she’s a witch and also probably an archaeologist, he’s an old druid bog body that she reanimated. simple
suggestions that they are from separate time periods
“from eden”: “Honey, you’re familiar, like my mirror years ago // Idealism sits in prison, chivalry fell on his sword // Innocence died screaming” suggesting these ideas that used to be commonplace aren’t any longer, but that she is familiar to him in some way
“foreigner’s god”: “The perfect creature rarely seen // Since some liar brought the thunder // When the land was godless and free” suggesting that he is from a time when the land, probably referring to Ireland, was pagan, which tl;dr was a long time ago, and that she is like creatures that were seen before the conversion of the land–but the “like” implies that she is not, in fact, from that godless time, but from a time that is more recent
“foreigner’s god”: “I’ve no language left to say it” and “All that I’ve been taught // And every word I’ve got // Is foreign to me” could suggest quite literally that the language he used in life is no longer in use
“foreigner’s god”: “Screaming the name // Of a foreigner’s God” perhaps a suggestion that she has used old magic, or magic not of her time or place, to reanimate him. it at least suggests that she has meddled in, or done research on, other cultures, and feels invested in them to the point that she would appeal to them in times of struggle or grief
suggestions that there is something unnatural about their relationship, specifically that he is bound to her
“from eden”: “Babe, there’s something wretched about this // Something so precious about this … // Oh, what a sin” suggesting that their relationship, which wonderful, is also wrong, perhaps specifically from the point of view of the church (as suggested by sin), which would suggest some form of witchcraft or paganism
“movement”: “And when you move, I’m moved” the wording of this suggests not only that he is tied to her, but that he is tied by some force that “moves him”–he does not move himself. this suggests that some sort of magic or higher power is involved
“movement”: “Honey, you, you’re Atlas in his sleepin'” suggesting that even when sleeping, even when not trying, she is the thing that keeps his world going
suggestions that tie him to being undead, but bog bodies specifically
“from eden”: “A rope in hand for your other man to hang from a tree” which could be generic, but people sacrificed and preserved in bogs were often hung and then slit by the throat before being thrown into the earth
“sedated”: “Something isn’t right, babe // I keep catching little words but the meaning’s thin // I’m somewhere outside my life, babe // I keep scratching but somehow I can’t get in” a lot of mythology surrounding reanimation suggests that those who return are never fully back, never fully alive again
“like real people do”: “Why were you digging // What did you bury // Before those hands pulled me from the earth?” this suggests she was digging–either she buried something, or maybe she was already digging something up. also might be connected to the “empty crib” in “work song”. anyhow, hozier explained that this song used bog bodies as a metaphor at a concert in 2014 so…. yeah ok “metaphor” mhm
“it will come back”: “Don’t give it a hand, offer it a soul // Honey, make this easy // Leave it to the land, this is what it knows // Honey, that’s how it sleeps” this song is about how he’d rather cut the ties than keep coming back, fed with crumbs–perhaps a rumination on the “wrongness” of their relationship–“Don’t let it in with with no intention to keep it // Jesus Christ, don’t be kind to it”, musing about how difficult this has made things for him, how this has disturbed his sleep, how it is “unnatural”, perhaps also suggesting how dependant, he is on her–perhaps his very existence is tied to her will
“run”: “Like how she twisted the bog man // After she married him” the bog man. he’s not even trying to hide anymore smh
“run”: “He still shatters always on her earth // The cause of every tear she’d ever weep // Rushing to shore to meet her // Foaming with loneliness” these lyrics suggest two things: they are drawn together just as they are drawn apart, perhaps due to his status as half-living. it also suggests a connection to water as well as earth, which are the elements that mix to create the bog environment
