Day Sixteen: Arsonist’s Lullabye – Hozier

There are some songs you absolutely never get tired of.

Not that you don’t occasionally skip them when your playlist is on shuffle, but that they have staying power with you, for one reason or another. Maybe you like the instrumentation. Maybe it’s got a tasty hook. Or maybe it’s just a downright good song.

It could be a mixture of all three of those things, or more. Good music has staying power. That’s why we haven’t forgotten the Beatles, or NSYNC, or Chopin. Good music stays with us.

In all honesty, that music doesn’t tend to be pop music. I mean, out of all the pop music from the sixties, all the one-hit wonders and passing fads, the Beatles came out on top. Everyone has their tastes, but pop music is just that – popular at the time it was written. Then after that it doesn’t stick around for long.

I was introduced to Hozier’s spooky sound thanks to Pandora. Yup, Pandora. Does anyone use Pandora anymore? That was where I first heard “Work Song.” I liked it a lot – the light, bluesy aesthetic with the slow hums in the background. Andrew Hozier-Byrne has been gifted with a very unique, timeless voice – half crooner, half gospel powerhouse (Just listen to his “amens” in “Take Me to Church.” That’s basically a summary of his voice.)

Then he launched into stardom with the slightly-sexy, evocative “Take Me to Church.” The first time I heard this song was in a community bathroom in my freshman dorm. I thought, “Huh. Sounds like that Pandora guy.” Well, it was the Pandora guy. And that day in the bathroom started my love affair with Hozier.

His first (and so far, only) album is chock full of mysterious sounds, some laid back but secretly intense (“Cherry Wine,” “In A Week,”) while others are bass-pumping, heart-stopping rhythms (“Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene,” one of my personal favorites.)

But there’s one Hozier song (might I say, work of art) that I daresay is the most arresting.

Day Sixteen – Arsonist’s Lullabye – Hozier 

If you watch(ed) The Walking Dead (I didn’t,) you’ll know this song well. I first heard it on Spotify radio and it changed my life. The ghostly humming at the beginning is what gets me every time. Some artists are brilliant with setting a perfect aesthetic for their music – and that ethereal, slightly unsettling humming throughout the song is horror movie material in the best way.

Hozier loves to focus on folk elements in his music. He paints vivid characters, references literature, and gives his music a dark, gritty feel, like a fairytale gone wrong.

When I was a child I heard voices
Some would sing and some would scream
You soon find you have few choices
I learned the voices died with me

The song is what you think it’s about – a blooming arson. The verses guide us through his life – hearing voices as a child, staring at the flames of a fire, and growing into his obsession. Seems like a niche topic, no? But this guy becomes more relatable as we hear the hook.

All you have is your fire
And a place you need to reach
Don’t you ever tame your demons
Always keep em on a leash

Hozier uses fire as a metaphor for basically anything we could be obsessed with. A career goal, a relationship, a vice – anything. Suddenly we’re staring in the face of a madman and sympathizing with him. Arson is very different than most other vices, but it still rings pretty true.

When I was sixteen my senses fooled me
Thought gasoline was on my clothes
I knew that something would always rule me
I knew the scent was mine alone

As the young man is coming face-to-face with the reality that “something” would always lord over him, we’re also coming face-to-face with what rules us. Hozier is reminding us of our own depravity. He didn’t write this song to say, “Look at this terrible person who likes burning stuff up for fun.” He’s saying, “Look at yourself. Look at what you like to destroy.”

Heavy stuff, I know, but true. And that’s what’s so tantalizing about this song. There’s a lesson to be learned. Hozier croons, “All you have is your fire.” Fire is a good thing most of the time, when it’s controlled. It keeps you warm when you’re camping, and it gives you light when the power is out. But as soon as that fire hits dry tinder, or is knocked over and ignites a window curtain, it becomes chaos and destroys everything in its path. So can our own passions. We can pursue our passions, or we can become obsessed with them and destroy everything in our path to achieve them.

Consider “Arsonist’s Lullabye” as a cautionary tale. The fact that it’s called a lullaby shouldn’t lull you into a false sense of security. It’s actually a pretty dangerous song. Keep your passions and obsessions in check unless you want them to control you.

So keep them on a leash.

Since I’ve got you here…I wrote a fantasy book—think Game of Thrones meets Robin Hood. Order it here.