hozier comparing an animal he saw die as a young boy to a dying relationship is a level of lyrical genius i never thought i would ever hear from anyone
Holy… THAT is the analogy? As I go through a breakup nonetheless. I’d forgotten how to fall in love until Hozier revived the memories through his lyrics. I found my love in August, ended it in November. But we still try and fail at resurrections. Seems familiar. Doesn’t he have a song about that, too?
This one took me out at the knees upon first listen and I haven’t been able to stand since. It holds the perfect storm of all the things that make me emotional, so it makes me ugly cry EVERY time. The imagery, the metaphor, the suffering animal and then the cease of it, the awful realization of helpless love, the awe and compassion and terror and peace and despair of it all. Holy shit Hozier how do you manage to create art like this. I’m VERKLEMPT. Favorite from the album, hands down.
You've put to words EXACTLY what I experienced the first time I heard it -- I stopped dead on my tracks and it instantly became a favourite. I still ugly cry every time I listen to this because the sheer emotion and the picture it paints in my head is so so beautifully painful.
God I'm glad I'm not alone. This is my favorite song of this album absolutely, even though it makes me cry every time I listen. I just can't help myself. It moves me so deeply.
I didn’t get the lyrics at first but then I read somewhere on twitter that this song is about roadkill. And it really hit me, the painful brilliance of comparing love to a roadkill. Falling in love so quickly, pedal to the floor, going fast recklessly because the whole world seems insignificant and distant in comparison to this feeling and then because we are so reckless in love with hit it full speed and then we’re left cradling what’s left of it, watching as the life leaves its eyes
The song was inspired by an experience he had when he was a child. When he was a kid he saw a person get out of their car and comfort a dying animal. In the title it says psychosomp which is something/someone that guides someone or something to death (or another phase in life) so I think he’s comparing the person that comforted the dying animal to a psychopomp. But this comment made me realize just how beautiful these lyrics are cus they can be interpreted in so many different and equally beautiful ways🩷
@@thejacquelinerowland thank you for telling me this! I didn't know it was grounded in a real experience. Yes! The lyrics are so intricate straightforward and metaphorical at the same time. So honest and specific and yet so fundamentally relatable. I am in love with every song on the album, Unreal Unearth is a masterpiece of our generation
honestly idk how you didn't get that without being told. the roadkill part isn't even metaphorical. this is one of his most literally interpreted songs. you just have to actually listen to the lyrics
“Part of me I'm afraid will always be Trapped within an abstract from a moment of my life “ Words have been put to a feeling I didn’t know how to explain I had.
I find this to mean that a piece of himself will always be stuck in the past memory of a happier time.. like he may never be fully present again @@blackbird690
I literally stopped walking when I heard that line during the first listen, my stepbrother died last year and I too am afraid that I will always be stuck where I first heard the news about his passing.
This song pushes the entire earth and the human experience in the palm of your hand and you can’t help but feel so overwhelmed by how something so vast and beautiful could fit around your fingers that you end up just staring at it
It's hard to say which song is the best from the album, because all of them are magnificent. But this one... I have been listening to over and over again. This one hit hard.
My husband found a dying cat while working and it was too late to take it to get checked out so he sat with it until it passed on. It's crazy to me that anyone felt the same and wrote a song about a similar situation.
This is about a memory hozier has from his childhood about watching an animal hit on the road being carried by a person. This song encompasses loss so well its so ..... I can't
I personally feel this song on the roadkill aspect because I have sat with so many of my stray cats after getting hit by selfish and reckless drivers. And seeing the panic in their eyes just makes me cry so hard
Sometimes it returns Like rain that you slept through That washed off the world The streets looking brand new I will not be great But I'm grateful to get through The feeling came late I'm still glad I met you The memory hurts But does me no harm Your hand in my pocket To keep us both warm The poor thing in the road Its eye still glistening The cold wet of your nose The Earth from a distance See how it shines See how it shines See how it shines See how it shines Sometimes there's a thought Like you choose what you're doing But it comes to nought When I look back through it I remember the view Street lights in the dark blue The moment I knew I'd no choice but to love you The speed that you moved The screech of the cars The creature still moving That slowed in your arms The fear in its eyes Gone out in an instant Your tear caught the light The Earth from a distance See how it shines See how it shines See how it shines See how it shines Darling, there's a part of me I'm afraid will always be Trapped within an abstract from a moment of my life The weeds up through the concrete The traffic picking up speed All my love and terror Balanced there between those eyes See how it shines See how it shines
3:38 “all my love and terror balanced there between those eyes”, this part of the song playing while im looking at my boyfriend such surreal moment, i want to engrave in my memory
I think this is my favorite Hozier song. The chorus makes me feel something I can’t explain, but I love it so much. We’re lucky to experience his art. ❤️
My sister passed away last fall. The songs released on this album have helped me though the grief and pain of losing her. The lyrics have put the emotions I'm feeling to words in ways I never knew how to express. Thank you Andrew for your amazing music ❤
I'm so sorry you lost your sister. I feel the same way about this song. My best friend passed away last fall as well. Here's to moving through our grief as one year without them passes us by.
the part in the song where the animal dies makes me sob because i watched the life leave my childhood cats eyes. i held her beforehand and she reached for me with her paw, her eyes filled with so much love. this song rips me apart.
Whew, this one really paints a picture. I think we all have memories like this (vivid ones that replay in our minds with new context for the rest of our lives, that hurt but we can't regret them). Beautiful song ❤
i just want to share why this song means so so much to me. i found this song in early February, and on feb 19th i was taking my soulkitty to the vet for some medicine cuz he was sick. this was the only song i listened to on the way there. and i even looked up the meaning while parked waiting to be called in, i went in and found out terrible news. my time w my baby boy was over, i could give him steroids and be selfish w my time w him or let him go right there. i let him go. i bawled heavily for 3 days. and i thought about this song. i thought about how beautiful it was to have have loved him in the first place. how i was so lucky to have almost 5 years with him. death is as normal as birth unfortunately but it does hurt. he didn’t go anywhere but he’s just not here physically w me anymore. i couldn’t have asked for a better kitty bestfriend these past few years. i really couldn’t have, it was like we were made for eachother. thank you andrew. my names haley and im from Pennsylvania and i just want to thank you for all the outstanding work you have done in your career and as a person. thank you.
I wasn't planning on having an emotional breakdown today... So many personal favorites on this album but this song together with Unknown/nth made me feel so certain that I've no choice but to listen to them and love them until my last breath
THIRDED. Unknown/Nth was my favorite of the early releases, and this one DEMOLISHED me. Unknown coming right after it in the album when I was still reeling and struggling to stop crying at first listen felt almost cruel haha
this song in particular from the album, the chorus and crooning vocals afterwards, reminds me of Coldplay during their first couple of albums. I love it, like hearing a familiar melody for the 1st time all over again.
My god. This one made me ugly cry. Heaving, screaming sobs. And it's not because of the sad event in the lyrics. It's from the sheer fucking BEAUTY of this song, the way he's put it together. The SKILL. He knows his craft inside-out, ALL parts of it. NO ONE creates musical art like Andrew Hozier Byrne. I defy you to name a single other person who reaches into the soul like he does, whether to rip it apart, or lift it up, or somehow do both at once. He's both more human, and more ethereal than anyone else out there doing this work right now. Blasting past all barriers.
Hi hozier :) on monday i got in a hit-and-run accident and i’m writing this comment from recovery. i was the scared creature on the road this week and this is my favorite song from your album by far so i want to thank you for all that you do :) see you in chicago!!!
It's strange knowing how much work went into these and just being able to absorb them at least in part in less than an hour. You did great on the album man. It's a wonderful addition
That second verse and prechorus felt very personal and so vividly described. It was the context that I needed to understand some of his other songs and I totally get it now. I've gotten way too emotionally invested in his music it's almost unhealthy haha..
Today I am burying my dear friend. We didn’t get to say goodbye. He was a hero, he served 7 years for our country. Yet it was eventually the PTSD that got him. Hozier is my favorite contemporary artist. I feel so held and loved by the timing of this release. Thank you. ♥️🫶♥️
This album is something else. I cannot just _listen_ to a song a few times, and that is enough. It's like I _have_ to quite literally _obsess_ over each song, each word in it, each note strummed and touched, each beat and harmony, and find a greater depth of the human condition in each one in order for it to be satisfactorily known by me. I need to hear and ponder each for at least a couple weeks. It is a very specific, very sweet kind of.. _insanity,_ almost.
My family cared for a kid my brother met at school for about 5 years, he mostly spent weekends and some week days at our house. He visited us in the summer for many years after that because we had to move away. He was about my age. He passed recently. This album has been helping me heal.
“The creature still moving That slowed in your arms The fear in its eyes Gone out in an instant Your tear caught the light The earth from a distance” Hit me too hard bro😭 Top 5 best songs in this album
One of my dogs passed away very unexpectedly a month ago and I haven’t been able to listen to this song without crying since then. Knowing that the lyrics were inspired by him seeing a woman hold a dying deer in the road just wrecks me even more now. It perfectly encapsulates the feeling of loss and grief.
It seems like Hozier, the narrator, changed his perspective from observer to the person saving the creature (wounded heart) and, finally, the creature “all my love and terror balanced there between those eyes”. I hope this is not an over analysis of this gorgeous piece! It has taken me weeks to get passed the tears every time I’ve listened to it. Even if I have it all wrong I’m so grateful to you Hozier. Thank you, thank you💜💙💚
been listening to this one for a month every day on repeat now and still overwhelmed by how beautiful it is. the image, but also the gentleness of both the you and the I in this song. sometimes I read the roadkill as both the literal event, the moment of falling in love, and also the moment of falling out. it's like it was the gentleness of 'you' that I fell in love with in the first place, and now it's the deer of our relationship lying there in the road, in pain, and still you'd look at it with tear in your eye and hold it tenderly as it dies, the same gentleness. First and last moment in the same setting, and everything should have changed, but at the same time, maybe not so much change after all .... and 'I' look at the afterimage of our love peacefully, and fondly ... just overwhelmed by the gentle caress of this song. and just how beautiful is the first line, the rain has passed, I don't see it, but I still live in the aftermath and feel it had existed, (*wailing*)
My best friend in the world showed me this song.. We’ve both struggled with love.. we are very similar people and music like this has always brought us together but I think this will forever be our song.
I'm writing a paper on this song, sort of a summary response essay, and I'm having a hard time fully understanding the entire song, I understand he is talking and reflecting on a memory of someone running into traffic to pick up and move an animal that had been hit by a car and staying with it in its final moments. But he also talks about someone specific, someone who he cared about but is now a stranger. I'm trying to really pinpoint the meaning of the song, reminiscing or reflecting on two experiences in his life that have a way of connecting and possibly correlating in some aspects. I think that's why he specifically titles the song Abstract (Psychopomp). In each of these instances, there is a "psychopomp", the dying animal is picked up and moved by this stranger (psychopomp in this) who stays with it until it dies as a sort of guide to the next phase of life. The other experience or memory (what I think Hozier talks about) is him looking back on a time when a specific person came into his life. This person who he only came to realize the full extent of their importance to him after the fact when reflecting back on it. "Your hand in my pocket, to keep us both warm" This lyric leads me to assume that this person was at one point a significant other or "love interest". In this possible relationship could the "psychopomp" be the lover who maybe led him from "an abstract from a moment..." of his life to another? please help!!
Yes, this is a metaphor for a love relationship that starts, flounders, attempts to save it fail,and it dies. A small memory is saved (trapped) within an abstract where the narrator can safely acknowledge it. Yes, it hurts but it does not cause harm/injury any longer. And then…there’s the Psychopomp. The injured creature metaphor is a familiar and powerful image! I was instantly drawn in to this song and cried every time I listened to it. So I listened to it many times everyday. It took 2 months of this before I could, listen, sing and celebrate the lyrics with a bit of joy. This album is full of dualities! This track confirms that we humans can feel love, pain, happiness, confusion, and grief concurrently. It is overwhelming until it is not.
There’s so much to unpack here. “The poor thing in the road, it’s eye still glistening”, this metaphor pulled me in. The thought of looking closely…I can’t yet. I can barely get through this song. It has landed softly in my heart and found the wound.
I know this is about a breakup, but goddamn if some of these lyrics don't take me back to the first time I ever lost a loved one. The true sign of a great artist is when you can relate something to your own experience even when you are such different people with different experiences. Thank you, Hozier
I love how Son of Nyx melds part of this song into it. Listening to this after being addicted to Son of Nyx feels like going back home after a long while away.
Unreal Unearth as an album actually has helped me face the trauma of losing my closest friendship that ive held onto for several years now. Thank you so much Hozier for helping me process my emotions and heal my broken heart.
A family friend who acted like a grandfather in my early life passed this week, and i couldn't find anything that held the same sentiment as my feelings. But this song comes the closest. The visceral sight of something wounded, almost dead, with the soul crushing empathy of it all, watching it die, feeling for it. It encompasses loss perfectly. I miss you Lali. I wish i could go to your funeral, even more I wish you were still here. I could never thank you for making my lonely childhood full of play and color. I promise to live in a way that would make you happy. Proud, happy, healthy and full of heart. I'll do it for me, for us, so you can see me grow up from wherever you are, along with your children and real grandchildren. Thank you for showing me joy and gentleness. I love you and I always will.
Somehow Hozier manages to capture the feeling of being with an animal in its dying moments perfectly in this song. I don't know how he accomplished that, but it truly is a masterpiece put together. Even though I've never heard this song before, it instantly put me back in the moment of having to put down my childhood cat, and of his bonded pairmate passing 15 days later. Somehow instead of being gutwrenching, it's oddly bittersweet. The tone of the song makes me mourn the two, yes, but it's somehow also reassuring.. i dunno, I just know this is a beautiful piece.
This reminds me of my first love, whom I never confessed myself to, because I hated myself and wouldn't dare be a part of any love story. Despite this, I loved him... his gentle yielding nature, his quiet confidence, his love of Science, his bright young eyes. He stayed next to me, he was my friend, he never asked for anything and didn't mind my silence. He was my psychopomp for my time of transformation, with him I was never alone despite my time of dying... it was a difficult time for me, but drifting from him shattered my heart and felt even worse... I always sought to replace him. That is, until tonight. As I've connected with this song, I can no longer deny that my love for him shall always remain present-tense... though I no longer miss him or seek to see him again, it remains true that every moment of my time I've spent thinking of him, wishing him well, missing him, loving him have all been a prayer to bless his life, and also a prayer to bless mine as I crossed over into a new existence that would enable me to transcend much of my inherited suffering. He guided me to learn to create love for myself, so that I may experience a love story of my own and be glad in it. Of course that was just his role as a psychopomp... the work ought to be credited to God's hands - the creator of Truth - the object of utmost importance in our beloved science. Anyway... I guess it's just life-affirming to accept that the love from my heart has not gone to waste, even if I am not to see the full extent of its effects for myself. Let your love be strong, everyone... 👽🖤
This song has me in tears every time I listen to it. From the very first time, when I didn't comprehend the lyrics yet, to now... It just holds so many raw conflicting emotions all at once. It's so haunted yet so beautiful. It will live with me until I die.
one of my friends sang this for karaoke night, and man, i'd want hozier to listen to him sing ngl this song almost makes me choke up with how beautiful it sounds
This song makes me shed a tear lately but then I play Better Love which perks me up, but to dance, play and exercise I play To Noise Making(Sing) And Sunlight and for my grand finale Talk acoustic version it reminds me of the love story between Robin Hood and Maid Marion and The different stories of men and women in the Bible as well as Joseph and The Virgin Mary and many other religious books. This Man's music makes me want to invest in churches, libraries, healthcare, etc. but whenever I need a reality check, pleasant one of course I listen to Jack Boots and Almost Sweet Music etc.☮️♥️🙌🏾☺️😅😁
This song is how I would describe nostalgia feels like. How childhood feels like in memories. So sad and so uplifting at the same time, something that makes your chest feel tight with emotions. Incredible song. I'm so lucky I'll be able to see him live this year
This song was released the same week my dog got really sick last year. I didn't wanna listen to it again until she was gone. That was 2 hours ago. Thank you for something to cry to Hozier. It helps the hurt a little bit.
I wasn’t expecting this song to hit me as hard as it did, ever since the album came out I’ve been listening to it 747383 times a day and crying almost every time, it’s so beautiful
i lost my brother 5 years ago and this song along with others in this album speak to me so deeply. especially the lines “the memory hurts but does me no harm” and “i’m still glad i met you.” this album will hold a special place in my heart for sure ❤️
My girlfriend broke up with me right after this album came out, these songs are all master pieces, they are beautiful and the best songs I've ever heard, hands down, I listened to these songs so much after she broke up with me, they single handedly got me though the worst pain in my life, and probably saved my life, I love you Hozier, you're the best
I heard him sing this live last night. It's the only song I NEEDED to hear from him. Best part he opened it saying "This next song, I wrote about roadkill!"
I have finally stopped crying every single time I listen to this song! I hear Hope and Love. My memories are full of abstracts. It seems to be necessary to keep pain from metastasizing. Harm reduction I suppose.
This song brought me tears just today, there is part of me that has been touched in this song, for me it reflects about my aspirations, desires, and sometimes desperation on how to get that I love, to be what I'd like to be and even my past life since I was born. It's like a soundtrack of my current life
hozier comparing an animal he saw die as a young boy to a dying relationship is a level of lyrical genius i never thought i would ever hear from anyone
He's so clever.
yea its interesting
Holy… THAT is the analogy? As I go through a breakup nonetheless.
I’d forgotten how to fall in love until Hozier revived the memories through his lyrics. I found my love in August, ended it in November. But we still try and fail at resurrections.
Seems familiar. Doesn’t he have a song about that, too?
Im so grateful for Hozier 😌
I never thought something as sick as an animal getting run over could help me feel better… i dunno Hozier knows how to mend a heart is all I know
"The memory hurts but does me no harm." Amen.
Oh boy. I felt those words. ❤
Ufff this verse and "the moment I knew I'd no choice but to love you" are the most!!!
Amen.
🥲❤
my man said your love got me feeling like ROADKILL and he's SO REAL FOR THAT
NO FR 😭😭
“All my love and terror balanced there between those eyes”
Hello there Jocelyn nice meeting you here
This artist is a poet, an historian, a romantic, and an incredible musician.
and a beekeeper!
This one took me out at the knees upon first listen and I haven’t been able to stand since. It holds the perfect storm of all the things that make me emotional, so it makes me ugly cry EVERY time. The imagery, the metaphor, the suffering animal and then the cease of it, the awful realization of helpless love, the awe and compassion and terror and peace and despair of it all. Holy shit Hozier how do you manage to create art like this. I’m VERKLEMPT. Favorite from the album, hands down.
ABSOLUTELY. I first listened in the car and was SOBBING. Pure magic **
Exactly same! The ugly crying I’ve been doing to this song the past month is criminal 😂😅
You've put to words EXACTLY what I experienced the first time I heard it -- I stopped dead on my tracks and it instantly became a favourite. I still ugly cry every time I listen to this because the sheer emotion and the picture it paints in my head is so so beautifully painful.
YES
God I'm glad I'm not alone. This is my favorite song of this album absolutely, even though it makes me cry every time I listen. I just can't help myself. It moves me so deeply.
I didn’t get the lyrics at first but then I read somewhere on twitter that this song is about roadkill. And it really hit me, the painful brilliance of comparing love to a roadkill. Falling in love so quickly, pedal to the floor, going fast recklessly because the whole world seems insignificant and distant in comparison to this feeling and then because we are so reckless in love with hit it full speed and then we’re left cradling what’s left of it, watching as the life leaves its eyes
The song was inspired by an experience he had when he was a child. When he was a kid he saw a person get out of their car and comfort a dying animal. In the title it says psychosomp which is something/someone that guides someone or something to death (or another phase in life) so I think he’s comparing the person that comforted the dying animal to a psychopomp. But this comment made me realize just how beautiful these lyrics are cus they can be interpreted in so many different and equally beautiful ways🩷
@@thejacquelinerowland thank you for telling me this! I didn't know it was grounded in a real experience. Yes! The lyrics are so intricate straightforward and metaphorical at the same time. So honest and specific and yet so fundamentally relatable. I am in love with every song on the album, Unreal Unearth is a masterpiece of our generation
honestly idk how you didn't get that without being told. the roadkill part isn't even metaphorical. this is one of his most literally interpreted songs. you just have to actually listen to the lyrics
Ugh! What you just said…just hit me in the guts.
Swear to gawd I felt it in my stomach
“Part of me I'm afraid will always be
Trapped within an abstract from a moment of my life “ Words have been put to a feeling I didn’t know how to explain I had.
What does it mean? I am really confused
I find this to mean that a piece of himself will always be stuck in the past memory of a happier time.. like he may never be fully present again
@@blackbird690
@@blackbird690means he’s stuck in that moment, he holds on that memory and is not capable of letting go, maybe not ever.
I literally stopped walking when I heard that line during the first listen, my stepbrother died last year and I too am afraid that I will always be stuck where I first heard the news about his passing.
when i heard this i wanted to get that instantly tattooed on my arm
I think this song is going to hold a special place in my heart for the rest of my life
hopefully not, its about heartbreak haha
@@prepaidtrash5552 Life is made up of many different memories, so we will always carry a diverse selection of them with us. :)
thanks for the perspective@@UnderTheElm
This song pushes the entire earth and the human experience in the palm of your hand and you can’t help but feel so overwhelmed by how something so vast and beautiful could fit around your fingers that you end up just staring at it
You have your way with words!
It's hard to say which song is the best from the album, because all of them are magnificent. But this one... I have been listening to over and over again. This one hit hard.
As soon as I decide a favourite, I change my mind when I hear a different track 😅
Damn right
My husband found a dying cat while working and it was too late to take it to get checked out so he sat with it until it passed on. It's crazy to me that anyone felt the same and wrote a song about a similar situation.
He was the psychopomp for that poor soul
I have never been so excited for an albums release in my entire life I'm so happy I'm here for this
I FEEL YOU
It certainly didn't disappoint❤
This is about a memory hozier has from his childhood about watching an animal hit on the road being carried by a person. This song encompasses loss so well its so ..... I can't
I personally feel this song on the roadkill aspect because I have sat with so many of my stray cats after getting hit by selfish and reckless drivers. And seeing the panic in their eyes just makes me cry so hard
Does anyone else feel this song hit the very depths of your soul and make you feel like you can fly?
Sometimes it returns
Like rain that you slept through
That washed off the world
The streets looking brand new
I will not be great
But I'm grateful to get through
The feeling came late
I'm still glad I met you
The memory hurts
But does me no harm
Your hand in my pocket
To keep us both warm
The poor thing in the road
Its eye still glistening
The cold wet of your nose
The Earth from a distance
See how it shines
See how it shines
See how it shines
See how it shines
Sometimes there's a thought
Like you choose what you're doing
But it comes to nought
When I look back through it
I remember the view
Street lights in the dark blue
The moment I knew
I'd no choice but to love you
The speed that you moved
The screech of the cars
The creature still moving
That slowed in your arms
The fear in its eyes
Gone out in an instant
Your tear caught the light
The Earth from a distance
See how it shines
See how it shines
See how it shines
See how it shines
Darling, there's a part of me
I'm afraid will always be
Trapped within an abstract from a moment of my life
The weeds up through the concrete
The traffic picking up speed
All my love and terror
Balanced there between those eyes
See how it shines
See how it shines
.....isn't he saying how abstract
See how it shines, see how abstract
@@LowSlungBadBitch nope, lyrics on Apple Music are just "see how it shines" as OP wrote.
Thanks
I thought he said “trapped within an abstract from a moment of malaise.” Which is SO beautiful to me. Either way, it’s dreamy!
Es genial encontrar la letra aquí y poder traducirla. Gracias!
3:38 “all my love and terror balanced there between those eyes”, this part of the song playing while im looking at my boyfriend
such surreal moment, i want to engrave in my memory
For such a long time, I thought it said, "See how it shakes," which just made it so much sadder.
I think this is my favorite Hozier song. The chorus makes me feel something I can’t explain, but I love it so much. We’re lucky to experience his art. ❤️
My sister passed away last fall. The songs released on this album have helped me though the grief and pain of losing her. The lyrics have put the emotions I'm feeling to words in ways I never knew how to express. Thank you Andrew for your amazing music ❤
I'm so sorry you lost your sister. I feel the same way about this song. My best friend passed away last fall as well. Here's to moving through our grief as one year without them passes us by.
the part in the song where the animal dies makes me sob because i watched the life leave my childhood cats eyes. i held her beforehand and she reached for me with her paw, her eyes filled with so much love. this song rips me apart.
Who else kinda can’t believe this is really happening. Like I sort of feel like I’m dreaming up this song???
me
I cried, it feels unreal… 🖤
Thisss
Yeah the piano feels so new and special ❤
@@AM59342unreal unearth, even. If you will.
this one had me sobbing
makes my stomach hurt but i cant turn it off
Whew, this one really paints a picture. I think we all have memories like this (vivid ones that replay in our minds with new context for the rest of our lives, that hurt but we can't regret them). Beautiful song ❤
well said
i just want to share why this song means so so much to me. i found this song in early February, and on feb 19th i was taking my soulkitty to the vet for some medicine cuz he was sick. this was the only song i listened to on the way there. and i even looked up the meaning while parked waiting to be called in, i went in and found out terrible news. my time w my baby boy was over, i could give him steroids and be selfish w my time w him or let him go right there. i let him go. i bawled heavily for 3 days. and i thought about this song. i thought about how beautiful it was to have have loved him in the first place. how i was so lucky to have almost 5 years with him. death is as normal as birth unfortunately but it does hurt. he didn’t go anywhere but he’s just not here physically w me anymore. i couldn’t have asked for a better kitty bestfriend these past few years. i really couldn’t have, it was like we were made for eachother. thank you andrew. my names haley and im from Pennsylvania and i just want to thank you for all the outstanding work you have done in your career and as a person. thank you.
This is the point of the album where I'm nothing but tears. That first time I hear "see how it shines" takes me out every. damn. time.
It feels so surreal to be experiencing this album.
i can't believe he wrote one of the most beautiful songs i've ever heard and it's about roadkill
IF I COULD MARRY A VOICE I'D MARRY HIS SO FAST. I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS ALBUM FOR SO LONG
I wasn't planning on having an emotional breakdown today... So many personal favorites on this album but this song together with Unknown/nth made me feel so certain that I've no choice but to listen to them and love them until my last breath
Whoa! I hear those words and second that, ❤!
THIRDED. Unknown/Nth was my favorite of the early releases, and this one DEMOLISHED me. Unknown coming right after it in the album when I was still reeling and struggling to stop crying at first listen felt almost cruel haha
I just had the sheer pleasure of hearing Hozier singing this one live and it’s a transcendal experience
this song in particular from the album, the chorus and crooning vocals afterwards, reminds me of Coldplay during their first couple of albums. I love it, like hearing a familiar melody for the 1st time all over again.
Exactly what I thought about Coldplay 💛
I had the same thought as I was singing I said this reminds me of old Coldplay songs like shiver
Amen!!!!
I was immediately reminded of Coldplay as well. Anyways, definitely listening to this one on repeat. So fun to sing along.
Yes indeed. Imagine Hozier performing this in duet with Chris Martin...!
My god.
This one made me ugly cry. Heaving, screaming sobs.
And it's not because of the sad event in the lyrics. It's from the sheer fucking BEAUTY of this song, the way he's put it together. The SKILL. He knows his craft inside-out, ALL parts of it.
NO ONE creates musical art like Andrew Hozier Byrne. I defy you to name a single other person who reaches into the soul like he does, whether to rip it apart, or lift it up, or somehow do both at once. He's both more human, and more ethereal than anyone else out there doing this work right now. Blasting past all barriers.
tisue
His songs are so poetic and artistic. Like listening to a famous painter or something (not just seeing and admiring).
Thank you Virgin river for making me discover this masterpiece
This might be my favorite Hozier song now, man. This record is just too good.
"I remember the view, street lights in the dark blue. The moment i knew id no choice but to love you"
PLS ANDREW SHOW MERCY
I have never waited for an album, counted the days, set my calendar and alarm, i am in love with your music, Hozier!!
The same thing 🙌
Nice pfp :)
Ditto🤗🙌❤
This is the one that got me sobbing. I'll always be that person who runs out in the road, even if there's no saving them.
Hi hozier :) on monday i got in a hit-and-run accident and i’m writing this comment from recovery. i was the scared creature on the road this week and this is my favorite song from your album by far so i want to thank you for all that you do :) see you in chicago!!!
wishing you fast recovery!
Oh my goodness, I hope you're all right. Get well soon.
Get well soon~
At least you can joke about how Hozier wrote a song inspired by what happen to you~~🤣
It's strange knowing how much work went into these and just being able to absorb them at least in part in less than an hour. You did great on the album man. It's a wonderful addition
Oh, to wonder how this man finds the words and music to create such pieces that pierce our souls.
I don’t think I am ever going to recover from listening to this live.
That second verse and prechorus felt very personal and so vividly described. It was the context that I needed to understand some of his other songs and I totally get it now. I've gotten way too emotionally invested in his music it's almost unhealthy haha..
Today I am burying my dear friend. We didn’t get to say goodbye. He was a hero, he served 7 years for our country. Yet it was eventually the PTSD that got him. Hozier is my favorite contemporary artist. I feel so held and loved by the timing of this release. Thank you. ♥️🫶♥️
I’m so sorry dear, stay strong. I’m so happy you’re here. I lost my great grandma yesterday as well. ❤ sending love
My deepest condolences to you and all his loved ones. I hope he's found peace.
Feeling you-Francesca is speaking so strongly to my grief over my brother❤❤
❤
can’t stop crying, this song is too precious
This album is something else. I cannot just _listen_ to a song a few times, and that is enough. It's like I _have_ to quite literally _obsess_ over each song, each word in it, each note strummed and touched, each beat and harmony, and find a greater depth of the human condition in each one in order for it to be satisfactorily known by me. I need to hear and ponder each for at least a couple weeks. It is a very specific, very sweet kind of.. _insanity,_ almost.
This is my all time favorite Hozier song. It’s soooo good!
My family cared for a kid my brother met at school for about 5 years, he mostly spent weekends and some week days at our house. He visited us in the summer for many years after that because we had to move away. He was about my age. He passed recently. This album has been helping me heal.
“The creature still moving
That slowed in your arms
The fear in its eyes
Gone out in an instant
Your tear caught the light
The earth from a distance”
Hit me too hard bro😭
Top 5 best songs in this album
One of the best songs he ever wrote
This song is so good it makes me sick. Hozier is one of the most talented mainstream artists we have today.
Like why isn't the entire world aware of the sublime genius of this album and obsessing like me?
every songs on the album are so good its hard to have a favorite
The most underrated song of Hozier 😢 for me it's such a heavenly song ❤❤
One of my dogs passed away very unexpectedly a month ago and I haven’t been able to listen to this song without crying since then. Knowing that the lyrics were inspired by him seeing a woman hold a dying deer in the road just wrecks me even more now. It perfectly encapsulates the feeling of loss and grief.
It seems like Hozier, the narrator, changed his perspective from observer to the person saving the creature (wounded heart) and, finally, the creature “all my love and terror balanced there between those eyes”. I hope this is not an over analysis of this gorgeous piece! It has taken me weeks to get passed the tears every time I’ve listened to it. Even if I have it all wrong I’m so grateful to you Hozier. Thank you, thank you💜💙💚
been listening to this one for a month every day on repeat now and still overwhelmed by how beautiful it is. the image, but also the gentleness of both the you and the I in this song. sometimes I read the roadkill as both the literal event, the moment of falling in love, and also the moment of falling out. it's like it was the gentleness of 'you' that I fell in love with in the first place, and now it's the deer of our relationship lying there in the road, in pain, and still you'd look at it with tear in your eye and hold it tenderly as it dies, the same gentleness. First and last moment in the same setting, and everything should have changed, but at the same time, maybe not so much change after all .... and 'I' look at the afterimage of our love peacefully, and fondly ... just overwhelmed by the gentle caress of this song.
and just how beautiful is the first line, the rain has passed, I don't see it, but I still live in the aftermath and feel it had existed, (*wailing*)
Hard to believe that the only song ever came out nearly half a year ago
My best friend in the world showed me this song.. We’ve both struggled with love.. we are very similar people and music like this has always brought us together but I think this will forever be our song.
I'm really surprised this wasn't a single leading up to the release. I already know i won't be able to stop listening to this one. ❤
I feel that he saved the best for the release.
I don't know why I am so obsessed with the beauty of this song.
I cry every time I hear this masterpiece.
I'm writing a paper on this song, sort of a summary response essay, and I'm having a hard time fully understanding the entire song, I understand he is talking and reflecting on a memory of someone running into traffic to pick up and move an animal that had been hit by a car and staying with it in its final moments. But he also talks about someone specific, someone who he cared about but is now a stranger. I'm trying to really pinpoint the meaning of the song, reminiscing or reflecting on two experiences in his life that have a way of connecting and possibly correlating in some aspects. I think that's why he specifically titles the song Abstract (Psychopomp). In each of these instances, there is a "psychopomp", the dying animal is picked up and moved by this stranger (psychopomp in this) who stays with it until it dies as a sort of guide to the next phase of life. The other experience or memory (what I think Hozier talks about) is him looking back on a time when a specific person came into his life. This person who he only came to realize the full extent of their importance to him after the fact when reflecting back on it. "Your hand in my pocket, to keep us both warm" This lyric leads me to assume that this person was at one point a significant other or "love interest". In this possible relationship could the "psychopomp" be the lover who maybe led him from "an abstract from a moment..." of his life to another? please help!!
You can say the animal or the creature is a metaphor for the relationship or the feelings they had. It's not just a random incident
Yes, this is a metaphor for a love relationship that starts, flounders, attempts to save it fail,and it dies. A small memory is saved (trapped) within an abstract where the narrator can safely acknowledge it. Yes, it hurts but it does not cause harm/injury any longer. And then…there’s the Psychopomp.
The injured creature metaphor is a familiar and powerful image!
I was instantly drawn in to this song and cried every time I listened to it. So I listened to it many times everyday. It took 2 months of this before I could, listen, sing and celebrate the lyrics with a bit of joy.
This album is full of dualities! This track confirms that we humans can feel love, pain, happiness, confusion, and grief concurrently. It is overwhelming until it is not.
There’s so much to unpack here. “The poor thing in the road, it’s eye still glistening”, this metaphor pulled me in. The thought of looking closely…I can’t yet. I can barely get through this song. It has landed softly in my heart and found the wound.
I know this is about a breakup, but goddamn if some of these lyrics don't take me back to the first time I ever lost a loved one. The true sign of a great artist is when you can relate something to your own experience even when you are such different people with different experiences. Thank you, Hozier
I love how Son of Nyx melds part of this song into it. Listening to this after being addicted to Son of Nyx feels like going back home after a long while away.
"The moment I knew, I'd no choice but to love you"
I wish I had the choice
Saw this live last night 😭 cried.
See how it shines
See how it shines
See how it shines
See how it shines
It’s like being in another dimension hearing this live.
Unreal Unearth as an album actually has helped me face the trauma of losing my closest friendship that ive held onto for several years now. Thank you so much Hozier for helping me process my emotions and heal my broken heart.
His songs are just beautiful devastation, and I'm here for it.
A family friend who acted like a grandfather in my early life passed this week, and i couldn't find anything that held the same sentiment as my feelings. But this song comes the closest. The visceral sight of something wounded, almost dead, with the soul crushing empathy of it all, watching it die, feeling for it. It encompasses loss perfectly.
I miss you Lali. I wish i could go to your funeral, even more I wish you were still here. I could never thank you for making my lonely childhood full of play and color. I promise to live in a way that would make you happy. Proud, happy, healthy and full of heart. I'll do it for me, for us, so you can see me grow up from wherever you are, along with your children and real grandchildren. Thank you for showing me joy and gentleness. I love you and I always will.
Listen to Hozier's 'Through me (the flood)' but be warned. There are some verses in there that may cause some damage.
Somehow Hozier manages to capture the feeling of being with an animal in its dying moments perfectly in this song. I don't know how he accomplished that, but it truly is a masterpiece put together. Even though I've never heard this song before, it instantly put me back in the moment of having to put down my childhood cat, and of his bonded pairmate passing 15 days later. Somehow instead of being gutwrenching, it's oddly bittersweet. The tone of the song makes me mourn the two, yes, but it's somehow also reassuring.. i dunno, I just know this is a beautiful piece.
This reminds me of my first love, whom I never confessed myself to, because I hated myself and wouldn't dare be a part of any love story. Despite this, I loved him... his gentle yielding nature, his quiet confidence, his love of Science, his bright young eyes. He stayed next to me, he was my friend, he never asked for anything and didn't mind my silence. He was my psychopomp for my time of transformation, with him I was never alone despite my time of dying... it was a difficult time for me, but drifting from him shattered my heart and felt even worse... I always sought to replace him. That is, until tonight. As I've connected with this song, I can no longer deny that my love for him shall always remain present-tense... though I no longer miss him or seek to see him again, it remains true that every moment of my time I've spent thinking of him, wishing him well, missing him, loving him have all been a prayer to bless his life, and also a prayer to bless mine as I crossed over into a new existence that would enable me to transcend much of my inherited suffering. He guided me to learn to create love for myself, so that I may experience a love story of my own and be glad in it. Of course that was just his role as a psychopomp... the work ought to be credited to God's hands - the creator of Truth - the object of utmost importance in our beloved science.
Anyway... I guess it's just life-affirming to accept that the love from my heart has not gone to waste, even if I am not to see the full extent of its effects for myself. Let your love be strong, everyone... 👽🖤
This is the type of song you hope someone writes about you
This song has me in tears every time I listen to it. From the very first time, when I didn't comprehend the lyrics yet, to now... It just holds so many raw conflicting emotions all at once. It's so haunted yet so beautiful. It will live with me until I die.
one of my friends sang this for karaoke night, and man, i'd want hozier to listen to him sing
ngl this song almost makes me choke up with how beautiful it sounds
Psychopomp · Psychopomps (from the Greek word ψυχοπομπός, psychopompós, literally meaning the 'guide of souls').
Ngl the lyrics make me feel like this is an ode to a beloved pet ...
This song makes me shed a tear lately but then I play Better Love which perks me up, but to dance, play and exercise I play To Noise Making(Sing) And Sunlight and for my grand finale Talk acoustic version it reminds me of the love story between Robin Hood and Maid Marion and The different stories of men and women in the Bible as well as Joseph and The Virgin Mary and many other religious books. This Man's music makes me want to invest in churches, libraries, healthcare, etc. but whenever I need a reality check, pleasant one of course I listen to Jack Boots and Almost Sweet Music etc.☮️♥️🙌🏾☺️😅😁
I’ve been sobbing for an hour. I’m glad it’s not just me 😭
The way Hozier treats death like a essential part of life like no one else does
This song is how I would describe nostalgia feels like. How childhood feels like in memories. So sad and so uplifting at the same time, something that makes your chest feel tight with emotions. Incredible song. I'm so lucky I'll be able to see him live this year
This song was released the same week my dog got really sick last year. I didn't wanna listen to it again until she was gone. That was 2 hours ago. Thank you for something to cry to Hozier. It helps the hurt a little bit.
I wasn’t expecting this song to hit me as hard as it did, ever since the album came out I’ve been listening to it 747383 times a day and crying almost every time, it’s so beautiful
the fact that he wrote this about roadkill but it is so applicable to life shows his true genius
This album is everything. 🙌
i lost my brother 5 years ago and this song along with others in this album speak to me so deeply. especially the lines “the memory hurts but does me no harm” and “i’m still glad i met you.” this album will hold a special place in my heart for sure ❤️
My girlfriend broke up with me right after this album came out, these songs are all master pieces, they are beautiful and the best songs I've ever heard, hands down, I listened to these songs so much after she broke up with me, they single handedly got me though the worst pain in my life, and probably saved my life, I love you Hozier, you're the best
Hope you're doing well, you've got this.
Thank you, I've moved on found a new girl, and hopefully I don't have to go through that pain again
Personal favorite for this album!
That unexpected note at 3:42 oh my God
It's called a run darling
He played this in Melbourne last night and i was full on sobbing. Such a moving song
Same 😭
I heard him sing this live last night. It's the only song I NEEDED to hear from him. Best part he opened it saying "This next song, I wrote about roadkill!"
My god, this song punched me in the stomach. I still feel it. Gorgeous and personal to my life, unreal
Ahhhh that build I literally have chills
This song is otherworldly
I have finally stopped crying every single time I listen to this song!
I hear Hope and Love.
My memories are full of abstracts. It seems to be necessary to keep pain from metastasizing. Harm reduction I suppose.
This song brought me tears just today, there is part of me that has been touched in this song, for me it reflects about my aspirations, desires, and sometimes desperation on how to get that I love, to be what I'd like to be and even my past life since I was born. It's like a soundtrack of my current life