The same brilliant voice that took us to church in 2013 has recently released an album, Wasteland, Baby! that continuously leaves me with goosebumps no matter how many times I listen to it.
The album is his usual mix of indie rock and folk music, and I was not shocked when I heard the incorporation of classic jazz music titles in his song “Almost (Sweet Music).” I am sure that you have already caught onto this song, but as when you read the lyrics it capitalizes most of the words because they are all song titles. This is a clever song that explains the feeling of being lost.
As an added bonus, the lyrics “I laugh like me again; she laughs like you” made me cry.
Photo courtesy of Song Meanings and Facts
The song “Wasteland, Baby!” on this album is honestly the love song that any of us would want to have written about us.
The song begins with the lyrics:
“All the fear and fire Of the end of the world Happens each time a boy Falls in love with a girl”
This beautiful sentiment is carried through the whole song. Hozier creates a meaning that, while this love is difficult and almost apocalyptic, he will continue to fight for it.
Photo courtesy of Rolling Stone
I think that the most interesting song is “Would That I.” Hozier proves that he is the master of wordplay. Without looking at the lyrics, you would think that the title is “Wood That I” because he is talking about fire and trees throughout the song.
In the last few lines, Hozier blows my mind for nearly the twelfth time in the album when he says:
“So, in awe there I stood as you licked off the grain Though I’ve handled the wood I still worship the flame A long as amber of ember glows All the ‘would that I loved’ is long ago”.
The last line specifically appears to reference to all of his past loves that have burned him. This ‘wood’ that he has loved before is also the person that he thought that he ‘would’ end up with, but they ended up being “consumed by the flame.”
Photo courtesy of Reddit
These are only a few of the remarkable songs that Hozier has gifted us with in this album, so if you are prepared to fall in love with Andrew Hozier-Byrne, listen to his new album “Wasteland, Baby!”
Photo courtesy of insta9pho.com