupidly and its doing a wonderful job of lulling me to slumber 😌

[fawnforevergone]

The Ultimate List of Dante References in Hozier's "Unreal Unearth" !!

Hello and welcome to my new-and-updated ultimate compilation of all 'Inferno' references I found in Hozier's new album! If I think of anything else, or if anyone else suggests something, I will be sure to add it, but, for now, enjoy this ridiculously long (you've been warned) list I made!

Since I didn't wanna make a post for every individual song and spam you all, the songs are separated by their respective circles! I hope that organises stuff a bit more :]

Usual disclaimer: I could be wrong about some stuff! I've read 'Inferno' and try to stick to the objective references, but sometimes I let subjective interpretation bleed through. If anyone has any corrections for anything, just lmk!! Okay, cool <3

DESCENT:

"De Selby (Part 1)"

We start the album not in the circles, but instead at the Gates of Hell. One of the main themes of Inferno is darkness, and these first two songs are embodiments of that.

The lyrics mention the idea of this being a "new empty space", suggesting that Hozier is being introduced to the feeling of Inferno through the relationship he's singing about, and, so, we begin the descent.

"The likes of a darkness so deep that God at the start couldn't bear." God is obviously a large theme of Inferno and is, biblically, the creator of light, hence the absence of it in Inferno. In fact, the first three stanzas all reference the heavy darkness of the threshold and its estrangement from God.

The Irish/Gaeilge lyrics roughly translate to: "Although you're bright and light, you arrive to me like night fall. You and I, together. You and I, metamorphized. Although you're bright and light, you arrive to me like night fall. The art of transformation is a dark art." The imagery of light and dark mixing together mimics the idea of walking from the brightness of Earth into the darkness of Inferno.

This entire album appears to be the recounting of a relationship and how it feels like walking through Inferno. Here we see the beginning of this relationship, of Hozier losing himself to the threshold.

"De Selby (Part 2)"

Part one appeared to be the step through the gates, whereas part two seems to be Hozier being enveloped by the threshold. In 'Inferno', Dante says the entrance to Hell is a darkness that no stars could shine in. We hear this shift from Earth to Unearth through the production alone; the weightlessness of part one falling into the heavy grunge of part two.

"Your heart, love, has such darkness, I feel it in the corners of the room." The theme of dark continues, as it will through the entire album, but, this time, Hozier feels it radiating from within his lover rather than the space around them. Though, him saying his lover carries darkness is not an insult. This extra depth to his lover is something more to know, something more to love. This idea actually differs from Dante, who sees the darkness as deceitful.

"I want to be so far from sight and mind." Inferno is a lawless place. He would be far from sight due to the darkness, and far from mind due to the insanity that persists within the circles.

"Let all time slow, let all light go." This lyric shows me that he has been submerged in the threshold. Again, the lack of light, but also the slowing of time. Punishment after death is eternal, something that time has no grasp on. Hozier is willing to let these aspects take a hold of him.

"I'd still know you not being shown you, I'd only need the workin' of my hands." Christianity is a heavy theme of Inferno, and this lyric plays on the proverb 'Idle hands are the devil's workshop', a proverb Hozier also hinted at in his song "No Plan" (from 'Wasteland, Baby!') - "My heart is thrilled by the still of your hand."

Now, though, Hozier's hands aren't idle, instead the opposite, his hands are working as God intended. Drawing us back to that idea we were given at the end of part one, we get the feeling that Hozier is bringing something light/Godly to Inferno, and he and his lover are fusing the ideas of Heaven/Earth and Hell.

FIRST (LIMBO):

"First Time"

We now enter circle number one, 'Limbo'. Limbo is an uneventful circle for those not worthy of punishment but also not fit for Heaven. It is mainly for those who do not believe in God, the unbaptised.

Firstly, to get to circles, Dante and his guide, Virgil, must be chaperoned by the Greek Psychopomp Charon down the river Acheron, and we see that in Hozier's first couple stanzas.

"And the soul - if that's what you'd call it, uneasy ally of the body - felt nameless as a river, undiscovered underground." This appears to be Hozier mentioning the river Acheron, one of the five rivers of the Underworld that surround Hades, and, in 'Inferno', are used to transport the souls of the dead to their respective circles.

"The first time that you kissed me, I drank dry the river Lethe." The river Lethe is another one of the five rivers, and is one that causes anyone who drinks from it to forget everything they know. Hozier is simply saying that kissing this person wiped his mind clean, similar to the end of "De Selby (Part 1)" where he mentions partaking in a transformation.

"Some part of me died / Some part of me came alive the first time that you called me 'Baby'." Relating to the previous quote, souls that drink from the river Lethe usually do so before being reincarnated, so they forget their past life. Hozier seems to experiment with the idea of being reborn by his partner's love for him - an idea prevalent throughout his entire discography.

"To share the space with simple living things, infinitely suffering, but fighting off - like all creation - the absence of itself." This lyric tells us that we should not ignore the privilege of living just out of the fear of dying. This lyric is reminiscent of "All Things End" and the circle of Heresy. Since Limbo is home to those who don't believe in God, the theme of Heresy is a very fitting one.

SECOND (LUST):

"When I was young, I used to guess 'Are there limits to any emptiness?'" The punishment for those in Limbo is to exist eternally with the curse of a hollow, empty feeling meant to represent the lack of God in their lives. This punishment seems referenced in this lyric.

[ i ended up thinking about this song more so if you want even more "first time" content, here ya go: "first time dante references." ]

"Francesca"

Into circle number two, 'Lust', we have the story of Francesca Da Rimini, a woman Dante spoke to during his visit to circle two. Francesca fell in love with her husband's brother, Paolo, and when her husband discovered the affair he murdered them both.

Hozier seems to be singing from the perspective of Francesca/Paolo but throughout the album we see Hozier liken his lover to aspects of Inferno - darkness in "De Selby (Part 2)" or Lucifer in "Unknown / Nth" - so the story of Francesca and Paolo is fitting as another metaphor here.

"Do you think I'd give up? That this might've shook the love from me?" Even in Hell, Paolo and Francesca physically cling onto another. They do not let their death affect their love.

"My life was a storm since I was born. How could I fear any hurricane?" The punishment in Lust is an eternal storm meant to replicate the throws of passionate love - a storm also depicted in the production of the end of this song. Hozier/Francesca/Paolo says that it's impossible for them to care about this punishment when life was already as treacherous as it was.

The whole chorus emphasises the imagery of Francesca and Paolo not being able to let go of each other.

"When the heart would cease, ours never knew peace. What good what it be on the far side of things?" Francesca and Paolo lived their love secretly and anxiously, so what good would peace be in the afterlife when they've already become accustomed to difficulty?

"Heaven is not fit to house a love like you and I." In the opening songs of the album, Hozier describes his lover as darkness, akin to something God cannot bear. Due to the depth of his lover, the mix of light and dark they've made, he believes Heaven would crumble beneath the weight of their relationship. That something as corrupt as Inferno is the only place suitable for them to live.

"I, Carrion (Icarian)"

Still in circle two, Hozier plays on Dante's own metaphor. In Canto 17, Dante refers to his own dread of descending Inferno to the same dread that the 'ill-fated Icarus' must've felt on his fall from the sky.

Hozier twists this, instead comparing his love to the hope Icarus must've felt as he flew towards the sun. He said, during a live show, this song is based on the idea hat Icarus never realised he fell, and woke up dead, too clouded by joy to realise what had happened.

"If the wind turns, if i hit a squall, allow the ground to find its brutal way to me." Again, we mention the storm of circle two. Lust is also said to have treacherous terrain - sharp rocks and jagged stone - that seems to be hinted at in the second half of this lyric.

"While you're as heavy as the world that you hold your hands beneath." This imagery seems reminiscent of the Greek Titan, Atlas, who holds up the Earth on his back. Dante talks about seeing Titans and Biblical Giants at the transition point of circle eight to circle nine, 'Fraud' to 'Treachery', which makes this lyric a sad hint to where Hozier will end up finding his lover; Taking the place of Lucifer in the deepest part of Inferno.

THIRD (GLUTTONY):

"Eat Your Young"

We enter the third circle of Inferno, 'Gluttony'. There are no specific references to Inferno, but the concept of gluttony is apparent. Hozier does what he frequently does throughout this album; He refuses to see the sin as "right or wrong" as Dante so stubbornly implies.

Hozier often divulges in a grey area, a spectrum or sale of severity, when it comes to the sin. Hozier's perspective seems more nuanced than Dante's, seeing sin as layered rather than objectively bad. In this specific song, he displays the different sources of hunger in humans, and where the line should be drawn.

"I'm starvin', darlin', let me put my lips to something, let me wrap my teeth around the world." We start, and reference back to in verse two, a sexual hunger, a harmless passion between two people. This is an innocent side of the sin, not deserving of the punishment of Lust which is to be ripped apart by Cerberus (the three-headed dog from Greek mythology) for all eternity.

However, Hozier moves onto the hunger of politics.

"Pull up the ladder when the flood comes." The government refusing to help the people when the sea levels rise.

"Throw enough rope until the legs have swung." When you don't have a ladder, you use a rope. This lyric plays on the notion of when governments give the impression they are helping, but are only making things worse - a take on the saying 'Give someone enough rope and they'll hang themselves', since what else are they meant to do with it?

"Skinnin' the children for a war drum, puttin' food on the table selling bombs and guns." The hunger for power manifests in war.

"It's quicker and easier to eat your young." Here, Hozier uses the common saying in a more literal sense, saying that if these politicians are hungry enough to destroy the world, they may as well physically eat their young, since it'll have the same effect.

FOURTH (GREED):

"Damage Gets Done"

This song takes place in circle four, 'Greed'! The title of the song alone is already very meaningful. In circle four, the main punishment is that the inhabitants are split into two groups and are forever forced to charged into each other and fight. Dante describes them are being so injured and damaged that they have become 'unrecognisable'.

The song is about greed within the changing of the world. It's about growing up and losing the naivety and innocence you once had, no longer able to ignore the burden of politics and money. Hozier and Brandi sing about the excitement of being young and in love, but, with the rise of inflation, it's hard to exist like that anymore - You need greed to survive.

"Wish I had known it was just our turn being blamed for a world we had no power in." This seems to be a reference to two things. One, the idea that governments blame the people for their own poverty, and Two, the idea of arriving in circle four by no fault of your own. It's not their fault they wanted more money with the world being how it is, but, nevertheless, they're being punished for it.

"I haven't felt it since then. I don't know when the feeling ended, but I know being reckless and young is not how the damage gets done." They talk about the enjoyment of the love they're singing about fading, and how they miss that, but they know that, again, this is not their fault. They know they didn't change, the world did, and they won't take responsibility for their 'sin' when all they did was adapt.

As aforementioned, the inhabitants of the fourth circle suffer extreme injuries, so Hozier saying "I know being reckless and young is not how the damage gets done" is him saying "I know that we are not at fault for being served the punishment of Greed."

FIFTH (WRATH / ANGER):

"Who We Are"

We enter the fifth circle, 'Wrath', where the inhabitants spend their time fighting to stay at the surface of the river Styx, another one of the five rivers of the underworld.

"Falling from you drop by drop." / "To hold me like water." These lyrics obviously give the idea of water, representing the river Styx.

"Or, Christ, hold me like a knife." This lyric comes in quite loudly, Hozier's voice strengthening with it. The subtle blasphemy of "Christ" and the violent imagery of "knife" comes across as a sort of anger. Being held "like a knife" is representative of how those is Wrath must feel - like they are something particularly dangerous, but still desperate to be held.

"We're born at night, so much of our lives is just carving through the dark to get so far." Again, this theme of darkness that is so frequently displayed in Inferno is mentioned again. After this song comes "Son Of Nyx", which Hozier said was the transition into the darker half of the album, and Nyx is the Goddess of the Night. Being "born at night" would make Hozier the son of the night, the son of Nyx. This gives the impression that, if the album is following on chronologically, this is the point where the relationship portrayed in the album begins to fray as Hozier starts to be consumed by the darkness.

"And the hardest part is who we are." Those in the circle of Wrath possess a 'savage self-frustration' that Hozier seems to represent throughout this whole song - A fierce annoyance with the way he and his lover let things go: "We sacrificed, we gave our time to something undefined", "Chasing someone else's dream", Etc.

SIXTH (HERESY):

"Son Of Nyx"

We have no lyrics for this song (though you can hear him faintly saying some things, one of which is him saying "who we are...") but we know it takes place in circle six, 'Heresy'. Heresy is a belief or opinion that is contradictory to religious doctrine, especially Christianity. As aforementioned, Hozier said this track is a transition song meant to replicate a descent into the darker half of the album.

Nyx is a Greek Goddess and is often known as the personification of night. She had many children all representing different things but the title would essentially mean 'The Son Of Night', and, as dissected in the previous song, we can see that Hozier sees himself as reborn into the darkness.

Once again, darkness is a large theme of Inferno, but Hozier saying in circle six that he is the Son of Night is particularly meaningful due to the association of light with God. He has been reborn as something that could not be further from God, something that opposes the idea of God, something of a Heretic.

Nyx was feared and respected by all, including Zeus, and, though I believe there is no reference to her in Inferno, she was described as residing in the dark recesses of the Underworld, which is heavily incorporated into Inferno.

"All Things End"

This song does not have many overt references to circle six but definitely incorporates the idea of heresy. As mentioned, heresy is an idea that contradicts (especially, but not always) Christianity. In this song, Hozier talks about the ephemeral nature of all things, particularly romance.

"When people say that something is forever, either way it ends." Whether it be death or a break-up, God doesn't plan for you to be able to spend eternity with your lover.

"Movin' on in time and taking more from everything that ends." Hozier, however, argues that things still have meaning beyond their end. That, even after moving on, we will remember and learn from the things we have lost.

"Just knowin' that everything will end should not change our plans." Throws back to the idea of the second verse of "First Time". If you avoided something just because it was going to end eventually, you would never achieve anything. That's like refusing to finish a movie just because you don't want to get to the credits.

When this concept of ignoring the end comes to death, we ultimately cross the concept of God. There are many rules people follow in religion, avoiding certain things because they are against 'God's Will'. Although this practice can be kept in moderation, it can quickly become self-imprisoning.

Not living your present life out of fear for an unproven afterlife can be limiting, especially if you dictate who you love due to what supernatural punishment may or may not follow. Hozier sings that we should not let God's plan interfere with what we need from life, allowing ourselves to indulge in love even if it will end - ultimately, Heresy.

SEVENTH (VIOLENCE):

"To Someone From A Warm Climate (Uiscefhuaraithe)"

This song places in circle seven, 'Violence'. Violence is split into three subcategories, or 'rings'; Violence against others, violence against self, and violence against God. I believe this song gives an overview of all three.

With this song, we recognise that the title says "To someone..." and Hozier said this song was a gift to someone who was from a geographical warm climate, but there is also a lot of heat in circle seven.

"A joy, hard learned in winter, was the warming of the bed." Throughout this song, Hozier describes himself as cold, and his lover as warm. The idea of warming the bed is a concept Hozier mentioned in his song "Nobody" (From 'Wasteland, Baby!') where he sings that, if he had a choice between the warm bed of his lover or performing on stage, he'd go home to the bed. Since this song comes after "All Things End" (the break-up song), this call back to "Nobody" could be instead referencing a permanent distance, rather than a temporary one (like the temporary distance in "Nobody").

"And, darlin', all my dreaming has only been put to shame." This could have two meanings. One, Hozier waking from a dream about his lover to find them not here. Or, two, Hozier's expectations of his lover falling short as their relationship has finally fallen through. These expectations could be a form of violence against self, the second ring, as he set himself up for heartbreak.

"And I wish that I could say that the river of my arms have found the ocean. I wish I could say the cold lake water of my heart- Christ, it's boilin' over." As mentioned, Hozier is cold, his lover is warm. His wishes he could find something to to fill the loss of his relationship, but he still feels the heat from his lover in every part of him.

"It's boilin' over." References the river of boiling blood in the first ring, violence against others, Hozier could be talking about the way his partner loved him, how that was almost an act of violence with how hard it is to now let go.

"Butchered Tongue"

This song has less references to 'Inferno', and is more of a commentary on the act of violence itself. Hozier sings of places and cultures lost to the violence of man, and he mourns this deeply.

"To say 'Appalacicola' or 'Hushpukena', like 'Gweebara'. A promise softly sung of somewhere else." This grieving for a time when native land wasn't colonised and culture wasn't violently erased is prevalent throughout the song.

In the second verse, he sings very strongly of the brutal acts inflicted upon Irish rebels by the British forces in the Wexford Rebellion of 1789. As we know, Hozier is from Ireland, and he incorporates both the Irish language and history into this album, and recounting such violent acts for this song feeds into the grieving of what has been lost: "Between what is lost forever and what can still be known."

In the context of 'Inferno', it feels as though Hozier is listing the sort of actions that would land someone within the circle of Violence whilst also appreciating the efforts those above ground take to preserve erased culture. Altogether, the song is a very moving commentary on modern violence.

EIGHTH (FRAUD):

"Anything But"

The eighth circle is 'Fraud', split into ten subcategories that are positioned around the circle in trench-like ditches, known as 'Bolgia'.

"I wanna be loud, so loud, I'm talking seismic," follows up with, "I want to be as soft as a single rock in a rain stick." Who he wants to be fluctuates between moderation and severity. He is changing, unreliable, possibly referring to bolgia one, Panders and Seducers. Seducers tend to 'lead astray', as Hozier's unreliable narration does.

The punishment of bolgia one is to be marched backwards and forwards rapidly whilst being whipped, very much evoking the imagery of a stampede: "If I were a stampede, you wouldn't get a kick." This alludes to the fact that if Hozier were sent to hell for the various sins he commits for his lover, he wouldn't resent them for it at all.

"If I was a riptide, I wouldn't take you out." The second bolgia of Fraud is for Flatterers, 'the act of giving excessive compliments, sometimes for romantic courtship'. Obviously, the song is filled with these compliments.

"I hear He touches your hand and then you fly away together. If I had his job, you'd live forever." The imagery of "fly away" gives the idea of ascending, perhaps to Heaven, as hinted at again by the idea of the longevity of living. Bolgia three is for Simoniacs, those who would sell church roles, offices, or sacred things. This seems to fit with Hozier saying that if he had a divine role, he wouldn't follow protocol, he would allow his lover immortality.

Simoniacs were sinners because they were disobeying God's trust, because the selling of divine roles would lead to corruption in the Church. Hozier is using this hyperbolically, saying that if someone were to sell him the role of God, he would most definitely be a corrupt power.

"I'd lower the world in a flood, or better yet I'd cause a drought." In bolgia four we have Sorcerers. Although Dante used this term in a more logical sense for fraudulent sorcerers - false prophets, fortune tellers, those who lied about the plans of God - Hozier uses the term in a supernatural sense. Sorcerers were punished for trying to interrupt God's prerogative, whereas Hozier is blatantly saying he would summon another flood, usurping God's plan overtly.

"I'm talking seismic." The bridge that leads to bolgia seven was collapsed by the great earthquake and, as we know, seismic activity leads to earthquakes.

"Worry the cliff side top as a wave crashing over." There happens to be a cliff near the entrance of circle eight that a large waterfall plunges over.

"Abstract (Psychopomp)"

This song appears to be the crossover point from circle eight to circle nine that I mentioned when discussing "I, Carrion (Icarian)". Before we get to that, the title itself is significant.

A psychopomp is a chaperon of death; Someone like the Grim Reaper, or Charon from "First Time", or Dante's guide through Inferno, Virgil. Here, Hozier is describing the act of hitting an animal with your car as taking on the role of a psychopomp, whilst also relating this idea to the act of letting a relationship die, leading it from life to death.

In the crossover point from eight to nine, Dante and Virgil stand and look at the large well that leads down to circle nine, 'Treachery'. The Titians and Giants burst out of the well, to big to fit, but their feet stand stubbornly in Treachery. I believe that, at this point in the album, Hozier stands here, too. He's visited all eight circles, and has one last place to go before he leaves Inferno, and ultimately his lover, behind. This song is him realising he has to let his relationship end, he has to act as a psychopomp for his love.

"Sometimes it returns like rain that you've slept through." Circle nine, 'Treachery', is a frozen over lake, aka a memory of water, similar to the residue of rain. With viewing this song as the predecessor to "Unknown / Nth", we can take this as a hint of what's to come.

"The Earth from a distance." Since Inferno is arranged in rings (like a circular staircase), Dante could feasibly look up and still see where he started his journey. The same way Hozier could look up and see where his relationship began, "De Selby (Part 1)", The Gates.

"Streetlights in the dark blue." We have the mix of light and dark again, as mentioned in the opening track, referencing back to Hozier and his partner falling in love.

"Darling, there's a part of me I'm afraid will always be trapped within an abstract of my life." Of course, Hozier is talking about the memory of the animal hit with the car here, but the way this relates to circle nine is beautiful. As we'll properly dissect with "Unknown / Nth", sat within the most central point of circle nine, the deepest part of Inferno, is Lucifer, the fallen angel. Lucifer was thrown down to Hell from Heaven, and found himself trapped in Treachery, his body too big to escape. Dante says that the more he struggles, the more stuck he becomes.

That moment he was struck down to hell is a moment he finds himself forever stuck in, just as Hozier is saying here. In the next song, Hozier relates his lover to Lucifer, but these lyrics are a gorgeous mirroring of Lucifer's experience, and another hint at the final circle we will now head to.

NINTH (TREACHERY):

"Unknown / Nth"

Okay, buckle in.

The ninth circle, 'Treachery', is also one split into subcategories, yet Hozier appears to be singing about the centre. The frozen over lake of Treachery gets more frozen the closer you get to the centre. The inhabitants start half-submerged in ice to fully plastered in it. Throughout Inferno, and the deeper we descend, a soft breeze becomes a strong wind, that, as we reach the centre, we find is caused by the violent flapping of Lucifer's wings. Here he sits, stuck and chewing on Judas, another one of God's biggest betrayers.

After "Abstract (Psychopomp)" Hozier is now exploring the final stage of his relationship. The circles of Hell had mirrored the love he once had, and Treachery is where it shall be buried. He also represents his lover as Lucifer, though not maliciously. In interviews, Hozier spoke about the song being about a heavy betrayal he suffered from someone he truly loved, and likening this to God and Lucifer is just heartbreaking.

"You know the distance never made a difference to me." The song is about knowing someone in their entirety, discovering their best and worst parts. Hozier uses Inferno to talk about the tiresome journey of finally knowing someone. He says he would've made the trip all the same, that he would've walked this far for his lover no matter what.

"I swam a lake of fire, I'd have walked across the floor of any sea." This mirrors the previous lyric, but also references specific parts of Inferno. The are many fires in Inferno, particularly in circle seven, 'Violence'. The sea floor lyric reminds me of the lake of Treachery. Though a surface, not a floor, the lake would still be below any seabed, since Inferno is geographically below the Earth.

"Funny how true colours shine in darkness and in secrecy." You guys are probably sick of hearing me say it but... Darkness is a big theme in Dante's Inferno. It is meant to represent the deceiving nature of humans when light is not being shone. Secrecy is a running thread through 'Inferno', too, as Dante finds many people he thought had done no wrong residing there. Hozier is simply saying how (sarcastically) funny it is that he only truly knows his lover in the remains of their relationship; How he only knows them after seeing them in their cruellest form.

"Where you were held frozen like an angel to me." There are many angel lyrics, but this one specifically references the ice of Treachery. The fallen angel is indicative of Hozier's experience: Seeing someone he regarded highly, even heavenly, falling from that pedestal and turning into something that couldn't be further from God's work.

"You called me angel for the first time, my heart leapt from me. You smile, now, I can see its pieces still stuck in your teeth, and, what's left of it, I listen to it tick. Every tedious beat going unknown as any angel to me." Hozier references his ex-lover chewing on his heart the way Lucifer chews on Judas. He listens to it somehow still ticking, however slowly, and at the end of the song we hear something akin to a heartbeat. The beats are "going unknown as any angel to me" since he can no longer recognise his own heartbeat after it has been mangled by another, and, since he mistook someone alike Lucifer to an angel, the idea of angels must be "unknown" to him.

"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?" We again have this imagery of walking far, referencing the journey of Inferno, and, even though he's aching with the realisation of who his lover truly is, he can't help but be grateful that he does now know them, no matter how painful that may be. That he would do this all again if it meant he at least got to the answer of who they are.

His weak heartbeat follows him through to final track as we begin the Ascent.

ASCENT:

"First Light"

The title is very meaningful for the Ascent. The song references both Dante and Virgil's ascent and the creation of light by God himself. Dante and Virgil leave Inferno through a tunnel that Lucifer left in the Earth as he was thrown down to Hell, and they emerge on the other side of the hemisphere. This song signifies Hozier stepping away from the relationship as he also makes that journey out.

"One bright morning changes all things." Dante is disorientated when he exits Inferno. He'd become so accustomed to the darkness that he asks Virgil, 'How is it that the sun progressed so rapidly from evening to day?' Hozier seems to recognise here that his relationship is no longer fit for him, that the darkness has become too encompassing, just as Dante realises on his ascent.

"The sky set to burst, the gold and the rust, the colour erupts...the sun coming up." Not only does this give the imagery of the birth of light, but it also represents Dante's view on his exit: 'Until...I saw the lovely things the sky above us bears. Now we came out, and once more saw the stars.'

"Like I lived my whole life before the first light." Hozier says that the darkness from his lover was so overbearing that it was hard to believe he'd ever felt light before - that light could not have exists with a darkness this heavy alongside it. It is a call back to "De Selby (Part 1)" - "A darkness so deep that God at the start couldn't bear."

"One bright morning comes. Darkness always finds you either way, it creeps into the corners as the moment fades." He speaks of bringing light to a moment between them, but has it quickly smothered by the darkness inherent in his partner. Another call back, this time to "De Selby (Part 2)" - "And your heart, love, has such darkness, I feel it in the corners of the room."

"After this I'm never going to be the same, and I am never going back again." This lyric is heart-breaking. Hozier states that Inferno has changed him, but he has no wishes to re-enter it. At the beginning of this album, he was begging for the likes of Inferno - "De Selby (Part 2)": "Let all time slow, let all light go." - and now he is desperate to get away from it. In "Francesca", he said, "At the end, I'd tell them, 'Put me back in it.'", yet, now, he's at the end, he's ascended, and he has no desire to go back at all.

He is letting go of his lover because he recognises that this pain was not worth it, that this love was not worth the punishment he received, so he leaves.

---

That was Hozier's Inferno !! I hope this was helpful to some people since it was very fun to make (I'm exhausted) and it's very enlightening to see how these lyrics relate to Inferno (I'm heart-broken) !! Okay, wooooo !! Enjoy !!!

[thewackypegasus]

god i love the lyric books and art that come with cds, it's so good

like look at this! it's so beautiful! the art and the lyrics and the photo of the band with the other members of the black parade???? aaaa i love it all!

three cheers has less artwork to go with it but i love???? the acknowledgements on the back??? from the band and from each of the individual members??????? it's so lovely and sweet and aslhacsgdoahdihwabdiwadjakdkjakdall

the art on collide with the sky is soooooooooooooo pretty oh my god! and the portrait of the band! (i love it when albums come with portraits of the artists)

like it's all just so beautifully done

montgomery ricky has a much much simpler lyric book but the photo is great and such a mood, and i love the album cover and cd art :3

hozier's wasteland baby lyric book has got to be one of my favorites of all time. just. look at this. look at this!

[lulu-spooks]

I’ve been trying to get into Hozier lately, and seeing as you seem to be the resident expert on him, what songs would you recommend starting with?

(I know his more popular ones obviously, like Take me to church, Too sweet, and Nobody’s soldier, but I want to know about some of his secret bangers)

EEEEEEEE!!!! You’re in for a treat!

And thank you for the acknowledgment of resident expert, I have 10 years experience in hozier listening and I don’t play about it.

So the thing about hozier is that I truly believe he has a no skip discography on all of his solo works. And pretty much all of his collabs are also bangers (with the possible exception of tell it to my heart. Don’t start there)

Ok so from his first album I want to highlight a few tracks, Jackie and Wilson, from Eden, work song, like real people do, and to be alone. They are all sonically very similar (as are most of the tracks on the first album) but they all sound totally different. The instrumentation stays the same for most of the tracks but I am literally incapable of mixing them up. They all have unique sounds while still remaining cohesive in the context of the album. Expect great guitar and vocals, very little to no synths, funky beats (including some fairly cool time signatures). Excellent lyrics, definitely worth reading along. Especially cherry wine which at first glance sounds like the most beautiful love song but if you read along you’ll see how violent it is.

Wasteland baby is the second album. Standout tracks for me are Nina cried power, dinner and diatribes, would that I, shrike, be, and the title track wasteland baby. This one is definitely the sexiest album. Expect much more exploration into bluesy tunes and sound effects, the beats are getting even funkier, the lyrics are catastrophic and feature a lot of references to Greek mythology. This is the kind of album that you sit at the end of the world and listen to while everything falls apart. Wasteland baby the song epitomises this. It’s the conflict between standing up and fighting the broken systems that oppress people vs the need to give up and wash your hands of everything. Admitting we tried our best and it wasn’t enough. At least I have you. The deluxe tracks for this one are some of his best work on this project so check out why would you be loved, nfwmb and moments silence too.

Unreal unearth. This one is my favourite and my being has been altered by this album in ways I can’t even describe. Every song is a grade A hit. It’s actually my favourite album of all time I think. Honestly everything on this one is worth listening to but at some point once you’ve listened to all of the tracks individually, I cannot reccomend enough that you sit down and listen to the whole thing in order. No pauses. The whole thing with this album is that it’s a journey into the underworld inspired by Dante’s inferno. Each song occupies a different circle of hell and discusses topics surrounding the cardinal sins that are punished in each circle. It’s worth searching uk which sings belong in which circle. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s a concept album but it uses the story as a great jumping point for exploring moral, political and religious topics that are not discussed in the original cantos. This album is a masterpiece and I could literally write about it for hours but my thumbs are already falling off so I’ll keep it quick. Standout tracks are Francesca, first time, eat your young, abstract psychopomp, who we are, unknown nth, all things end, first light, de selby part 1 and butchered tongue. If you want the more explicitly political tracks choose eat your young and butchered tongue and READ ALONG. I could write fucking essays just on eat your young. This album was also written in the context of covid 19 and the lockdown and songs like all things end really make a heartbreaking but uplifting anthem for this period in time. The general sound of the album is very different to the two preceding albums. Expect much more manipulation of vocals and distortion of instruments. Expect more instruments. Expect full orchestra and stripped back guitar. Expect drums that sound like thunder and lightning. And for gods sake read along with this one. Cuz it’s fucking fantastic lyric writing and a lot of it can be missed in his pronunciation. When Andrew learns to annunciate it is OVER for us all.

Extended songs from unreal unearth are numerous and you’ve said you’ve heard nobodies soldier (also very political) and too sweet. I’d also recommend wildflower and barley for a soft lockdown summer feeling tinged with hopelessness, empire now as an anthem for Irish liberation and how much it was fucking worth it despite the troubles that followed and that you are for the most year inducing love song also within the context if lockdown. Just see “that I’d be anyway that you are” which will I’m sure soon be written on my body in tattoo ink. Through the flood acts as the introduction to the full album experience, hymn to Virgil is the last one.

Anyway have fun I tried not to write a fucking essay but I did. For unreal unearth in particular I have read no less than 5 books to examine source materials for his lyricism. I also learned a fuck ton about production to understand how he gets the sounds he does in his music. All to say this guys music is my whole life. And it can be hard to tone it down. If it all sounds confusing I’m sorry I’ve been writing this for like 40 minutes and I just did a full day in the recording studio and my brain is fried and my fingers are dead and I need to sleep, where I will probably listen to ‘to someone from a warm climate’ to sleep. Bye :P

[man-i-love-folklore]

Heyyy I'm trying to get into hozier and was wondering what songs would be best for newbie fans??

when i tell you i am so happy you asked this question!!! this took me a long while but I really enjoyed it. happy to get you listening to more than take me to church and too sweet lol

(btw im assuming you already know take me to church and too sweet, just because they are his most popular songs ofc)

Welcome to Phoebe's A Beginner's Guide To Hozier <3

(starts under the cut bc i yapped a lot)

personally, as an entry point i'd recommend some songs of his that went viral or were popular online that you might not have realized were him: work song, almost (sweet music), would that i, and someone new are some good examples.

then moving on to some deep(er) cuts, depending on what you like about the songs above. if you appreciate a good love song like work song, i, carrion (icarion) and like real people do are perfect. if you like the beat of would that i, sunlight and movement are similar and both amazing. if you like the upbeat vibes of someone new, jackie and wilson and from eden. if soul-crushing lyrics to a happy instrumental like almost (sweet music) are your jam, then francesca and all things end.

and of course, songs that fall into none of these categories that I feel are necessary Hozier listening:

- Cherry Wine (absolute masterpiece of a song)

- Unknown/Nth (devastating breakup song, get ready to cry)

- Eat Your Young (Anti-Capitalist jam)

- Abstract (Psychopomp) (get the tissues out for this one, too)

- Dinner & Diatribes (Hozier isn't always sad, sometimes he's horny!)

- finally, his cover of Say My Name (makes me ascend to a higher plane of being)

if any of these songs stick with you, I'd recommend listening to an album in full :) especially Wasteland, Baby! bc I love love love that album

thank you so much for coming to me with this, feel free to keep me posted on which songs you like and welcome to the hozier cult fandom!

[tryingnsmiling]

ladies and gentlemen, a moment to appreciate the beautiful Hozier

[astralilith]

Yall do not seem to understand the goldmine that are Hozier songs for those obsessed with Good Omens. Like, yeah sure, Take Me To Church is aziracrow coded, of course it is, but why stop there?? 90% of Hozier songs are applicable to the ineffable husbands (extremely so, in fact) and I ve shockingly not seen enough crossovers between these two fandoms. From Eden? Francesca?? Wasteland, Baby!??? I, Carrion (Icarian)???? Unknown/nth????? And these are only a few examples. I can't listen to Hozier and not think of Crowley and Aziraphale, it's too THEM for me not to. And I feel like people need to talk about it more.

Take Me To Church is great but it's far from being the only Hozier song that deals with religious trauma and the willingness to be damned to the eternal punishment of hell if it means adoring and worshipping your lover. We are dealing with the man who wrote lyrics such as "Heaven is not fit to house a love like you and I" and "If I should fall, on that day I only pray, don't fall away from me" and "I slithered here from Eden just to sit outside your door", LIKE CMON PEOPLE. TELL ME THIS IS NOT AZIRACROW??

[pyrochambers]

hey folks i am working on this (credit to @blackbrrytea)

info under the cut

i am doing one lyric from each hozier song from the standard versions of the albums hozier, wasteland baby, and unreal unearth.

each blog must have activity from the past year, as well as be verifiably a hozier reference. if you know any lyric blogs or song name blogs, please tag them in the notes! i already found some myself and will continue to look but every blog helps.

[lifemod17]

HAPPY WASTELAND, BABY! DELUXE TO THOSE WHO CELEBRATE!!!

spoiler free rambling below the cut

I was one of the few people who was lucky enough to have avoided any spoilers from this song when it was leaked right after the NYC listening party- it was actually one of the main reason why I avoided tiktok and twitter for a while... yall. I prepared myself for this song BUT. IT REALLY DIDN'T HELP. I AM SO VERY UNWELL.

It fits SO PERFECTLY with the theme of Wasteland, Baby! and I want to throw hands with Andrew for just letting this sit in a folder in a laptop but I can forgive him because it's out now.

I LOVE that it sounds imperfect, like he gets into these off-kilter flows and runs, but it's deliberate?!! AND IT WORKS WELL.

2019 Hozier, YOUR PEN GAME!?!?!!! SHOULD BE ILLEGAL IT IS SO GOOD. i need to process these lyrics more tomorrow when I'm more awake cuz OH BUDDY it hurts.

Wasteland, Baby! is such a beautiful album and I hope his new fans will get to appreciate it just as much as Unreal Unearth: Unheard now that the deluxe/special edition is here

[adolin]

heya! was wondering if you have any songs you connect with john/dios apate. 💕

OH. YES. Sorry (not) to be basic, but No Children is THE Dios Apate song of all time. Here's a post about TMG lyrics that are Dios Apate core to me

Some off the top of my head: Wasteland, Baby (Hozier) / Demons (The National) / Frankenstein (Rina Sawayama) / Kiss Me Son of God (TMBG) / The Man Who Sold The World (Midge Ure version) - all of these are youtube links

If you do spotify, here are some public playlists crowdsourced from my TLT buddies

[fawnforevergone]

Quick List of References to Dante's Inferno in "Unreal Unearth" (Part One)

HELLO !!! there is now an updated list since we have now heard the old album so please go check that out instead: [ the ultimate "unreal unearth" reference list" ]

[ PART TWO ]

If I miss anything or get anything wrong, let me know! I'm so interested to know what everyone else thinks, too :]

Another long post, but I simply have too much to say.

THIS WAS MADE BEFORE THE ALBUM RELEASE !!!!

"DE SELBY (PART ONE)" "You take in the blackness of air, the likes of a darkness so deep that God, at the start, couldn't bear." The theme of darkness is a repetitive one in Dante's Inferno, representing sin and it's deceiving behaviour. Particularly in the opening of Inferno, Dante and Virgil have to treck through a thick blackness after entering the gates of Hell.

"DE SELBY (PART TWO)" "Let all time slow, let all light go, I don't need to know where we begin again." DS(P2) is another song that references the absence of light, and would make sense being a continuation of DS(P1). "Let all time slow" references the eternal and infinite nature of a punishment in Hell, and "let all light go", again, show the darkness of Inferno. "I don't need to know where we begin again" is more a repetition of Hozier's own work with his multiple references of death not being the end - "Francesca", "Work Song", "All Things End", "Wasteland, Baby", etc. - but still references the idea of entering a new life after entering Inferno.

"FIRST TIME" "And the soul, if that's what you'd call it, uneasy ally of the body, felt as nameless as a river, undiscovered underground." It appears, in the track list, that we are now moving beyond the threshold of Hell. The mention of "a river, undiscovered underground", is a reference to the river Acheron that runs through Inferno. The river contains a ferry, ran by the Greek Psychopomp, Charon, who escorts the souls of the underworld. Dante is known for mixing different mythologies together in Inferno, so the mentions of "soul" and "river" and "undiscovered underground" all seem to be a reference to Charon and his role in Inferno.

"FRANCESCA" The whole song of Francesca is a reference to the story of Francesca da Rimini, who was sentenced to the second circle of Hell, 'Lust', after caught in an affair with her husband's brother, Paolo. Francesca claims that love has seized her so tightly that she can't stop loving Paolo, not even in Hell. The entire song references this story so I won't pinpoint these lyrics. "My life was a storm, since I was born. How could I fear any hurricane?" The second circle of Hell is plagued by violent winds meant to reflect the passions of reckless love. The winds are so strong that the inhabitants of 'Lust' find themselves thrown around and unable to stay in one spot. Hozier claims to not be afraid of these winds, saying that love has always felt this reckless, even in mortality, and death will not phase him. Whether he is saying this from the perspective of himself or Francesca is up for debate.

"I, CARRION (ICARIAN)" The whole song is very clearly about the tale of Icarus, and even has some mentions to the titan Atlas, "You have held your hands beneath. Once I had wondered what was holding up the ground. I can see that all along, love, it was you all the way down." Icarus and Titans are mentioned throughout Inferno, Hozier again hinting at the mosaic of mythology Dante created. In Inferno, Dante compares his own dread to the plummeting of Icarus, and Hozier now compares his love to the dreaming and hope of Icarus as he flew, making it a fitting song for the 'Lust' circle as well.

"EAT YOUR YOUNG" We now enter the third circle, 'Gluttony', and the song is very overt in its imagery of hunger. As far as I'm aware, the song has more political references than it does direct references to Inferno, but the song is very obviously about Gluttony.

"DAMAGE GETS DONE" The minimal lyrics we have for this song don't give me a lot, but I would say they definitely don't reflect hunger, so I think we have entered the fourth circle, 'Greed'. 'Greed' is categorised as one of the sins committed out of a lack of self-control, like 'Lust' and 'Gluttony'. However, Hozier seems to be fighting this idea in the lyrics, claiming, "But I know being reckless and young is not how the damage gets done." The idea of "damage" also reflects the circle of 'Greed', as the punishment for this sin is that the inhabitants are grouped into halves, and each half are forced to engage in an eternal battle that leaves them so injured, they are impossible to recognise.

"WHO WE ARE" I'll be honest, in terms of references, we don't have a lot for this song, although, as mentioned in the next paragraph, "Son Of Nyx" has to be about the fifth circle, 'Anger', so "Who We Are" is either another 'Greed' song or it's a second 'Anger' song. Although, we do have the lyric, "But it sharpens like a knife", which throws me back to the knife imagery of "Take Me To Church", a very biblical song in terms of imagery, and in the fourth circle, 'Greed', Dante sees varying members of the Clergy, so perhaps "Who We Are" is a similar song to "Take Me To Church", and takes place in 'Greed'. TMTC: "You can sharpen your knife", "My lover's the sunlight", "She demands a sacrifice", "Only then, I am human." WWA: "It sharpens like a knife", "We're born at night", "Darling, we sacrificed", "It's who we are." The biblical similarities could present this as a 'Greed' song, referencing the various clergymen who reside there. "SON OF NYX" Though we have no lyrics, we know the song after this is "All Things End", which is about the sixth circle, 'Heresy', so this song has to be about the fifth circle, 'Anger'. Nyx was a Greek Goddess who was the personification of night, once again referencing darkness in this album. Nyx has many offspring, all presenting various different things. Nyx, however, did inhabit the dark recesses of the underworld, respected and feared by even Zeus. We have no lyrics ( although, perhaps it is just this song renamed ? who knows ), so I can't say for certain how this relates, but a Goddess that resides in the underworld seems very fitting for Inferno.

---

Again, if I missed anything, please tell me! I'm already so obsessed with this album, I need to know if there is content I am missing, thank you soldiers. (ง’̀-‘́)ง