#woah this is long I remembered how much I love tyrion and this song

[queenbeyondthewall]

Alright so next on the Hozier self-titled/Lannister sibs agenda is the one and only Tyrion Lannister and his theme song Foreigner’s God. I simply cannot listen to this song anymore without thinking of him. It might be one of the most tragic songs on the album which is a perfect fit for one of the best tragic anti-heroic characters I have ever had the pleasure of reading. Let’s go.

She moved with shameless wonder The perfect creature, rarely seen Since some liar brought the thunder And the land was godless and free

This verse, to me, really represents the purity and innocence of Tyrion and Tysha's youthful love affair before Tywin (the liar who brought the thunder) pulled it to shreds. The word shameless is particularly apt in reference to Tyrion: 

“Tyrion hated weakness, especially his own. It shamed him, and shame made him angry.” - ASOS Tyrion I

“And make no mistake—this was the last time I will suffer you to bring shame onto House Lannister. You are done with whores.” – Tywin Lannister, ASOS Tyrion I

Nothing cuts him quite so deep as shame, especially from his father, and especially in reference to his dwarfism and his relationships with so-called “whores.” Speaking of,

Her eyes look sharp and steady Into the empty parts of me But still my heart is heavy With the hate of some other man’s beliefs

I interpret this verse in reference to Tyrion’s relationship with Shae, a defining feature of our understanding of his character. She's a bright, lively young woman, and they are almost sweet with each other, he seems to genuinely trust and care for her. Their relationship, however, is stained by the intense hatred Tyrion has for himself and the world around him, due in no small part to the Tysha incident and Tywin’s continued dismissal and disrespect of him. Tyrion compares the two girls to each other constantly, as though desperately seeking the kind of carefree love he once felt free to have, and not finding it.

Always a well-dressed fraud Who wouldn’t spare the rod

Back and back again to Tywin and the impenetrable shadow he casts over Tyrion’s life. I love thinking of Tywin as a well-dressed fraud - there’s a hint there of the Lannister ostentation and hunger for power. Spare the rod in biblical reference to corporal punishment and to Tywin’s neverending efforts to dampen the spirit of his younger son. 

She feels no control over her body She feels no safety in my arms I’ve no language left to say it But all I do is quake to her Breaking if I try and convey it The broken love I make to her

The darkest part of Tyrion’s story, without question, is the drunken, cruel, destructive spiral of self-loathing and self-pity he is set on by a culmination of his traumas and betrayals. I’m sure many readers felt the same horror as I did watching Tyrion take out his inner torment upon the poor “sunset girl” in the brothel. I find Tyrion’s relationships with women to be very important in underlining the tragedy of his character - someone who has been on the receiving end of some of Westeros’ cruelest societal and personal biases, someone with true innate empathy, and yet who falls just short of extending his understanding of these hardships to other disadvantaged people around him (namely women, especially prostitutes). Tyrion’s relationship with sex has been warped ever since the rape-by-proxy he suffered at the hands of his father. The outcome? More pain to innocents, which this verse communicates in striking clarity.

Screaming the name of a foreigner’s god The purest expression of grief

This song has a simple but impactful refrain. I saw a post recently speaking of Tyrion as a victim - angry, hateful, imperfect. Sometimes I think the wit that so endears Tyrion to us as a POV distracts from the very real grief and trauma that is a driving force for his character. Tyrion, to me, is the character with the most ambiguous path forward through winds and dream, and I can’t wait to see how he continues to grow from rock bottom. Part of that, I think, will be an altogether different sort of relationship with Penny and Daenerys, two new young women in his life.