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the-amazing-boop · 9 months

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My track by track first impressions for Unreal Unearth (with some contextualized thoughts of the singles)

De Selby Part 1 - straight into the lullabies playlist. Just perfect.

De Selby Part 2 - perfect fade in from Part 1. I couldn't have dreamt up a better, more subtle transition. Still my current creature comfort.

First Time - oh, ffs, it's bluesy and sad. Lethal combination. This might be another one on repeat later. Ow. Ouch, ow. THE FINAL TIME YOU CALLED ME "BABY". Wtf. I see why some of y'all were cussing him out on here.

Francesca - my beloved. Brutal to have this follow First Time, though. Mentally two-stepping through the tears. The bellowing at the outro still has the power to ascend me despite my replaying.

I,Carrion - another certified heartbreaker for the lullabies playlist. She's Greek, she's cosmic, she's pure love.

Eat Your Young - I am once again solidified in my conviction to refuse having children in this fucked up world. Y'all be safe.

Damage Gets Done (feat. Brandi Carlile) - Okay guitar lick! Oh the voices belting together in harmony is hitting me. I'm getting really 2010s feelings I haven't felt in forever. I feel the sudden urge to forgive myself. He's back at it again with the choral work, CAN I LIVE??

Who We Are - and just like that, I'm back on my emo shit. He really went for emotional whiplash in terms of song ordering, huh? Not me literally listening to this while engulfed in a dark room as well. Another one I'll have to repeat, I fear.

Son of Nyx - oh fuck. Oh no. Not the piano dragging along. And no words. THE CUTOFF. THE STRINGS. THE VOCALIZATIONS. It's definitely a warning. Shit's about to start hurting for real. It's so haunting and gorgeous.

All Things End - Hello, old friend, my first favorite. I'm terrified of what follows you. It was bad enough watching the man "die" on the table (my hands are in the air to receive the gospel).

To Someone From A Warm Climate (Uiscefhuarithe) - fucking hell. Just devastating. Idk how much more I can take.

Butchered Tongue - this hits like crazy if you have any connection to a diaspora that was nearly erased or just have ancestry DEEPLY rooted oppression and the like. Ffs, I'm gonna need stitches for a cut that deep.

Anything But - and then this happy shit. Back at it again with the whiplash, the bastard. I love it though! This is going on the light and bright playlist. I'm a sucker for sad lyrics dressed in bright colors. And the vocals?? Come on, now.

Abstract (Psychopomp) - I was right. Everything following Son of Nyx just hurts differently. Dare I say worse than the first half of the album. I really shouldn't get into how I relate OFTEN to the poor roadkill creatures in my area.

Unknown/Nth - a nice and plentiful helping of stake through the heart, as usual. The briiidge. I drown in it every time.

First Light - I'm gonna say it's an instant classic. The imagery. The love on love on love. The catharsis. The drumsss. Oh! The acoustic fade out.

Overall, he didn't bother not once to lift his heel on this album. He's outdone himself. No skips. I am foaming at the mouth, waiting for my vinyl to come in. All get 10s across the board from me. 16 works of art. I really wish I could lock myself in a room for three days to really digest this album.

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ennislamore · 7 months

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Hozier - To Someone From A Warm Climate (Uiscefhuarithe) x Florence + the Machine - Never Let Me Go

#florence welch #florence and the machine #hozier #To Someone From A Warm Climate (Uiscefhuarithe)#Never Let Me Go #unreal unearth #ceremonials #obssessed w both of these songs

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andi-o-geyser · 9 months

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Me and your girlfriend after hearing To Someone From A Warm Climate (Uiscefhuarithe)

#does this make any sense? hell no #i am inconsolable. do not touch me #hozier #unreal unearth #to someone from a warm climate (uiscefhuarithe)

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thefollow-spot · 7 months

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To Someone From A Warm Climate (Uiscefhuarithe) (Hoziest's Version)

#Hoziest #Hozier #hozier edit #unreal unearth #to someone from a warm climate (uiscefhuarithe)

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unreal-unearthing · 8 months

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To Someone From A Warm Climate (Uiscefhuarithe) was a real dark horse for me. Of course every song on the album is incredible, but I didn’t really notice it at first listen. I think it got drowned out by some of the flashier songs for me.

But god the RANGE just in that song alone. To dip as low as he does in the verses, to belt in his midrange in the chorus, and the jump to a falsetto in the post-chorus. The stripped-back quality of it, just his voice and some simple piano chords.

And something about the way he sings that post-chorus (darlin’, all my dreamin' is only put to shame) haunts my dreams.

#hozier #unreal unearth #to someone from a warm climate (uiscefhuarithe)

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rebel-ezra · 9 months

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my favorite lyrics of unreal unearth by hozier

first time // francesca // I, carrion (Icarian) // damage gets done // who we are // all things end // to someone from a warm climate (uiscefhuarithe) // anything but // abstract (psychopomp) // unknown/nth

listen to unreal unearth

#I highly recommend listening to it while reading the lyrics + meaning of the songs #its such a cool concept #like the circles of hell??#as a percy jackson kid I LOVE this #unreal unearth #hozier #lyrics #quotes #long post

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eoieopda · 8 months

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all my dreamin' | hjs

all my dreamin' is only put to shame / and darlin', all my dreamin' has only been given a name / but it came easy, darlin' / as natural as another leg around you in the bed frame.

pairing: joshua hong x reader summary: your LA boyfriend wasn't built for midwest winters. ⇢ insp. by hozier's "to someone from a warm climate (uiscefhuarithe)" type: one-shot | fluff 'n smut wc: only 2.5k! au: established relationship rating: 18+ (minors do not have my consent to interact) cw: afab! and american!reader; cuddling (👀) for warmth; gropin’ and grindin’; k*ss*ng; slow, unprotected morning sex; p in v penetration. a/n: i love two (2) men — andrew hozier byrne and hong jisoo. idk what else you want me to say, lol. barely proofread (sorry!) 🔞 MINORS WHO INTERACT WITH ME AND/OR MY CONTENT WILL BE BLOCKED, WHETHER OR NOT THE CONTENT IS NSFW. I’M AN ADULT WRITING EXCLUSIVELY FOR OTHER ADULTS.

Slatted shades don’t stand much of a chance against the blinding white outside your window. It seeps through the cracks, sunshine refracting harshly off of knee-deep snow and stinging eyes that haven’t yet consented to opening fully.

Even though that laser-focused beam of light hits you between your eyebrows, it’s not the reason you’re awake in the first place. The real reason is next to you with his head ducked under the covers, rubbing his flannel-coated legs together like he’s trying to start a fire.

“Cricket?” You mumble.

Still heavy with sleep you didn’t get enough of, your head lolls to the side. If your boyfriend was still topside, you’d be nose to nose; but he’s not, and he doesn’t seem to hear you from inside the cocoon he’s made for himself.

A little louder, your gravelly voice makes a second attempt. “Are you alive under there?”

“No,” comes the world’s most pitiful whimper from somewhere near your rib cage.

You don’t know what you expected.

With a muffled grunt of effort, you pull the edge of the covers away from your chin and wiggle your way down. In the half-light, you can’t make out Joshua’s face in its entirety. His sweatshirt strings are pulled tight and knotted, hiding most of his features from the air his breath has already started to make hot. All that’s left is the tip of his nose, one eye, and a single, loose wave between the two.

There’s also a hint of a frown in there somewhere when he peeps, “I’m cold.”

You shift even further until he’s within swaddling distance. Wrapping one leg over his topmost thigh, you pull him closer and allow him to nestle his face into the spot below your chin. From where he’s hiding, he can’t see you smirking. It’s for the best, really.

“Hi, Cold.”

“Don’t.”

You don’t listen. Instead, you snicker, more to yourself than him, “I’m Dad.”

Joshua lets out a long groan in reply, but that’s no surprise; you’re huddled so closely together that you felt it building in his chest.

When it grows quiet again, and you’re no longer laughing at your own joke, the two of you each deflate against each other. Yesterday’s journey from LAX was exhausting in and of itself, and the several-hour leap in time hasn’t made things any easier since you landed. Neither has the weather surrounding your family’s cabin, although you’re faring much better than Joshua is.

His groggy voice comes out of nowhere, startling you. “I don’t know why people live here on purpose.”

From the sound of it, he’s already halfway back to sleep. His arm slips over your waist and pulls you closer, and you get the sneaking suspicion that he’d slip into the front of your sweatshirt if he thought for sure that he could fit. Frankly, you’re shocked he hasn’t tried. His clinginess increases exponentially when he’s exhausted.

“The midwest isn’t a choice; it’s a consequence,” you sigh. “I think being born here was a penance for crimes I committed in a past life.”

Without opening his eyes, Joshua mumbles, “Bleak.”

“Bleak indeed, cricket.”

The third time really must be the charm. Joshua snorts, much too tired to laugh any harder than that, and asks, “Does that mean what I think it means?”

Biting back a smile, you tilt your head backwards enough to kiss his forehead — what little you can see of it, anyway.

“That your self-warming violin legs kept me up all night?” Your amusement only grows when you peek down at him and find him glaring up at you. “Yes. Yes, it does.”

Lower lip poking out, he scrunches his eyebrows. As offended as he pretends to be, he can’t hide that ever-present twinkle in his eyes. “You could have saved me, you know,” he sniffs.

You mimic his tone with a smirk. “I turned the thermostat up as high as it goes, you know.”

The most you get out of him is a grunt acknowledging that he heard you. Normally, you’d accept this lack of retort as a demurrer, but then you feel his cold fingertips slink below the waistband of your sleep shorts, chilling the bare skin at your hip bone; and it finally hits you.

The thermostat wasn’t the remedy Joshua had been praying for.

As you untie the strings of his sweatshirt hood, you tell yourself that it’s retaliation that motivates your movements — paying him back for his freezing hands by exposing his face to equally cold air. That’s bullshit, though, and you know it. The truth is that you can’t card your fingers through hair that’s covered in thick, grey fabric.

You can’t steal kisses from hidden lips, either.

When Joshua’s mouth is finally on yours, you giggle without meaning to because he still tastes like last night’s spearmint toothpaste. You’d love to tease him for it, but your mind goes blank before you can try. He licks into your mouth, and your snark turns into a breathy little moan instead; he swallows it eagerly, smiling against your lips.

Pinch me. I’m dreaming.

The sudden snap of your elastic waistband against the small of your back makes you jolt. You pull back, lips swollen and kiss-bitten, and balk. He doesn’t give you the opportunity to scold him, however.

“You’re insane for wearing shorts when it’s this cold,” Joshua insists. When you don’t bother to justify your decision — you’re not as much of a freeze baby as he is — he nips at your bottom lip. “I’m grateful, though. They’re easier to work around.”

You’re grateful that his hands have gotten warmer, the longer they cling to you, but you don’t say as much out loud — your body responds for you. His fingers knead into the flesh of your ass, and you roll your hips forward, chasing friction. You find it easily; it’s growing thicker by the second.

“Shit, sweetheart.” He’s still so tired that his words come out slurred — adorable — yet rough around the edges, which drives you the slightest bit wild. “Please do that again.”

“You just want me to do all the work.” You nudge the tip of his nose with yours. The sharp contrast in temperature isn’t lost on you; in fact, you adore it. His sensitivity to cold is one of a million endearing things about him. “Isn’t that right, cricket?”

The half-expectant, half-sheepish look Joshua sends you confirms that yes, he does. But he asked nicely, and this isn’t on the shortlist of things you wouldn’t do for him, so you grant his wish without complaint.

It’s more than a little bit pathetic that such a lazy motion — a fully-clothed one, at that — makes you both moan in tandem. It’s haphazard, the way your fumbling fingers reach for the knot of his waistband. Your motor skills are still asleep, it seems, making an easy task infinitely more difficult. It only gets worse, the more frustrated you get.

You snag a fingernail on the stubborn flannel and hiss, “Jesus.”

“It’s pronounced Jisoo,” he supplies unhelpfully.

To avoid the consequences of that quip, Joshua ducks his head down to leave a smattering of lazy kisses along the length of your neck. Whatever you might’ve clapped back with is replaced with a relieved sigh when the drawstrings’ vice grip on one another finally gives.

Tugging unsuccessfully at the waistband in your hands, you pout. “Help.”

With the way he whines, you’d think you asked him to move a mountain.

Melodramatically, Joshua’s head drops sideways. It lands with a muffled thump against the scrunched-up comforter that still surrounds you. He doesn’t move another muscle until you open your mouth to nag him; still frowning, still uncoordinated, his hands take the place of yours. His hips lift just enough for him to shimmy his pajama pants down — just enough to provide access.

You roll your eyes at his refusal to undress any further, but before he can remind you of how cold he is, you catch him by the mouth. Successfully placated, Joshua accepts your lips on his with an appreciative hum. That sound transforms into something bordering a groan when your hand claims his length and starts stroking him slowly.

Just like that, Joshua melts under your touch, like putty molding to your frame. His leaking cock is the exception; the only part of him that seems awake enough to beg for you. He’s throbbing in your hand and — once again — you can’t help but laugh.

Joshua’s incredulous eyes widen, silently demanding an explanation.

“Some of you is warm,” you offer with a cheeky grin. To ease that wrinkle between his brows, you envelope the crown of his cock with your palm and roll your wrist. The gentle squeeze prompts him to grind forward into your fist, making your stomach flip. “Must be thawing out a little bit.”

“Not fair,” he says, even though he’s moaning with screwed-shut eyes. “Can’t tease me until I’m adequately caffeinated. The Keurig is a million miles away.”

It’s one room over.

The cabin you’ve borrowed from your parents is a mere six-hundred square feet.

You digress.

The prospect of coffee makes it even harder to fight off the urge to yawn, but you manage to do so. You manage to shimmy even closer to him, too, until the only barrier left is a thin layer of damp cotton. It’s his hand that drops down now to push it aside, making you shiver; and it’s him looking at you through half-lidded eyes that stokes the fire simmering in your belly.

“C’mere, sweetheart,” Joshua whispers.

If his words weren’t invitation enough, the come hither motion of his fingers is. The brush of his fingertips against your clit is so enticing that you decide right then and there to follow wherever he leads.

You’re the one melting when the tip of his cock replaces his fingers, flicking over that same spot, then gliding through your slicked folds. Each pass pulls another needy sigh right out of you. He takes every little sound he can tease out of you, as if he’s collecting them.

When the target switches to your entrance, however, you go silent. Your fingers grip the sleeve of his sweatshirt, your forehead drops to lean against his, and your gasp dies on your tongue. It comes out of Joshua’s mouth instead, spearmint breath cooling as it fans across your face.

He might never say so out loud, but this is his favorite way to fuck you — holding you close against him, holding eye contact, holding his eagerness back to slide into you slowly. When he watches your breath catch, his pupils dilate; and he licks his lips, as if he tastes the moans you can’t quite vocalize.

For what it’s worth, you love him like this, too. Him and the drag of his cock; the way it makes pleasure course through you like molasses. The way he capitalizes on the angle of your leg draped over his hip, tilting up to graze your g-spot with a dizzying precision.

As hard as you try, you can’t think of anything better than this. There’s nothing as perfect as his hand’s light hold on your ass cheek, guiding you up and down his length; so fucking deep, but in no rush at all.

Mornings were made to be spent tangled up with him.

“Do you hear that?” Joshua murmurs against your lips. You thread your fingers through his hair and nod, whimpering as you cling to him even tighter.

How could you not?

Your arousal floods with every languid thrust, and you know without looking that he’s completely coated in you. And if his satisfied smirk tells you anything, it’s that he can feel you dripping from his shaft down to his balls. You have no reason to doubt it; your inner thighs are a mess.

Joshua takes his hand off your ass just to hitch your leg even higher up on his side. Immediately, you see stars. You can’t even articulate how fucking incredible it feels, having him this deep, so you kiss him with more desperation than you ever have; and you hope he can guess how close you are to unraveling.

It’s impossible to say whether he can read your mind or just your body, but Joshua picks up the pace ever so slightly. As he does, there’s a subtle swirl to his hips when he thrusts into you that has every one of your synapses lighting up like a switchboard.

“Fuck,” is your eloquent, shuddered response.

It’s the best you can offer when you're falling apart like this, clenching tightly around him to push you both closer to the edge. No better off, Joshua seems like he’s barely surviving the way your cunt grips him. His voice sounds as shaky as you feel:

“I l-love it when you do that.”

To prove it, he flicks his tongue along your bottom lip and begs you to open up for him. You comply automatically, earning a pleased hum from him that tingles down your spine.

You’d kiss him like this all day if you could, but the wildfire burning through the pit of your abdomen is becoming impossible to fight. Ironic, you think, given how completely you’ve soaked through your sleep shorts and how much you’re shivering.

Involuntarily, your head tilts backwards as the pleasure blooms. Joshua traps your bottom lip between his teeth — not hard enough to hurt, but firmly enough to keep you from disappearing. You know him; you know how much he loves to watch your pupils blow when you cum all over him, and that dead-set determination is crystal clear in the way he fights to keep his heavy-lidded eyes open.

He loses that battle mere seconds after your choked gasp, when your walls flutter around him and you start trembling. He’s twitching inside of you, release spilling, and now he’s the one who starts to laugh.

“What?” You’re still floating somewhere in the stratosphere, but you manage to snort, landing a playful swat on his bare hip. He doesn’t react at all, but you massage your palm into his flesh to soothe him anyway. “What’s so funny?”

In a sudden burst of energy, Joshua’s hands fly up to grab the comforter resting over your heads. With a grunt, he flings it off of you both, thrusting your unsuspecting body into cold air. He doesn’t even notice your startled yelp.

“So hot in there,” he pants. For emphasis, he runs the back of his hand over his forehead. He wasn’t lying; there’s a faint sheen of sweat on his knuckles when he pulls them away again. “Jesus. It’s like a fucking sauna.”

You reach out to unstick a strand of hair from his slicked skin, then you let your arm flop limply back against the pillows. Grinning, you tease, “I thought it was pronounced Jisoo.”

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daffodils-loverrs · 5 months

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My mistake [...] was to consider myself eaten by her, whereas I should be myself (I always had been) the one who ate her.

Iris Murdoch, The Sea, The Sea Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Fleabag Hozier, To Someone From A Warm Climate (Uiscefhuarithe) Hozier, First Light (x2) Mitski. The Frost (x2) Italo Calvino, Under the Jaguar Sun Hozier, De Selby (Part 2) 1017 ALYX 9SM & Ethel Cain, Famous Last Words (An Ode to Eaters) Italo Calvino, Under the Jaguar Sun Hozier, De Selby (Part 2) Daughter, Future Lover

#recently read under the jaguar sun and just rolled with it #as calvino said #the universal cannibalism that leaves its imprint on every amorous relationship #am i right ladies #also i ate the new hozier album uppp #jackieshauna #yellowjackets webweave #yellowjacketsedit #yellowjackets web weaving #web weaving #web weave #wlw #jackie taylor #shauna shipman #yellowjackets #jackieshauna webweave

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sherlockig · 9 months

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A collection of Hozier being too real: Who We Are/ Take me to Church/ Arsonist's Lullaby/ Foreigner's god/ Take me to Church/ De Selby (part 2) / It will come back/ To Someone From A Warm Climate (Uiscefhuarithe)

#hozier #music #personal #unreal unearth

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geekyanglophile · 9 months

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I got my vinyl of unreal unearth today (first time I’ve actually gotten a preordered vinyl on release day). For anyone who doesn’t have a physical copy, the album listing has all the songs assigned to circles:

Descent - De Selby Part 1; De Selby Part 2

First Circle (Limbo) - First Time

Second Circle (Lust) - Francesca; I Carrion (Icarian)

Third Circle (Gluttony) - Eat Your Young

Fourth Circle (Greed) - Damage Gets Done

Fifth Circle (Wrath) - Who We Are

Sixth Circle (Heresy) - Son of Nyx; All Things End

Seventh Circle (Violence) - To Someone From a Warm Climate (Uiscefhuarithe); Butchered Tongue

Eighth Circle (Fraud) - Anything But; Abstract (Psychopomp)

Ninth Circle (Treachery) - Unknown/Nth

Ascent - First Light

Bonus (this vinyl’s so pretty):

#hozier #unreal unearth #hozier vinyl #dante’s inferno #9 circles of hell

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erinthesails · 8 months

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#hozier #unreal unearth #de selby pt 1 and first time are making me unwell

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ride-a-dromedary · 1 month

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the darkest of nights, in truth, still dazzles.

a halsin fanmix [listen]

#BG3 Musing #BG3 Fanmix #Halsin BG3 #Halsin #Halsin Posting #my fanmix #i give up this is about as done as it will ever be - i've been talking about this enough i need to get it away from me #i could have made at least one or two other playlists with the number of songs i cut from this #there were some things that hurt me to cut but i figured others had them in their playlists so they're out there #(the impossible dream you will always be famous i am so sorry :(()#i had three goals with this 1. make it more of a timeline in that it follows a narrative order (which hopefully is easy enough to follow)#(it makes sense to me about as much as it is ever going to lol)#2. try to avoid using songs that other individuals have used in their playlists (with a handful of exceptions - i highly encourage you also #take a listen to the others around! lots of good stuff and i figured if you were missing it from this one you can find another with it)#(and if i did use one the context might be different #'closer here is being used in a different way than i usually see it - it's putting more emphasis on the 'you can have my isolation' bit use #in context of the matron and patron for example)#and 3. focus as much as possible on non-romance path elements of halsin's character - i.e. again that's a topic that is highly explored #in other fanmixes to great success - this one is about the childhood he references and the adventures and the capture in the underdark #and the shadow curse and the burying of people he loved and the uptaking of the archdruid position and the healing he did #and possibly did not do #and the radicalization he comes into when his goals are met and he's faced with injustices #and the struggle he has of redefining himself and figuring out who he is after all of it #hopefully the 'eras' are clearly defined but hey it's all gravy from here #honestly if there is one song to listen to that encapsulates halsin for me it's tapestry - highly recommend that #anyway i am blabbing - let the lyrics and such talk for themselves jemi please #but if fanmixes aren't your speed have a kinda nice edit i guess #edit: now with bonus song i just had to add after shamefully forgetting it

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metamorphesque · 8 months

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any favorites from unreal unearth?

"Francesca", "I, Carrion (Icarian)", "All Things End", "To Someone From A Warm Climate (Uiscefhuarithe)"

#and the rest #unreal unearth #hozier #asks

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fawnforevergone · 10 months

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Quick List of References to Dante's Inferno in "Unreal Unearth" (Part Two)

HELLO !!! there is now an updated list since we have now heard the old album so please go check that out instead: [ the ultimate "unreal unearth" reference list" ]

[ PART ONE ]

I'm back!! A bit later than intended but here are the rest of the references we currently know :]

THIS WAS WRITTEN BEFORE THE ALBUM RELEASE !!!! please take it with a pinch of salt.

"ALL THINGS END" This song, similarly to "Eat Your Young", doesn't have many specific references, but, as Hozier himself has said, the song is about the sixth circle of Inferno, 'Heresy'. The act of Heresy is the act of holding a belief contradictory to (especially Christian) religion, and this idea is very prevalent throughout the song. "Just knowing that everything will end should not change our plans when we begin again." 'Ending' is used in two ways throughout the song. One: A breakup. Two: Death. The latter is important for Heresy, where Hozier clearly defies the idea that death will be the end for him. 'Beginning again' is often a term used to relate to the afterlife, and, here, Hozier shows himself going against God's plan to give him a restart, saying that he won't allow death and finality to dictate how he lives his life. No specific references to Inferno, but Dante was a religious man, and that theme especially sticks out in this song.

"TO SOMEONE FROM A WARM CLIMATE (UISCEFHUARITHE)" Now, this placement of this song confuses me heavily, I'll be honest. The word "Uiscefhuarithe" is an Irish word meaning "water cooled", which wouldn't align with where we are in Inferno. We are either in circle six or seven, so 'Heresy' or 'Violence', both of which deal with the idea of heat, fire, or boiling sands/rivers. Since the song is name "To Someone...", I believe the song could be written towards the idea of someone in this circle of Hell, rather than Hozier, or whoever he is writing as, residing there themselves. No references with the lyrics we have so far, but the 'warm climate' is interesting for where we are at this point in Hell.

"BUTCHERED TONGUE" So, at this point, I'm highly unsure of where we are in terms of circles, but I'm trying my best. This song will either be 'Violence' or 'Fraud', yet, as far as I can tell, and please correct me if you spot something I don't, I don't see any specific references to anything in particularly. "And ears were chopped from young men, if the pitch cap didn't kill them. They are buried without scalp in the shattered bedrock of our home." However, this lyric does seem to display unjust and violent imagery, so perhaps the song is leaning towards Hozier's distaste of those deserving of the punishment that the circle of 'Violence' holds.

"ANYTHING BUT" Now, I believe we are at 'Fraud', the eighth circle. The issue with these last three circles, especially the eighth, is that they are split into subcategories, 'Fraud' of which has ten. However, the first few circles of 'Fraud' contain people such as panderers, seducers, and flatterers, and the song appears to be very flattering. "I'd lower the world in a flood, or, better yet, I'd cause a drought. If I was a riptide, I wouldn't take you out." This song could be in a similar context to most of the album where Hozier admits to the sin, yet argues against the idea of the sin being a bad thing when it's not practiced in extremity. For example, the 'Lust' in 'Francesca' is portrayed as harmless yet consuming love. Aspects of 'Eat Your Young' convey hunger, 'Gluttony', in a, again, harmless lustful way and then contrasts it with a political hunger. 'Anything But' seems to fall into that category of turning a sin into a love song, as Hozier often does.

"ABSTRACT (PSYCHOPOMP)" I'm going to make a leap and say that this song could possibly not be about a circle at all, but, instead, the transition from one circle to the next. A 'Psychopomp' is a chauffeur of death, someone like the Grim Reaper or, as aforementioned, Charon, who plays a heavy role in the story of Inferno, and, obviously, Virgil, the second main character of Inferno. "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." The lyrics seem to reflect on the idea of something dead, yet also still recognising the beauty in its now-faded life. Since the album seems to be a metaphor for one or more relationships, and the song after this is 'Unknown/Nth', I'm going to make the assumption that this song is Hozier reflecting on the goodness of a previous relationship from the persona of a Psychopomp, delivering this love from life to death. Inferno is about the idea of death, and Dante spends most of his journey being lead, delivered, and guided through sin by various people, but particularly Virgil, who, after the final circle, he parts with.

"UNKNOWN/NTH" This song is stacked with references to the Nth and final circle of Inferno, 'Treachery'. "I'd have walked across the floor of any sea, ignored the vastness between all that can be seen and all that we believe." 'Treachery' is a frozen over lake, where winds grow stronger the closer you grow towards the middle. It's a vast, frozen expanse and, although not a sea floor, crossing the lake of 'Treachery' evokes a similar image in my mind to what Hozier is saying. "Where you were held frozen like an angel to me." There are many 'angel' lines but, with the mention of 'frozen' and the ice of 'Treachery', I'll pick this one. The reason why the winds grow stronger in 'Treachery' the closer you get to the centre is because, stuck in the middle, too big to escape, is Lucifer, the fallen angel. The winds are caused by the violent movement of his wings as he tries to move, only trapping himself further. "You called me angel for the first time, my heart leapt from me. You smile, now, I can see its pieces still stuck in your teeth. And, what's left of it, I listen to it tick, every tedious beat, going unknown as any angel to me." The imagery of Hozier having his heart stuck in someone's teeth is a metaphor to the fact that, when Dante and Virgil arrive at the sight of Lucifer, they see that he is chewing on Judas, another betrayer of God/Jesus. "Going unknown as any angel to me" is gorgeous. Hozier realises, as God did with Lucifer, that the one he loves is no angel, but a traitor. 'Treachery' is a betrayal of trust, and the song clearly references neglect or mistreatment of Hozier's love and trust, and the metaphor of God and Lucifer is a beautiful way to put that. "That I'd walk so far just to take the injury of finally knowing you?" The walk through Hell is a long and tiresome journey, to which Hozier references here. He relates his experience of this relationship to the walk through Inferno, arriving at 'Treachery' and feeling like, despite the outcome not being a positive one, he finally knows his lover in their painful entirety.

"FIRST LIGHT" Though we have no lyrics, I have a theory... as always, but, at the end of this day, this title means SO much being the closing track. At the end of Inferno, Dante and Virgil leave Lucifer stuck, and make their way out of Hell through the same tunnel that Lucifer's body left behind after he was thrown through the earth, down to Hell. They emerge on the other side of the earth and Dante says they can "see, once more, the stars", ending on a cadence of hope, similar to a 'first light'. I mention in part one of this post the utter darkness of Inferno that Hozier references in the earlier songs on this album, and this title seems like a perfect conclusion to emerging from Inferno, and recovering from the damage he suffered throughout his journey.

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OKAY !!!! If I missed anything, let me know, I'm so excited to know what everyone else thinks of the album, and WE ARE GETTING DE SELBY PART TWO IN LIKE FOUR DAYS ?!?!?!?!?! SOOOO

I'm thinking of doing a long winded break down for each song on the album, and previous albums too, so perhaps I will share more of my theories later since, surprisingly, some of you are actually interested in listening to me word vomit over a text post. ANYWAYS!!! I hope this was helpful to some people or at least interesting :] I had fun writing it, so <3

#i just fathomed “abstract (psychopomp)”#i'm in awe of him #unknown is the most beautiful thing ever written #hozier #unreal unearth #literature #music analysis #lyric analysis #all things end #to someone from a warm climate #butchered tongue #anything but #abstract “psychopomp”#unknown/nth #unknown / nth #first light

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