Personally, I think this song is about drugs, yes, but also about escapism. It's about the tragedy that is escaping yourself with drugs.
"Just a little rush, babe
To feel dizzy, to derail the mind of me
Just a little hush, babe
Our veins are busy but my heart's in atrophy
Any way to distract and sedate
Adding shadows to the walls of the cave"
Here, Hozier is basically saying that he'll take a little bit of his drug, just to feel better. He would do anything to get distracted from reality.
"You and I nursing on a poison that never stung
Our teeth and lungs are lined with the scum of it"
A poison that never stung is such a beautiful way of meaning drugs, because we all know hat drugs are bad. Some are worse than others, but all are like poison in some way. Yet, drugs are so different from poison. Poison hurts, but drugs don't. They make him feel good for a moment. But they also leave ugly marks, like yellowing your teeth.
"Somewhere for this, death and guns
We are deaf, we are numb
Free and young and we can feel none of it"
Possession of drugs is punished by the law, but you also punish yourself. You can end up killing yourself by accident. In the second and third line of this segment he basically talks about all the things he's missing out on. He can't really hear or feel anything anymore, and he can't live his young life like others do.
"Something isn't right, babe
I keep catching little words but the meaning's thin"
This in where he notices that something's wrong. He is so high that he can't really grasp the meaning of anything anymore.
" I'm somewhere outside my life, babe
I keep scratching but somehow I can't get in"
This is where the escapism bit of my theory can fully be explained. He doesn't really participate in his own life. This stanza is when he notices the bad things that come from the drugs he takes. And he tries to get back to his life, but he can't because he's so addicted to the drug that he can't stop taking it.
"So we're slaves to any semblance of touch
Lord we should quit but we love it too much"
This is just to underline to addiction again. He knows it's wrong and he should quit, but it gives him a too good feeling, he's still too addicted to it.
"Darlin', don't you, stand there watching, won't you
Come and save me from it
Darlin', don't you, join in, you're supposed to
Drag me away from it"
Now this bit was the hardest bit to interpret for me. But after I made up my mind about what these verses mean, I think this might even be the saddest bit of the song. He meets somebody and hopes they help him stop taking drugs. But instead, they just watch on and then, ultimately, join in too.
It's a very tragic song about someone who wants to escape himself. And Hozier manages to capture the feelings so well that I, a bystander, someone who never got involved in the slightest with drugs, can feel like I understand it. I really think that right now, Hozier is the best thing that could have possibly happened to the world.
@fili82 I felt all of this . Both of my parents were drug addicts. My father survived the disease and is now 26 years clean. My mother unfortunately couldn’t let go and lost her life. I’ve never experienced addiction myself but you said it perfectly .. this hits hard and makes me feel like I’m outside of myself living what my parents lived . I can’t wait to give my Dad a hug, Thank you Hozier
@fili82 I felt all of this . Both of my parents were drug addicts. My father survived the disease and is now 26 years clean. My mother unfortunately couldn’t let go and lost her life. I’ve never experienced addiction myself but you said it perfectly .. this hits hard and makes me feel like I’m outside of myself living what my parents lived . I can’t wait to give my Dad a hug, Thank you Hozier
Personally, I think this song is about drugs, yes, but also about escapism. It's about the tragedy that is escaping yourself with drugs.
"Just a little rush, babe To feel dizzy, to derail the mind of me Just a little hush, babe Our veins are busy but my heart's in atrophy Any way to distract and sedate Adding shadows to the walls of the cave"
Here, Hozier is basically saying that he'll take a little bit of his drug, just to feel better. He would do anything to get distracted from reality.
"You and I nursing on a poison that never stung Our teeth and lungs are lined with the scum of it"
A poison that never stung is such a beautiful way of meaning drugs, because we all know hat drugs are bad. Some are worse than others, but all are like poison in some way. Yet, drugs are so different from poison. Poison hurts, but drugs don't. They make him feel good for a moment. But they also leave ugly marks, like yellowing your teeth.
"Somewhere for this, death and guns We are deaf, we are numb Free and young and we can feel none of it"
Possession of drugs is punished by the law, but you also punish yourself. You can end up killing yourself by accident. In the second and third line of this segment he basically talks about all the things he's missing out on. He can't really hear or feel anything anymore, and he can't live his young life like others do.
"Something isn't right, babe I keep catching little words but the meaning's thin"
This in where he notices that something's wrong. He is so high that he can't really grasp the meaning of anything anymore.
" I'm somewhere outside my life, babe I keep scratching but somehow I can't get in"
This is where the escapism bit of my theory can fully be explained. He doesn't really participate in his own life. This stanza is when he notices the bad things that come from the drugs he takes. And he tries to get back to his life, but he can't because he's so addicted to the drug that he can't stop taking it.
"So we're slaves to any semblance of touch Lord we should quit but we love it too much"
This is just to underline to addiction again. He knows it's wrong and he should quit, but it gives him a too good feeling, he's still too addicted to it.
"Darlin', don't you, stand there watching, won't you Come and save me from it Darlin', don't you, join in, you're supposed to Drag me away from it"
Now this bit was the hardest bit to interpret for me. But after I made up my mind about what these verses mean, I think this might even be the saddest bit of the song. He meets somebody and hopes they help him stop taking drugs. But instead, they just watch on and then, ultimately, join in too. It's a very tragic song about someone who wants to escape himself. And Hozier manages to capture the feelings so well that I, a bystander, someone who never got involved in the slightest with drugs, can feel like I understand it. I really think that right now, Hozier is the best thing that could have possibly happened to the world.
@fili82 well said.
@fili82 well said.
@fili82 I felt all of this . Both of my parents were drug addicts. My father survived the disease and is now 26 years clean. My mother unfortunately couldn’t let go and lost her life. I’ve never experienced addiction myself but you said it perfectly .. this hits hard and makes me feel like I’m outside of myself living what my parents lived . I can’t wait to give my Dad a hug, Thank you Hozier
@fili82 I felt all of this . Both of my parents were drug addicts. My father survived the disease and is now 26 years clean. My mother unfortunately couldn’t let go and lost her life. I’ve never experienced addiction myself but you said it perfectly .. this hits hard and makes me feel like I’m outside of myself living what my parents lived . I can’t wait to give my Dad a hug, Thank you Hozier