On Andrew and devotion II

Since Hozier’s sophomore album “Wasteland, Baby!” has been released on March 1st and has fortunately provided us with more material to dive into (also considering the songs present only in his “Nina Cried Power EP”), I felt it imperative to elaborate further on the connections I catch in his work regarding love, sex and a sense of devotion and salvation. This time with actual examples! It’s always a pleasure for me to write with him in mind, considering how deeply and fondly his songs touch me.

Bear in mind that everything I say both here and in my previous post are thoughts that rely on my own understanding of the lyrics and the stories they tell, as well as Hozier’s personal ideas during the process of writing them, with which I tend to agree. However, they don’t exclude any other possible interpretation of the words! One of the things I love the most on Andrew’s lyrical prowess is his ability to write lines with multiple layers. :)

Trying to follow the same rationale I used previously and the importance Andrew gives to love and sex as parts of the human experience, I think I should begin with the songs from his first album. To mention at least the ones where I sense these feelings more prominently (but of course they spread in different amounts and ways throughout his entire discography).

I agree with him and, starting from “Jackie and Wilson”, I see a lyrical persona looking at someone and projecting its longings into that person. Someone it would have adventures with, that would be accepting, caring, welcoming, that could save it from itself. And since the world is a place it feels itself outcast from in some way, they would abandon all the rest and feed only off the love they had for each other, and that’s okay. The catch here is that this persona does not take the first step to tackle the dreamed lover, and the possibility of it ever becoming true vanishes when they leave… Until the next one walks into the bar and the cycle of one-sided devotion starts over.

In “Someone New” I sense a naive, lonely heart that falls in love way too easily. It craves beauty and love and excitement and attention. It sees those aspects in everything and everyone. The catch might be that it doesn’t really experience real, durable feelings, but rather the fast flame imagination and desire easily provide, but take away with the same hand. It tries to fool itself into not needing something solid, when it’s what everyone deserves, and therefore plays with its own life and the lives of others through moments of shallow idealization and infatuation.

In “From Eden”, it was quite interesting to hear Andrew say he imagined it from the perspective of the Devil… Anyway, considering the Devil talking, it could be him looking at someone that is pure (or that he considers pure) and loving them, wanting to be close to them, because they remind him of who he once was. I can also read it as a persona finding what at least on the surface seems to be a kindred spirit - someone it could convince to share the light and dark both carry within.

As for “Take me to church”, I feel it as one of those songs where the mix of devotion and salvation seems evident - not that the others don’t have it as well. The persona here, in my eyes, aims to live as a free spirit and does not accept the way certain institutions use their influence to interfere in the relationship of two people (i.e. the Catholic Church). Therefore, it would rather renounce what they say is faith and pure and correct and redirect it all towards its lover, embracing everything good and bad that may come from it. Which explains the imagery of sacrifice to a divinity that is also incredibly human.

Moving to “Work Song” (one of my personal favourites), it seems to me that this persona feels saved because it was taken under the lover’s wing after some sort of terrible mistake was made - no questions asked, nothing requested in return. Nothing but a kind heart and a pair of kind eyes that saw beauty where the narrator thought there was none left. So as they fall in love over time, the narrator is compelled to express its gratitude with burning passion and unconditional love that could perhaps overcome even the inevitability of death.

In “To Be Alone”, I see not only one, but two damaged people relying on each other not to succumb to a trying world in trying times. Basking in intimacy, in spending time together. The lover might be even more damaged than the persona telling the story, but it doesn’t really matter - this is not a competition. They are not trying to fix each other. If all they can do is offer each other’s time and love and dedication in the form of presence, that’s what shall be done. Even if it doesn’t sound like much and just not to get even more hurt.

Through the fantastic “Cherry Wine” again I sense the draw to someone who seems fascinating, and whose pull is so strong the lyrical persona cannot help but still wholeheartedly devote itself to that person, even with the cheating and physical/psychological abuse it suffers and tries to ignore and cover up with pretty words. It just cannot find a way out of that because it is unable to find a reason why it should. It ignores everything bad for a love that is actually only one-sided. Sadly a reality to many a people out there.

The persona in “Like Real People Do” seems rather surprised to see this person digging a grave open at the wee hours, but at the same time is thankful that it is being done. I’m not sure if the persona is indeed the digger’s deceased lover and is falling in love with them again or if the random hole this person was digging ended up revealing a hollow grave, but anyway, there’s no way the next door “regular” person would go to such extents if the first option is the case. By asking a kiss from its digger/saviour, the narrator longs for love and everything else a normal, real person, deserves to have. The kiss is what finally gonna breathe life into what once was empty and dead. In my mind this final bit can perhaps also explain the song for anyone who doesn’t fancy the morbid Romantic imagery Andrew chose…

In “In A Week” Andrew describes what for me from one angle is an elaborate metaphor of two lovers basking in the moment they share and how it could be compared to a peaceful death. From another angle, my brain agrees with Andy and processes these two people having this moment in the woods and wondering what would happen if they died there. Going further and thinking of them as already dead, as corpses decomposing, they don’t seem to mind death and the natural, yet gruesome images it brings forth, because they are together, and it’s okay. Not even the very end could set them apart.

Well, I guess that’s what I could think of regarding the first album… See you all in the next post (because of course I’m gonna be talking about the new songs). Congratulations and thank you very much if you took the time to read it all! :]

23/03/2019