Please everyone who loves this song, research the shrike. It is a bird that does not have a sharp enough beak so it impales it’s prey and things on thorns to impress its mate. So much poetry in Hozier. He’s unique and awakens something in my soul ❤️
Masuga Nut The symbolisms are magnificent. Thank you for bringing out what the shrike is and the imagery Hozier wants us to recognize. Some, as expected, aren’t getting it, but I do. So do you.
True Edge wow! Yes... The most important aspect finally connects for me, thanks to your crucial nuanced detail of the shrike’s self preservation action. Wow, thanks 🙏🏼 . 🙌🏻💕
The shrike feeds itself and impresses it’s mate by impaling it’s prey live on sharp thorns, leaving it to suffer and die there. The shrike’s short beak make’s ineffective weapon for substance, so it prefers to come back over and over, taking small bites to feed off it’s dead, and sometimes, still alive prey. This is it’s preferred method. Hozier’s using the birds behaviour to explain unacceptable and undesirable actions, done repeatedly, in order to impress or possess another, ignoring how it slowly eats away at the relationship, what the cost is to those it uses or devours to get to that goal. The hunger’s satisfied, so is the bird. The mate is impressed. Never mind the horrible methodology of these of the killing thorn. The shrike is the instigator, the thorn is unknowingly the weapon used, the prey, one to be possessed. Hozier’s admitting that the relationship was not beneficial to them both. She keeps impaling, returning again and again to feed off a rotten and painful relationship, but he, to her, only serves a purpose. However, each leave themselves open to each other’s mercy in a symbiotic relationship they both need, wish they didn’t, and now both are vulnerable in a way they wouldn't allow themselves to be in the past. They need each other, crave each other, but for all the wrong reasons. It’s emotional and mental cruelty. His song is a late admittance of the destructive relationship they have, his recognition that it is so very painful, his hope that he can escape it, to be reborn, his prayer that it has no lasting effect. It’s a plea to stop, to try not to let it repeat itself, to continue, to change. But it won’t because the shrike must eat, and it knows no other way, so they will keep using each other. At times, it’s impossible to change one’s essential self. They have gone too far. The song is both a soulful and painful admission, and a beautiful plea by Hozier to be reborn from the inflicted pain. Yet still, he asks to be the shrike instead. At least, as that, he controls.
The song is painful & beautiful, but your explanation is also poetic with reason. Both are beautiful & sad. I really felt emotion from both this song & this explanation. What a way to wake up this morning 😊🙂
Today would have been his 35th Birthday and oh how the thought of this one scared the Hell out of him. Those talks were so funny at the time & so bittersweet to reflect on now. Even worse when the guy who murdered him only got 10 years in prison for it even though he also murdered a woman the week before. We're supposed to be satisfied that, the man is in his 60's with terminal cancer & won't get the same treatment in jail. 😔
I’m terribly sorry. That is a true miscarriage of justice. No word will help you at the moment except maybe this- whatever your beliefs or his, or mine, we all come here to learn something, we all go to the same place after the end, no matter what anyone thinks. One life is never enough for a human to learn what they need to for their soul to evolve into it pure form, we’re far too foolish for that, there are many times we go around the wheel of karmic evolution, so I promise you Will see him again. Best wishes. May he R.I.P. until then.
For those of you who would like the actual lyrics I'll write them out below. These were close but not quite right. I couldn't utter my love when it counted, ah but I'm singing like a bird 'bout it now. I couldn't whisper when you needed it shouted, ah but I'm singing like a bird 'bout it now. The words hung above but never would form. Like a cry at the final breath that is drawn. Remember me, love, when I'm reborn as the shrike to your sharp and glorious thorn. Have no idea on what ground I was founded, all of that goodness is gong with you now. Then when I met you my virtues uncounted, all of my goodness is going with you now. Dragging along following your form. Hung like the pelt of some prey you had worn. Remember me love, when I'm reborn, as the shrike to your sharp and glorious thorn. I fled to the city with so much discounted, ah but I'm flying like a bird to you now. Back to the hedgerows where bodies are mounted, ah but I'm flying like a bird to you now. I was housed by your warmth thus transformed, by your grounded and giving and darkening scorn. Remember me love, when I'm reborn as the shrike to your sharp and glorious thorn.
Imo this song is about redemption. One person should have done something for the other when they needed it most, but didn't at the time. Now they finally are. They're going back to be by their lover's side. They see something in that person no one else does. The way nothing except a shrike sees a thorn like that.
Can we take a moment and appreciate that gutair...... it's not easy, I'm in the process of learning it Edit: I'm back a month later and I have learned this song on gutair 😁
I'm definitely going to learn this one! I know Wasteland, baby!, cherry wine, and like real people do, would you say that this song is too much harder than those? I can definitely hear that the hammer-ons are notably more technical and precise, but besides that?
@@Emlyn1133 it's probably equally as hard as Cherry Wine, rhythmically, it does have a ton of hammer ons. If you can play Wasteland Baby and Cherry Wine, this one shouldn't be to hard
Correct lyrics: I couldn't utter my love when it counted Ah, but I'm singing like a bird 'bout it now I couldn't whisper when you needed it shouted Ah, but I'm singing like a bird 'bout it now The words hung above But never would form Like a cry at the final Breath that is drawn Remember me, love When I'm reborn As the shrike to your sharp And glorious thorn And I'd no idea on what ground I was founded All of that goodness is goin' with you now Then when I met you, my virtues uncounted All of my goodness is goin' with you now Dragging along Following your form Hung like the pelt Of some prey you had worn Remember me, love When I'm reborn As a shrike to your sharp And glorious thorn I fled to the city with so much discounted Ah, but I'm flying like a bird to you now Back to the hedgerows where bodies are mounted Ah, but I'm flying like a bird to you now I was housed by your warmth Thus transformed By you're grounded and giving And darkening scorn Remember me, love When I'm reborn As a shrike to your sharp And glorious thorn
I interpret Shrike as Shriek, as the bird's name etymologically roots in to Shriek, the sound it makes sounding like it. In doing so this song reminds me of the death of a family member when I was young. I didn't shout or help when my mother went to help them. All I did was delegate it to my older sibling, by waking them. How lazy I felt. I couldn't be bothered to help my mother deal with my dying relative. Apparently over the years it affected me more than I realised. "I had no idea on what ground I was founded. But now your goodness is gone with you now." "I couldn't whisper when you needed it shouted, but I'm singing like a bird about it now."
I understand your explanation. My daughter feels as you explained. She just couldn’t accept her father’s illness and I think her not being there was a denial of the eventual outcome. It happened so quickly that her mind just refused to deal with the outcome. I understood then why she couldn’t be there for him as much as she wanted or should have. But it is now 21 years since his death and she is still affected deeply, carries guilt that she didn’t do enough, is often consumed by the memory of her father. She hurts. She misses him terribly. All I can do is hold her, let her know I don’t feel any blame, but most of all, that her father understood. I think she isn’t as an emotional wreck as she once was, but it still affects a lot of what she does and think. Thank you for your incite.
I'm super late, but I think this song makes me think of two enemies who didn't get to be lovers, or at least not enough. The connection was there, but one of them died or something happened so they never got to be together. Maybe the antagonist died just as they were about to change, or something of that nature. I think a few lines in particular express this, like the line in the chorus: "remember me love, when I'm reborn, as a shrike to your sharp and glorious thorn," which represents sort of toxic, or dangerous, but needed, and, I guess, magnetizing? love, or the line "I couldn't utter my love when it counted, ah but I'm singing like a bird 'bout it now," which reminds me of the one who was left behind wondering what could have been if they had just convinced the other to join them. I don't know, this is kind of a ramble, but if you read this far or even this long ass comment at all, I hope you have a good day :)
Absolutely beautiful voice. He is one of those true artist that do not anything else to shine apart from his voice and instruments. No need for for fancy clothes, or half naked body.
My dog died yesterday. She was old, and it was her time, but it still hurt. I was on a walk with my mom when she told me. All I could manage was a small “what?” And then buckle down on to my knees and cry. She was amazing. She was so much smarter than the other dogs I knew, and she deserved the world. She would always impress me with everything she did. Her favorite food was watermelon, and she’d do anything to get it. It’s not the same without her. It’s only been a day but I know that this pain isn’t going to go away. It might get easier to bear, but it won’t go away. “All of my goodness is going with you now.” Daisy, I love you. And I am so sorry I didn’t get to say my final goodbyes and I wasn’t there when you drew your final breath. You will forever have a place in my heart and I hope that wherever you are, you’re somewhere cold, chasing squirrels, and eating watermelon. I love you.
@@hummingnectarbird I cannot personally speak for this individual, but wanted to touch on your questioning...... All I can say is.... Ours probably because it resonates with some peoples specific problems/issues/relationships/etc....trying to get over things, to heal, to learn to grow, teach themselves their "worth" once again. I'm just saying.... MUSIC IS A HEALER IN & OF ITSELF. Idk about you,but as for MYSELF, whatever I'm going through in life, I tend to always listen to music that I feel is relatable.
If he talks of a shrike as a bad thing, why would he want to be remembered as a shrike? I think he is talking of how selfish he was in the relationship. Now that the relationship is over because of it, he admits that he was never around but only when he needed her. The relationship of the shrike and thorn is actually beneficial to the shrike. The shrike and the thorn personified is like the marriage of a housewife and a working husband who does whatever he pleases because the wife is not going anyway and that makes him (husband) feel like he can act as he pleases because he thinks he has power over her. But now when the wife wants a divorce he now realized he was more dependent on her than he realized. Now he wants her back and admits that he never knew how much he depended on her.
This is such a beautiful heart felt song! I'll say it again because it's worth repeating twice. This story describes to a tee the relationship between a couple several people & I know. However to me.. I find it very sad & extremely heartbreaking. I doubt the 2 will ever grow unless they can get pass that cycle of a toxic relationship which is truly detrimental for them both!
To all my lovers of The Cruel Prince by Holly Black. Listen to this song when reading the Mirth Queen scene in book 2 The Wicked King. It fits so perfectly.
Could someone sum up the meaning of this song in a sentence or two, please? I understand every word, but I have a feeling I do not understand the meaning of the entire song. Thanks in advance.
very VERY basically it's a love song, can be interpreted a million ways, but from what i understand its about a relationship that isnt working out (the speaker is too soft, the lover too visceral), so he/she wishes to be reborn as a shrike to require their sharp nature (shrikes impale their prey on thorn)
The shrike feeds itself and impresses it’s mate by impaling it’s prey alive on sharp thorns, leaving it to suffer and die there. The shrike’s short beak make’s it ineffective, so it prefers to come back over and over, taking small bites to feed off it’s dead prey. This is it’s preferred method. Hozier’s using the birds behaviour to explain using unacceptable and undesirable actions and behavior, repeatedly, in order to impress or possess another, ignoring how it slowly rots away, what the cost is to those it uses or devours to get to that goal. The hunger’s satisfied, so is the bird. The mate is impressed. Never mind the horrible methodology. The shrike is the instigator, the thorn the weapon used. Hozier’s admitting that the relationship was not beneficial to them both. He keeps impaling, returning again and again to feed off a rotten relationship, but she only, to him, serves a purpose. However, each leave themselves open to each other’s mercy in a symbiotic relationship they both need, be wish they didn’t, and now both are vulnerable in a way they wouldn't allow themselves to be in the past. They need each other, crave each other, but for all the wrong reasons. It’s emotional cruelty. His song is a late admittance of the destructive relationship they have, his recognition that it is, his hope that he can escape it, to be reborn, his prayer that he not be pain giver. It’s a plea to stop it, to try not to let it repeat itself, to continue, to change. But it won’t. And they will because he’s still willing to continue doing what brings pain. At times, it’s impossible to change one’s essential self. They have gone too far. That’s the best I can do. The song is both a soulful and painful admission to end of painful, repetitive relationship, start again. But will it be any better than before if she becomes the thorn and he becomes the shrike instead? It’s a beautiful plea. Whether it’s for the better or not is questionable.
![Hozier - Shrike [Lyric Video]](/img/n.gif)
Please everyone who loves this song, research the shrike. It is a bird that does not have a sharp enough beak so it impales it’s prey and things on thorns to impress its mate. So much poetry in Hozier. He’s unique and awakens something in my soul ❤️
❤
I can relate so much to this hahaha he’s a great poet
Masuga Nut The symbolisms are magnificent. Thank you for bringing out what the shrike is and the imagery Hozier wants us to recognize. Some, as expected, aren’t getting it, but I do. So do you.
Actually, it does it to drain toxins out of the insects so it can eat them safely.
True Edge wow! Yes... The most important aspect finally connects for me, thanks to your crucial nuanced detail of the shrike’s self preservation action. Wow, thanks 🙏🏼 . 🙌🏻💕
The shrike feeds itself and impresses it’s mate by impaling it’s prey live on sharp thorns, leaving it to suffer and die there. The shrike’s short beak make’s ineffective weapon for substance, so it prefers to come back over and over, taking small bites to feed off it’s dead, and sometimes, still alive prey. This is it’s preferred method. Hozier’s using the birds behaviour to explain unacceptable and undesirable actions, done repeatedly, in order to impress or possess another, ignoring how it slowly eats away at the relationship, what the cost is to those it uses or devours to get to that goal. The hunger’s satisfied, so is the bird. The mate is impressed. Never mind the horrible methodology of these of the killing thorn.
The shrike is the instigator, the thorn is unknowingly the weapon used, the prey, one to be possessed. Hozier’s admitting that the relationship was not beneficial to them both. She keeps impaling, returning again and again to feed off a rotten and painful relationship, but he, to her, only serves a purpose. However, each leave themselves open to each other’s mercy in a symbiotic relationship they both need, wish they didn’t, and now both are vulnerable in a way they wouldn't allow themselves to be in the past. They need each other, crave each other, but for all the wrong reasons. It’s emotional and mental cruelty. His song is a late admittance of the destructive relationship they have, his recognition that it is so very painful, his hope that he can escape it, to be reborn, his prayer that it has no lasting effect. It’s a plea to stop, to try not to let it repeat itself, to continue, to change. But it won’t because the shrike must eat, and it knows no other way, so they will keep using each other. At times, it’s impossible to change one’s essential self. They have gone too far. The song is both a soulful and painful admission, and a beautiful plea by Hozier to be reborn from the inflicted pain. Yet still, he asks to be the shrike instead. At least, as that, he controls.
SheepMaySafelyGrazeHere. Wow.
The song is painful & beautiful, but your explanation is also poetic with reason. Both are beautiful & sad. I really felt emotion from both this song & this explanation. What a way to wake up this morning 😊🙂
*APPLAUSE*
Meh
tomrush64 You’re excused.
“STRIKE”...we’re off to an inspiring start 😅
Oof ikr
"Hung like the "pearl" of some prey.. "😬
Hahaha 😄
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Yeah... Theres a LOT of wrong lyrics in this video... lmao
First time ive heard his accent when he sings and its amazing
His music is unbelievably healing.. I am brought to tears everytime
Ashley Lesko I have been trying to describe how his music feels, and healing is exactly the word I’ve been looking for...
Finally!! Someone who actually gets that this song and the rest IS HEALING
I've never really been drawn to listen to Hozier before. This song just came up on Spotify playlist. Incredible.
Our son asked his wife to play this for all of us as we spread his ashes in the Atlantic during his Celebration Of Life
rip
Today would have been his 35th Birthday and oh how the thought of this one scared the Hell out of him. Those talks were so funny at the time & so bittersweet to reflect on now.
Even worse when the guy who murdered him only got 10 years in prison for it even though he also murdered a woman the week before. We're supposed to be satisfied that, the man is in his 60's with terminal cancer & won't get the same treatment in jail.
😔
@@KyaniMosaic_Crone that’s criminal and I’m so sorry for your loss, sending prayers and condolences your way, god bless you
I’m terribly sorry. That is a true miscarriage of justice. No word will help you at the moment except maybe this- whatever your beliefs or his, or mine, we all come here to learn something, we all go to the same place after the end, no matter what anyone thinks. One life is never enough for a human to learn what they need to for their soul to evolve into it pure form, we’re far too foolish for that, there are many times we go around the wheel of karmic evolution, so I promise you Will see him again. Best wishes. May he R.I.P. until then.
Makes you wanna wander into the woods and dance with the woodland spirits.
Not even going to ask why.
Athira Raj Not if they want to impale you on a thorn.
For those of you who would like the actual lyrics I'll write them out below. These were close but not quite right.
I couldn't utter my love when it counted,
ah but I'm singing like a bird 'bout it now.
I couldn't whisper when you needed it shouted,
ah but I'm singing like a bird 'bout it now.
The words hung above but never would form.
Like a cry at the final breath that is drawn.
Remember me, love, when I'm reborn as the shrike to your sharp and glorious thorn.
Have no idea on what ground I was founded,
all of that goodness is gong with you now.
Then when I met you my virtues uncounted,
all of my goodness is going with you now.
Dragging along following your form.
Hung like the pelt of some prey you had worn.
Remember me love, when I'm reborn, as the shrike to your sharp and glorious thorn.
I fled to the city with so much discounted,
ah but I'm flying like a bird to you now.
Back to the hedgerows where bodies are mounted,
ah but I'm flying like a bird to you now.
I was housed by your warmth thus transformed,
by your grounded and giving and darkening scorn.
Remember me love, when I'm reborn as the shrike to your sharp and glorious thorn.
M. B. Thank youuuu! I was a bit confused on some parts
TRUTH Thanks 4 sharring!
@@briannezwan894 cuz somebody doesn't actually know the lyrics and can't spell, but that takes nothing from the perfection of this song.
*going, not gong
Imo this song is about redemption.
One person should have done something for the other when they needed it most, but didn't at the time.
Now they finally are. They're going back to be by their lover's side.
They see something in that person no one else does. The way nothing except a shrike sees a thorn like that.
Can we take a moment and appreciate that gutair...... it's not easy, I'm in the process of learning it
Edit: I'm back a month later and I have learned this song on gutair 😁
Yaay that’s awesome!!
I'm definitely going to learn this one! I know Wasteland, baby!, cherry wine, and like real people do, would you say that this song is too much harder than those? I can definitely hear that the hammer-ons are notably more technical and precise, but besides that?
@@Emlyn1133 it's probably equally as hard as Cherry Wine, rhythmically, it does have a ton of hammer ons. If you can play Wasteland Baby and Cherry Wine, this one shouldn't be to hard
@@Corbs_ cool, thanks!
gg
Correct lyrics:
I couldn't utter my love when it counted
Ah, but I'm singing like a bird 'bout it now
I couldn't whisper when you needed it shouted
Ah, but I'm singing like a bird 'bout it now
The words hung above
But never would form
Like a cry at the final
Breath that is drawn
Remember me, love
When I'm reborn
As the shrike to your sharp
And glorious thorn
And I'd no idea on what ground I was founded
All of that goodness is goin' with you now
Then when I met you, my virtues uncounted
All of my goodness is goin' with you now
Dragging along
Following your form
Hung like the pelt
Of some prey you had worn
Remember me, love
When I'm reborn
As a shrike to your sharp
And glorious thorn
I fled to the city with so much discounted
Ah, but I'm flying like a bird to you now
Back to the hedgerows where bodies are mounted
Ah, but I'm flying like a bird to you now
I was housed by your warmth
Thus transformed
By you're grounded and giving
And darkening scorn
Remember me, love
When I'm reborn
As a shrike to your sharp
And glorious thorn
It's raining and wow listening to Hozier in the rain is heaven
HOZIER 's symbolism is deep and heart wrenching
Such is Life for the Woke few 👑
This is gonna be our first dance wedding song. For the record 🙌 So beautiful
I interpret Shrike as Shriek, as the bird's name etymologically roots in to Shriek, the sound it makes sounding like it. In doing so this song reminds me of the death of a family member when I was young. I didn't shout or help when my mother went to help them. All I did was delegate it to my older sibling, by waking them. How lazy I felt. I couldn't be bothered to help my mother deal with my dying relative.
Apparently over the years it affected me more than I realised. "I had no idea on what ground I was founded. But now your goodness is gone with you now."
"I couldn't whisper when you needed it shouted, but I'm singing like a bird about it now."
Shrikes are also known as 'butcher birds' because they impale their prey on thorns. This is obviously what the song is alluding to.
I understand your explanation. My daughter feels as you explained. She just couldn’t accept her father’s illness and I think her not being there was a denial of the eventual outcome. It happened so quickly that her mind just refused to deal with the outcome. I understood then why she couldn’t be there for him as much as she wanted or should have. But it is now 21 years since his death and she is still affected deeply, carries guilt that she didn’t do enough, is often consumed by the memory of her father. She hurts. She misses him terribly. All I can do is hold her, let her know I don’t feel any blame, but most of all, that her father understood. I think she isn’t as an emotional wreck as she once was, but it still affects a lot of what she does and think. Thank you for your incite.
The shrike is a bird.
I'm super late, but I think this song makes me think of two enemies who didn't get to be lovers, or at least not enough. The connection was there, but one of them died or something happened so they never got to be together. Maybe the antagonist died just as they were about to change, or something of that nature. I think a few lines in particular express this, like the line in the chorus: "remember me love, when I'm reborn, as a shrike to your sharp and glorious thorn," which represents sort of toxic, or dangerous, but needed, and, I guess, magnetizing? love, or the line "I couldn't utter my love when it counted, ah but I'm singing like a bird 'bout it now," which reminds me of the one who was left behind wondering what could have been if they had just convinced the other to join them. I don't know, this is kind of a ramble, but if you read this far or even this long ass comment at all, I hope you have a good day :)
It's a toxic dynamic, a codependent empath and a narcissist, I think x
Absolutely beautiful voice. He is one of those true artist that do not anything else to shine apart from his voice and instruments. No need for for fancy clothes, or half naked body.
My dog died yesterday. She was old, and it was her time, but it still hurt. I was on a walk with my mom when she told me. All I could manage was a small “what?” And then buckle down on to my knees and cry. She was amazing. She was so much smarter than the other dogs I knew, and she deserved the world. She would always impress me with everything she did. Her favorite food was watermelon, and she’d do anything to get it. It’s not the same without her. It’s only been a day but I know that this pain isn’t going to go away. It might get easier to bear, but it won’t go away. “All of my goodness is going with you now.” Daisy, I love you. And I am so sorry I didn’t get to say my final goodbyes and I wasn’t there when you drew your final breath. You will forever have a place in my heart and I hope that wherever you are, you’re somewhere cold, chasing squirrels, and eating watermelon. I love you.
Why does this song make me cry every time I hear it???? I don't understand!!
I connect it to the Events of Karbala in my head
I cry like a baby within the first 2 seconds. without fail!
Thank you.
Very fun to sing to an listen to. Very healing.
Egial Knight How could you see something as healing who uses someone as means to impress others?
@@hummingnectarbird I cannot personally speak for this individual, but wanted to touch on your questioning...... All I can say is.... Ours probably because it resonates with some peoples specific problems/issues/relationships/etc....trying to get over things, to heal, to learn to grow, teach themselves their "worth" once again. I'm just saying.... MUSIC IS A HEALER IN & OF ITSELF. Idk about you,but as for MYSELF, whatever I'm going through in life, I tend to always listen to music that I feel is relatable.
Daniel Yax Yes Daniel. It’s a conduit to the soul and I have always been affected by it as long as I can remember. Thanks for your incite.
If he talks of a shrike as a bad thing, why would he want to be remembered as a shrike? I think he is talking of how selfish he was in the relationship. Now that the relationship is over because of it, he admits that he was never around but only when he needed her. The relationship of the shrike and thorn is actually beneficial to the shrike. The shrike and the thorn personified is like the marriage of a housewife and a working husband who does whatever he pleases because the wife is not going anyway and that makes him (husband) feel like he can act as he pleases because he thinks he has power over her. But now when the wife wants a divorce he now realized he was more dependent on her than he realized. Now he wants her back and admits that he never knew how much he depended on her.
Because he is Mocking Jesus who tells the thief on the cross remember me when you enter into your kingdom.
So nostalgic, that melody makes me nostalgic af every time..
This is such a beautiful heart felt song! I'll say it again because it's worth repeating twice. This story describes to a tee the relationship between a couple several people & I know. However to me.. I find it very sad & extremely heartbreaking. I doubt the 2 will ever grow unless they can get pass that cycle of a toxic relationship which is truly detrimental for them both!
LOCKE & KEY bought me here lock 🔐😭
I took a quiz to see what song from hozier my personality matches to and I got this
Me too!!
i love this man 😍😍😍
Words hung above...not “bites”
Underrated
Preach.
Title of song wrong in the vid??
Trash Cat I think their program autocorrected unfortunately
Right
Holy hozier💘💘
“Hung like the pearl” 😂😂😂😂
"Bites on above"?? 😂
Even I'm laughing ✌ outstanding Sam 👍😜
Thank you
To all my lovers of The Cruel Prince by Holly Black. Listen to this song when reading the Mirth Queen scene in book 2 The Wicked King. It fits so perfectly.
YES OML WAIT
thank you ! however the lyrics do not come up soon enough to prepare for the next line… could you bring them up a bit in advance? again, thanks !
This is the first time I've heard his Irish accent.
Finna go get lost in the woods n shit and only listen to Hozier
This would've been the perfect as the last song on the album.
Love it 💓
Beautiful song
'Scuse me while I kiss this guy"
Why does this make me think of The Office
lmao it says strike at the beginning
Could someone sum up the meaning of this song in a sentence or two, please? I understand every word, but I have a feeling I do not understand the meaning of the entire song. Thanks in advance.
very VERY basically it's a love song, can be interpreted a million ways, but from what i understand its about a relationship that isnt working out (the speaker is too soft, the lover too visceral), so he/she wishes to be reborn as a shrike to require their sharp nature (shrikes impale their prey on thorn)
The shrike feeds itself and impresses it’s mate by impaling it’s prey alive on sharp thorns, leaving it to suffer and die there. The shrike’s short beak make’s it ineffective, so it prefers to come back over and over, taking small bites to feed off it’s dead prey. This is it’s preferred method.
Hozier’s using the birds behaviour to explain using unacceptable and undesirable actions and behavior, repeatedly, in order to impress or possess another, ignoring how it slowly rots away, what the cost is to those it uses or devours to get to that goal. The hunger’s satisfied, so is the bird. The mate is impressed. Never mind the horrible methodology. The shrike is the instigator, the thorn the weapon used. Hozier’s admitting that the relationship was not beneficial to them both. He keeps impaling, returning again and again to feed off a rotten relationship, but she only, to him, serves a purpose. However, each leave themselves open to each other’s mercy in a symbiotic relationship they both need, be wish they didn’t, and now both are vulnerable in a way they wouldn't allow themselves to be in the past. They need each other, crave each other, but for all the wrong reasons. It’s emotional cruelty. His song is a late admittance of the destructive relationship they have, his recognition that it is, his hope that he can escape it, to be reborn, his prayer that he not be pain giver. It’s a plea to stop it, to try not to let it repeat itself, to continue, to change. But it won’t. And they will because he’s still willing to continue doing what brings pain. At times, it’s impossible to change one’s essential self. They have gone too far. That’s the best I can do. The song is both a soulful and painful admission to end of painful, repetitive relationship, start again. But will it be any better than before if she becomes the thorn and he becomes the shrike instead? It’s a beautiful plea. Whether it’s for the better or not is questionable.
i am the shrike, who'd starve to death, without his love
STRIKE
Ah, I love this song. Hozier has such a relaxing voice, and the music increases that by x10...
How to write like this? I'm concerned 😭😭😭😍
Thanks, love x
shrike to my soul
nobody here because of thcscus and shrike?
💙
Locke & Key
I was born in the wrong country. Take me to Ireland or till I am re-born...
Wow the intro says strike 😂
💙🎶🎶
Aww... 😏👍
"Strike..."
I dont know why, but everytime i listened to this song, i suddenly remember my boss.
should i laugh or should i cry
did anyone else mishear it as 'there comes a time where every boy is the shrike to your shark and glories the worm'
🥰
The lyrics are wrong
It's not strike please do correct🙏
im transmasc and i associate this song with my closeted past :)
Can a song get any better!?
Sorry, but get the words right in a lyric video, at least, unless this is a spoof? Errors abound, friend.
First comment y'all
utterly amazing
Locke & Key
✨💛💛✨