guys just. hold on a minute. hold on a fucking minute ok? i need to talk about hozier’s debut album. old news, yes, but listen. everyone on here is all “hozier is possessed by the spirit of a bog lesbian uwu” or whatever and this came about from the music from his first album and it’s like honestly? i don’t wanna tell y’all you’re wrong bc it’s all in good fun But
a lot of the themes of the songs in his first album are themes of self harm and unhealthy coping mechanisms. and one of the biggest ways he represents this is singing out a metaphorical lover and putting them on a pedestal and idealizing them. these subjects of his affection are, in the narrative of the songs, a cure all for his problems. whether these problems are mental illness, addiction, issues of identity, whatever, these lovers are supposed to fix him.
the most obvious is from jackie and wilson, partially because he himself says that the song is about idealizing another person and wanting them to fix you, but it’s also in the lyrics. the chorus says it clearly: “she’s gonna save me” “she’ll know me crazy, soothe me daily, better yet she wouldn’t care”. this woman is clearly a curative for whatever ails him, not a true companion or partner. it plays at romance, but it’s not real.
another example is from the song sedated, which talks about addiction as the unhealthy coping mechanism. the lover in this instance also partakes in what i can assume is drug use, which distresses hozier: “darling don’t you join in, you’re supposed to save me from it”. once again, the lover is meant to heal hozier of what ails him, but this time they are shown to be as human as him and to have the same problems, which disappoints him.
these other ones are just my interpretation, but following that line of thought…
work song idealizes the woman of his affections differently: she’s too good to be true. not only does her love cure him, she’s untouched by what tainted him. she doesn’t care about anything he’s done, she just loves him: “i swear i thought i dreamed her, she never asked once about the wrong i did”.
and in a similar way, from eden can be taken like that. i know this one is a big song to use for angsty gifsets for our fave ships, but listen. once again, it’s suggested that the object of his affection is pure and mostly untouched, and that hozier is dirty. literally, he’s the devil leaving eden and going to her: “you’re familiar like my mirror years ago”. he’s romanticizing this idealized form of someone who is untouched by the world’s horrors as he has been, which can only ever end poorly, just like any time you put someone on a pedestal.
there’s more to say, but i’m gonna stop because i’m mad tired. point is: i can, must and will over analyze hozier’s songs until i die or he releases another album in 4 more years. thank u and goodnight
stormborns
origamiaround
titsay
ellievsbear
snowghoul
dededos
prguitarman
