I think no one has gotten it quite right, even though it's pretty clearly spelled out IMHO. I'll start by clipping some of the lyrics so that it becomes more obvious. I'll just make a paragraph out of them.
"""All of my goodness is gone with you now, 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."""
Okay, the lover has essentially killed who he was before being reborn. Having killed who he was once to her because all of the good is dead to her in light of his faults. She sees the faults. (all of his goodness dead, hung on a thorn by her as prey)
He now sees his own faults and is going to metaphorically feed on the lessons learned from that, on his old self. He has been reborn and now his old self is also dead to him. He will come to her as someone who now is as she is in that he has much the same view of his old self and they have both killed that person in their minds/hearts. They are both shrikes and it's his old self hung up on thorns...anyway, that's my take.
@justin1145 that is actually pretty fascinating and potentially apt. As mentioned above, Hozier seems to have a lyrical gift for writing in metaphorical layers, like Shakespeare. From my perspective, he does speak on an enriched physical layer (lust/physical attraction/union), but that is not the only layer at which he is thinking/writing.
The layer that spoke to me is that of a dominant/submissive (aka s&m psychosexual layer). For example, when he says he went to the city, I feel like potentially, he is talking about running from his own inherent self that his lover had attempted to lead him towards through intimacy,...
@justin1145 that is actually pretty fascinating and potentially apt. As mentioned above, Hozier seems to have a lyrical gift for writing in metaphorical layers, like Shakespeare. From my perspective, he does speak on an enriched physical layer (lust/physical attraction/union), but that is not the only layer at which he is thinking/writing.
The layer that spoke to me is that of a dominant/submissive (aka s&m psychosexual layer). For example, when he says he went to the city, I feel like potentially, he is talking about running from his own inherent self that his lover had attempted to lead him towards through intimacy, but from which he fled, living in repression and self-denial. But to me, the song is about his newfound awareness, and how he now is no longer afraid of who he is inherently (flying to her like a bird), along with other nuggets, such as all of the goodness, to me is a reference to him having been the submissive partner, but that is gone now, and he will be the dominant partner in his reborn self, and the next relationship will be hung upon his former lover (as the thorn), while he - now the shrike - preys upon the new love.
Like I say, I think he writes in layers, and one interpretation does not eliminate the other, it just depends on the frequency at which you are listening. Thanks for putting that poetic interpretation out here.
I think no one has gotten it quite right, even though it's pretty clearly spelled out IMHO. I'll start by clipping some of the lyrics so that it becomes more obvious. I'll just make a paragraph out of them.
"""All of my goodness is gone with you now, 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."""
Okay, the lover has essentially killed who he was before being reborn. Having killed who he was once to her because all of the good is dead to her in light of his faults. She sees the faults. (all of his goodness dead, hung on a thorn by her as prey)
He now sees his own faults and is going to metaphorically feed on the lessons learned from that, on his old self. He has been reborn and now his old self is also dead to him. He will come to her as someone who now is as she is in that he has much the same view of his old self and they have both killed that person in their minds/hearts. They are both shrikes and it's his old self hung up on thorns...anyway, that's my take.
@justin1145 that is actually pretty fascinating and potentially apt. As mentioned above, Hozier seems to have a lyrical gift for writing in metaphorical layers, like Shakespeare. From my perspective, he does speak on an enriched physical layer (lust/physical attraction/union), but that is not the only layer at which he is thinking/writing. The layer that spoke to me is that of a dominant/submissive (aka s&m psychosexual layer). For example, when he says he went to the city, I feel like potentially, he is talking about running from his own inherent self that his lover had attempted to lead him towards through intimacy,...
@justin1145 that is actually pretty fascinating and potentially apt. As mentioned above, Hozier seems to have a lyrical gift for writing in metaphorical layers, like Shakespeare. From my perspective, he does speak on an enriched physical layer (lust/physical attraction/union), but that is not the only layer at which he is thinking/writing. The layer that spoke to me is that of a dominant/submissive (aka s&m psychosexual layer). For example, when he says he went to the city, I feel like potentially, he is talking about running from his own inherent self that his lover had attempted to lead him towards through intimacy, but from which he fled, living in repression and self-denial. But to me, the song is about his newfound awareness, and how he now is no longer afraid of who he is inherently (flying to her like a bird), along with other nuggets, such as all of the goodness, to me is a reference to him having been the submissive partner, but that is gone now, and he will be the dominant partner in his reborn self, and the next relationship will be hung upon his former lover (as the thorn), while he - now the shrike - preys upon the new love. Like I say, I think he writes in layers, and one interpretation does not eliminate the other, it just depends on the frequency at which you are listening. Thanks for putting that poetic interpretation out here.