Broken to Brilliant (E2D3)

November 5th, 2015

Why have artists always vented deep emotions in the form of music? Is it just coincidence that so many have done this? In the instance of Hozier’s album it is a form of therapy or working through some emotional trauma. For an artist such as Hozier, creating a musical outlet can transform the artist them self. From the beginning of the album to the end, Hozier transforms from a broken character to an emotionally stable individual. The modern artist Hozier shows his emotional evolution in his widely debated new album Hozier.

Hozier’s first and most popular song on the album, “Take Me To Church” has had many conflicting opinions formed around it, a debate if you will. It is not about Hozier but has many clues to his current emotional state. He thinks it is wrong to take away love from anyone because he had a similar experience. The blog, “The Written Tevs,” had an interesting take on the meaning of this song. The blogger writes, “He knows that it’s violent and wrong but he doesn’t seem to care (“I was born sick, I love it”) — and if that’s so, then this song is basically equating being in a religion to being in an abusive relationship.” This, however, is not the meaning that Hozier is trying to convey. If you take into consideration the preceding lyrics

if the Heavens ever did speak She is the last true mouthpiece Every Sunday’s getting more bleak A fresh poison each week ‘We were born sick,’ you heard them say it, My church offers no absolutes She tells me ‘worship in the bedroom The only heaven I’ll be sent to Is when I’m alone with you I was born sick, but I love it (Hozier, 2014)

This text, to me, clearly exemplifies that Hozier is expressing that the Catholic Church has a monumental disapproval of homosexuality. Hozier’s sexual orientation itself is irrelevant but he is telling the story of two people of the same sex being in love. The reason he chooses to do this is because he is too emotionally damaged at this point to write about himself. When he says “she,” he is referring to the goddess of love saying, “if the Heavens ever did speak, she is the last true mouthpiece.” This is an expression of the fallacies in religion. Over the centuries of greed and manipulation in religion, the only god left pure is the goddess of love; she is the last true mouthpiece.

The concept of love to Hozier is something that no one can deem as wrong. He displays the church’s persona in every Sunday getting a “fresh poison each week” as in new lies that the people are told to believe, such as, “We were born sick, you heard them say it.” Hozier also says, “My church offers no absolutes,” and in the blog it is described as, “The relationship ‘offers no absolutes’.” In reality, Hozier is very much still addressing the Catholic Church and the close-mindedness of it all. The lovers in this story have been told by the church that they will not go to heaven in the line, “She tells me ‘worship in the bedroom”. She, as in the goddess of love, wants them to be spiritual and to worship, but not necessarily in their disapproving church. The distraught lovers say, “The only heaven I’ll be sent to Is when I’m alone with you,” expressing their belief in happiness being the key to salvation. Then, the stanza ends with, “I was born sick, but I love it.” They have been told that they are wrong and that they are sick, but that is okay with them. This is an interesting song for Hozier’s album to begin with. It is not necessarily about him, but it divulges the artist’s opinion of love as a whole. Before one can go into the story of their own relationship cycle, you have to know what that person perceives love to be. Hozier has had his heart broken and isn’t yet prepared to open up his true emotion and that is why he vicariously tells his story through the eyes of other individuals.

Hozier believes love is the most divine force, above even the powerful influence of law or religion. This is a pivotal point in the album where the listener can really feel the artist’s venerability to this woman’s addictive personality. The Hozier review, “Glorious and Uplifting,” featured in The Telegraph dives much deeper into the soulfulness of this complex album. When I heard the song “Jackie and Wilson,” I knew that it was about Hozier’s far fetched fantasy with a girl he had madly fallen in love with. He says, “She’s gonna save me, call me baby run her hands through my hair… we’ll name our children Jackie and Wilson raise ’em on rhythm and blues.” This at first, I just though of this as a dream of his, his ideal scenario. That is until I read the passage revealing this Irish singer’s childhood. “The son of a blues drummer, Hozier was raised in Wicklow on a diet of Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Blind Willie Johnson.” The listener can really get a sense of a deeper meaning when they know the past of an artist. I thought, okay he wants to have kids with this woman and raise them on good music. However, this isn’t even the half of it. He wants to have kids with this girl and raise them the way that he was raised, on “rhythm and blues.” This is a moment where the listener really gets a sense of Hozier’s overwhelming, head-over heels infatuation with this woman. He is essentially blinded by love; this is the early stage of a relationship bringing out these passionate feelings about wanting to raise a family like his own as a child. In this, Hozier’s vulnerability is very present, foreshadowing heartbreak to come. Another review brings in a direct quote from Hozier expressing his love of the great Jackie Wilson. “He’s a big influence for me, he’s fantastic. I think Elvis was the white Jackie Wilson” (Boilen, 2014, NPR). This leads me to the conclusion that he names his children Jackie and Wilson because he is relating the significance of this artist in his early life to the significance of this love in his later life and making a deep connection. Hozier sees himself in this girl that he has fallen in love with and is inspired on a spiritual level.

Again in this same article an important point is addressed confirming my suspicion about an echoing message in the album. Hozier says, “There’s sometimes a recurring theme of looking from the outside in and idealizing some idea of somebody or something as a cure for oneself” (Boilen, 2014, NPR). This quote speaks volumes for the album. In almost every relationship, there is a high followed by a somber decline. During this point, a person must find an outlet to distract them from their fleeting happiness. This is one of Hozier’s coping methods that he perpetuates into the music in his album. The song “Someone New” is all about this reoccurring theme of finding comfort in the “art of life’s distractions” (Hozier, 2014). In this song Hozier explains how he “falls in love just a little bit, every day, with someone new” (Hozier, 2014). He used this as a way to fix himself because, at about this point in the album, it can be seen that there are major problems developing or already developed in his obsessive relationship. He asks “would things be easier if there was a right way?” but is answered by his lover that, “honey there is no right way,” (Hozier, 2014). So, he keeps searching for these distractions in life to deal with himself and his internal problems. All of this is to combat the growing feeling of lonesomeness that is creeping up on Hozier due to the uncertainty of his faltering love. Throughout this album, the listener can see the progression of this artist through the basic cycle of a relationship. Beginning with the artist’s original perception of love to the act of falling in love to the classic breakup, makeup, “it’s complicated” sort of conclusion. The listener knows that the artist is going through some emotional struggle and they are left to wonder how he resolves this.

In the last song of the album, “Cherry Wine,” Hozier is somber, though in a better place. He describes his old relationship in the stanzas and his new lover in the chorus. “Her eyes and words are so icy, oh but she burns, Like rum on the fire.” She is cold and lacking in the compassion that Hozier has for her, nonetheless he has an unwavering passion for her. He describes his old relationship as more than stressful when he says, “I walk my days on a wire,” not knowing what’s going to come next, always on edge. He implies that she (his old lover) is asking for him back but he tells her, “Oh mamma, don’t fuss over me,” because he knows that he doesn’t need her anymore. He finds distraction in his new lover being enthralled with “the way she tells me I’m hers and she is mine, Open hand or closed fist would be fine, the blood is rare and sweet as cherry wine.” Blogger Jones puts it well, “There is more to the songs than simple objectification since Hozier does not expound on a woman’s beauty and sex appeal but of her mystery and powers.” Which speaks both for the fact that a woman could tear you apart as well as bring you back together. The chorus shows Hozier’s true revival and the rareness of the savior he has found. The reoccurring theme in the album was presented so frequently was because it was the motivation for Hozier to make it in the first place. When asked why he made such an unpractical breakup album Hozier responded by saying, “I guess what was different was that, after the breakup, I had a lot of time on my hands, and a lot of things to distract myself from,” (Usinger 2014). The album itself was a distraction and the songs presented in it exfoliate this. “Idealizing some idea of somebody or something as a cure for oneself.” This is the essence of the album, Hozier, and by the end of the album, Hozier is a very different person. How could he not be? He had matured emotionally from his experiences, transforming his heartbreak into a brilliant work of art.

Acknowledgements: A lot of work goes into an essay this long and constructed over many weeks. Tips, advice, suggestions, and inspirations can come from many different places. First off, I would obviously like to acknowledge and thank my professor, Dr. Harris for directing the focus of my paper and offering insight to keep my train of thought on track. I know the professor is a busy man, so it was also very helpful to have one of my TAs help me out. Kasey would sit down with me and help me analyze different aspects of my paper more in depth; very much appreciated. Another huge help I had during the formation of this essay was from my tutor, Jenn Azevedo. She really helped me out with line edits as well as concentrating my flow of thought. Thank you, Jenn. Last but not least, I would like to acknowledge my partner in class for offering helpful and positive criticism for some mistakes I made as well as letting me know what things she thought I had done well. Thank you, Gabby.

Author’s Memo: I knew exactly what I wanted to write about as soon as this essay was assigned. I have a very big appreciation for the music of Hozier and wanted an excuse to analyze this album on a deeper level. At first, I felt like a critic and it wasn’t until I got my title figured out that my essay really started to take shape. I am very proud of my analysis of the song “Take Me to Church” in my first paragraph. Once I got the ball rolling it was very easy to dive deeper and deeper into to the complexities of this song and the album as a whole. I found it very interesting.

References: Brown, Helen. 2014, Hozier, Hozier, review: ‘glorious and uplifting. The Telegraph

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/cdreviews/11143317/Hozier-Hozier-review-glorious-and-uplifting.html

Kelsey. 2014, Album Review: Hozier, ‘Hozier’, the current

http://www.thecurrent.org/feature/2014/10/13/album-review-hozier-self-titled

Sullivan Caroline, 2014, Hozier: Hozier- review. The guardian.

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/oct/02/hozier-hozier-review

Boilen B, 2014, Hozier, “Jackie and Wilson”. NPR music

http://www.npr.org/event/music/345044268/hozier-jackie-and-wilson

Jones , 2014

http://heroinejones.blogspot.com/2014/04/listen-hozier.html

Harper Simon, 2014, Hozier-Hozier: A deeply impressive fist step…, Clash.

http://www.clashmusic.com/reviews/hozier-hozier