WRT 104 Project 4 Critical Analysis of “From Eden” by Hozier PDF

Preview

Summary

Fourth assigned essay. Taken with Andrew Merecicky....

Description

Andrew Merecicky WRT 104 26 April 2016 Critical Analysis of “From Eden” by Hozier Less than two years ago, singer-songwriter Andrew Hozier-Bryne emerged into the music scene with the release of his self-titled debut album. Though his music originated in his hometown of Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland, Hozier’s multi-platinum hit single, “Take Me to Church,” soon became hit number two in the United States. In this song, he expresses his frustration with the Catholic Church’s history of mistreating the gay community and covering up the sexual abuse of children. Not only did his powerful lyrics give him international recognition, but his incredible vocals did, as well. Upon the release of his album in September of 2014, “Take Me to Church” became viral, reaching close to ninety million views on YouTube and being played frequently on popular radio stations. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Hozier states, “I always thought of myself as a very, very obscure artist… I never thought Irish radio would be turned on by my music—or any fucking radio station, excuse my French” (Greene). Though this song received much attention and praise from millions around the world, unfortunately, the rest of his songs did not receive comparable recognition. In fact, author Brittany Porter of AXS—an American cable and satellite television network—shares five of his most underrated songs, one of which is my personal favorite, “From Eden.” This song has most likely been labeled as “underrated,” not only because of the new occurrence of Hozier as an artist but also because it did not match the commercial success of his hit-single. Once you hear this song, however, you will see that his lyrics are just as, if not more, compelling than “Take Me to Church.”

The first three lines of Hozier’s “From Eden,” begin with “Babe, there’s something tragic about you/ Something so magic about you/ Don’t you agree?” Rather than using religious imagery as he did in “Take Me to Church,” Hozier begins with generic imagery, conveying his adoration of affection through the internal rhyme of “you” between “magic/tragic,” thus, creating an atypical couplet. Focusing on the words “magic” and “tragic”—both positive and negative concepts—he shows that the girl he is in love with has both good and bad qualities about her, and hints that she knows that about herself, too. Centering on his vocals, Hozier puts a large emphasis on the words “babe” and “you” while singing, showing that he wants to grab the attention of the girl he is directing this to. The last three lines of verse one state, “Babe, there’s something lonesome about you/ Something so wholesome about you/ Get closer to me.” The title “From Eden,” in addition to these three lines, show that there is now a more notable religious aspect to the song. In fact, using the biblical story of Adam and Eve, Hozier likens his love interest as Eve while he, himself, represents the Serpent of Eden, or rather, the Devil (thus, for the rest of this essay, when I describe Hozier’s lover, I mean the serpent’s lover, who is Eve). He also implies that Eve must be lonely with Adam to have her head turned by the serpent; yet still, her “wholesomeness,” or “innocence,” makes him greatly attracted to her as he tells her to “get closer.” Again, Hozier uses his vocals to put emphasis on the words “babe” and “you,” to further grab her attention. In the pre-chorus, the lyrics read, “No tired sigh, no rolling eyes, no irony/ No “who cares,” no vacant stares, no time for me.” In this part of the song, Hozier is explaining how he would want “Eve,” or rather his idealized lover, to treat him while in a relationship. In many relationships, there are difficulties; for one, the couple can get tired of each other, thus losing their love and care for one another, or the couple can spend too much time together only to get

sick of each other. Hozier’s “perfect” relationship is one where the two lovers do not get sick of the other, do not get bored with one another, and do not spend so much time together where they are unable to have time for themselves. In this part of the song, the background music stops as the drums are beaten in between every phrase, grabbing the attention of his lover and drawing in the listener. As he sings, “no time for me,” Hozier’s voice gets softer and more melancholy, further showing that this is not what he would want in a relationship with the girl he loves. The music quickly picks back up again for the chorus of the song. Just as in verse one, Hozier sings the chorus enchantingly, using a mixture of high and low pitches. In order to make the chorus flow, he also puts an emphasis on certain words. The first line of the chorus reads, “Honey you’re familiar, like my mirror years ago.” This shows that his lover’s innocence and wholesomeness (as described in verse one) reminds him of his youth, which he envies; the girl’s youth also suggests a more nostalgic familiarity, hitting him on an inner level. However, this line may also explain his attraction for her; because he was once naïve and innocent, he’s attracted to the girl because he sees what he used to be in her. Moving on to the next part of the chorus, Hozier sings, “Idealism sits in prison, chivalry fell on its sword/ Innocence died screaming, honey ask me I should know.” First, it is important to note that idealism is the practice of pursuing ideals, especially unrealistically. Using this definition, we can rightfully assume that Hozier (or rather, the serpent) is watching the girl from a distance and envisioning himself with her. By doing so, he is a prisoner to himself and to his mind, as well as his heart, because he is unable to have her. Also, imagining himself with her even though he’s not supposed to be is causing him to do wrong to try to get her, thus “killing” chivalry. Nothing good would come from the girl wanting to be with Hozier either, because then she would lose her innocence. By singing “honey ask me I should know,” Hozier is hinting that

he went through a similar experience where he lost his innocence, and the transition from youthfulness to adulthood is a difficult transition to make. The last line of the chorus reads, “I slithered here from Eden just to sit outside your door.” Because the phrase “from Eden” appears in the title, it shows that this line in the chorus is central to the song as a whole. It also compares the serpent to Hozier once again by using the phrase “I slithered.” In addition, it shows that sacrifices were made (or previous circumstances were given up) in order to see the girl, even if it just meant sitting outside her door in hopes to see her. The chorus is followed by verse two, where Hozier sings, “Babe, there’s something so wretched about this/ Something so precious about this/ Where to begin?” As in verse one, he emphasizes the word “babe,” in order to grab his lovers attention. Furthermore, he uses the words “wretched” and “precious”—again, a negative and positive term—to describe not his lover this time, but the situation in which they are in. The word “precious” allows the listener to assume that there is a degree of innocence to his love that he has for the girl. Because there is innocence involved, we can further assume that Hozier has not tempted the girl or acted on his feelings, because then the innocence would be lost. Because he has not acted on his love and thus is unable to have the girl, he also describes his situation as “wretched.” The next three lines of verse two reads, “Babe, there’s something broken about this/ But I might be hoping about this/ Oh what a sin.” Yet again, he grabs his lovers’ attention by calling out “babe” to her. Rather than pinning a negative and positive together like he did previously, he states that their relationship is broken (quite possibly because it’s in his head); however, he is still hopeful. By continuing to think about pursuing her and taking her innocence, he describes it as a “sin,” keeping with the religious theme of the song.

Just as it did in the first pre-chorus, the instruments fade out while the drums beat in between every phrase of, “To the stand a picnic planned for you and me/ A rope in hand for your other man to hang from a tree.” This is done to grab the lovers’ attention if he hadn’t already done so and to draw interest from the readers. Hozier’s vocals are additionally more melancholy, as his voice grows softer and then drags out at the end where he sings “tree,” offering drama to the song. Focusing on the lyrics, Hozier proposes a peaceful picnic date between him, the serpent, and Eve. However, as his voice drops to a lower pitch, so does the mood of this song; Eve has another man, presumably Adam. He wants Adam dead to her. This is a darker part of the song, showing Hozier’s obsession with a girl who is already involved with another person and the rejection he faces in learning of her relationship. Although the instruments join back in, Hozier’s voice is more uplifting, and the lyrics remain the same, the pre-chorus from above casts a darker light on the remaining iterations of the chorus. This is shown in the last lines where Hozier sings, “Innocence died screaming, honey ask me I should know,” as the interpretation slightly changes. Rather than it being the innocence of the girl being hypothetically taken, innocence is now a symbol of Adam, and Adam must die so that Hozier, the serpent, can be with his lover, Eve. After the last line of the chorus, the music changes, sounding more demonic than enchanting as it did before. There is also clapping, making it sound quicker and more dramatic. However, it changes back to a more peaceful melody before repeating the chorus, which is sang with more breaths as the drums beat in the background. Literally speaking, this song is told from the Devil’s point of view, where the Devil is disguised as a snake and slithers from Eden to tempt this woman, the object of his desire, into sin. However, it is this biblical comparison to the concept of wanting something you cannot have that shows why this song deserves more attention and praise than it has received. The feeling of

wanting something unattainable is something we all, as human beings, have felt or will feel at some point in life. Although the unattainable object in this song was the girl—whom Hozier either wanted to have sex with or wanted start a relationship with—it can be expanded to something as broad as wanting to accomplish a goal that cannot be reached right away, or at all, given the circumstances at hand. His message was not the only powerful element in this song, however; the metaphors found within the lyrics (especially those found in the chorus) were also powerful, and demonstrated how poetic and brilliant of a songwriter Hozier truly is. His vocals in the song, contrasted against the uplifting yet sometimes violent music playing in the background, also prove his excellence. Though “Take Me to Church” is another one of Hozier’s masterpieces, I found “From Eden” to be much more relatable, powerful, and deeper. With that, it is worth analyzing and recognizing just as much, if not more, than his hit-single.

Works Cited

Greene, Andy. "Behind Hozier's Unlikely Rise." Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone LLC, 29 Jan. 2015. Web. 26 Apr. 2016. "Hozier – From Eden Lyrics." Genius. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2016. Porter, Brittany. "Hozier: 5 Most Underrated Songs." AXS. AXS Corporate, 23 Feb. 2016. Web. 26 Apr. 2016....