At the end of last month, Irish singer-songwriter Hozier released a new album titled Unreal Unearth, which, like much of his catalogue up to this point, draws a lot of its inspiration from classic literature and history, with some subtle nods to modern media, and takes a distinctly secular spin on Irish religious (and particularly Catholic) culture. The broadest and most overarching reference in Unreal Unearth is one to Italian Renaissance writer Dante Alighieri’s epic poem The Divine Comedy, particularly the Inferno section, which serves as inspiration for the entire album. On the back album cover, Hozier divides the track list into eleven sections: “Descent,” followed by nine sections for each of Dante’s nine circles of hell, and, finally, the “Ascent.” While the entire album follows Dante’s journey through hell and back, each song also has its own reference to classic literature or western history. In this blogpost, I will go through the album song by song and list some (read: as many as I recognize) of the literary references to serve as potential reading recommendations.
For the sake of brevity, I have decided to split this blog post into two parts. This post will cover the first half of the album. The second part of this post, covering the second half of the album, will be posted October 9.
DESCENT
“De Selby (Parts 1 & 2)”
- Synopsis: This song is an exploration of interpersonal connection and self-reflection through the character of De Selby, a fictional eccentric and paradoxical scientist from Flann O’Brien’s novel The Third Policeman. It is also sort-of-secretly a love song. Additionally, it is meant to reflect the mental state of the narrator of Dante’s Divine Comedy as he is lost in the woods before entering the gates of Hell.
- Highlights: The repeated final verse is sung in Irish. This is also Hozier’s only original song to date which features the Irish language. No official translation of these lyrics accompanies the lyrics transcription for this track, but this verse is the most blatantly romantic section of the song, which until this verse was mainly philosophically existential, yet this theme of love remains secret to anyone who does not speak Irish (or who does not take the time to look up a translation). Part of this section appears to reference Pablo Neruda’s Sonnet XVII, which speaks of the transformation two people in love undergo: “so close that your hand on my chest is my hand.”
- Recommended: The Third Policeman by Flann O’Brien; Pablo Neruda’s One Hundred Love Sonnets: XVII.
FIRST
“First Time”
- Synopsis: This song reflects the chosen death of the narrator upon his descent into Hell and entrance into Dante’s first circle, which is home to those who died never hearing of Christ or receiving the rite of baptism.
- Highlights: In the first pre-chorus, Hozier sings, “And the first time that you kissed me/I drank dry the River Lethe/The Liffey would have been softer on my/stomach all the same.” The River Lithe is the river from which travelers to the underworld in Greek mythology must drink before being reincarnated so that they can forget their past lives before being sent to a new one. This implies that the first time the narrator kissed their lover, they were so taken by the experience that they wanted desperately to forget every experience with every other partner before them. The next line, about the River Liffey, a real river in Dublin which people don’t drink from or even swim in because it is dirty, being “softer” on his stomach seems to subsequently imply that his choice probably wasn’t a wise one, but he’s glad he did it nonetheless.
- Recommended: The Library of Greek Mythology by Robin Hard
SECOND
“Francesca”
- Synopsis: Hozier takes on the persona of Francesca da Rimini, a character from Dante’s Inferno who was based on a real-life noblewoman known for her affair with her husband’s brother Paolo.
- Highlights: While Dante describes Francesca as a helpless victim to Paolo’s wiles, who does not believe in her own guilt, Hozier gives her somewhat more agency, instead having her proudly proclaim that she loved—and still loves—Paolo, and even though it was their sins of passion and lust which landed them in Hell, she would shamelessly do it all over again and endure the same punishment forever if it meant she could be with him again even for a minute.
- Recommended: Dante’s Divine Comedy; Biography of Francesca da Rimini at Britannica.
“I, Carrion (Icarian)”
- Synopsis: The narrator of this song likens an intense love affair to the plight of Icarus, the Greek mythological figure who perished when he flew too close to the sun and the wax which held together the wings fashioned for him by his father melted and sent him plummeting to the ground.
- Highlights: This song uses word play and puns, interchanging the phrases “carrying” and “carrion,” and “I, carrion” and “Icarian.”
- Recommended: “The Myth of Icarus: Chasing the Sun” by Cierra Tolentino
THIRD
“Eat Your Young”
- Synopsis: This song takes us into the third circle of hell, where gluttons are punished. This song is told from the perspective of a wealthy and influential businessman or politician who benefits from the exploitation of those socially and economically weaker than himself. It draws its primary literary inspiration from Jonathan Swift’s satirical late 18th century essay, “A Modest Proposal,” in which Swift suggests Ireland’s poor alleviate themselves of the burden of poverty by selling or eating their children.
- Highlights: Hozier appears to take some musical inspiration from Nicholas Brittel’s award-willing soundtrack for HBO’s Succession, a modern TV drama detailing the lives of the Roy family in the final year of life of their patriarch, Logan Roy, who shares many similarities with the narrator of this song.
- Recommended: “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift
FOURTH
“Damage Gets Done” (ft. Brandi Carlile)
- Synopsis: This song is a commentary on the common overreaction of many adults that teenagers and young adults are ruining their lives and doing a great disservice to the world by doing things like staying out late and having to sleep over at a friend’s house, and borrow things like clothes when they forgot their own.
- Highlights: This song is juxtaposed starkly with the previous track, and this appears to be deliberately done to show people that they probably shouldn’t make children feel guilty about their carefree behavior, or carelessness when there are actually people doing real major damage in the world who feel no guilt for their actions.
FIFTH
“Who We Are”
- Synopsis: A callback to the darkness and unknown highlighted in “De Selby (Parts 1 & 2).”
- Highlights: A further descent into Dante’s Inferno, this time into the fifth circle of hell, where those who committed sins of fury are held and punished.
The Divine Comedy by
ISBN: 9780810126725
Publication Date: 2010-09-30
At the midpoint of his life, during Holy Week in 1300, Dante awakes to himself in the middle of a forest so dark that the sun's light cannot penetrate its gloom. of the wildness and brutality of the woods, Dante cries out for help, and thus begins one of Western literature's greatest epic journeys. The Divine Comedy follows Dante the pilgrim--guided by the great Roman poet Virgil, then by the love of his life, Beatrice--as he travels downward through Hell, then upward through Purgatory in order to reach Paradise and witness the love that moves the sun and the stars. Raffel's translation vividly captures the divine contrapasso, the ultimate case of the punishment the crime, in the Inferno, while fathoming the complexity of the Purgatorio and the ecstasy of the Paradiso. One of the world's greatest works of literature, Dante's Commedia revolutionized poetry and the Italian language. This epic poem was the to be written in the vernacular of the Italian people rather than in Latin. In it, Dante weaves the best of classical literature from Virgil, Statius, Aristotle, and Ovid with staples from the Christian tradition (including the Scriptures, Augustine, and Aquinas), into a colorful medieval tapestry that depicts at once the vividly checkered history of church and empire.
The Third Policeman: a novel by
Call Number: PR6029.N56 T48 1999
Publication Date: 1999
"The Third Policeman is Flann O'Brien's comic novel about the nature of time, death, and existence. Told by a narrator who has committed a botched robbery and brutal murder, the novel follows him and his adventures in a two-dimensional police station where, through the theories of the scientist/philosopher de Selby, he is introduced to "Atomic Theory" and its relation to bicycles, the existence of eternity (which turns out to be just down the road), and de Selby's view that the earth is not round but "sausage-shaped." With the help of his newly found soul named "Joe," he grapples with the riddles and contradictions that three eccentric policeman present to him."--BOOK JACKET.
The Library of Greek Mythology by
ISBN: 9780199536320
Publication Date: 2008-08-01
The only work of its kind to survive from classical antiquity, the Library of Apollodorus is a unique guide to Greek mythology, from the origins of the universe to the Trojan War.Apollodorus' Library has been used as a source book by classicists from the time of its compilation in the 1st-2nd century BC to the present, influencing writers from antiquity to Robert Graves. It provides a complete history of Greek myth, telling the story of each of the great families of heroicmythology, and the various adventures associated with the main heroes and heroines, from Jason and Perseus to Heracles and Helen of Troy. As a primary source for Greek myth, as a reference work, and as an indication of how the Greeks themselves viewed their mythical traditions, the Library isindispensable to anyone who has an interest in classical mythology.Robin Hard's accessible and fluent translation is supplemented by comprehensive notes, a map and full genealogical tables. The introduction gives a detailed account of the Library's sources and situates it within the fascinating narrative traditions of Greek mythology.
A Modest Proposal and Other Writings by
ISBN: 9780140436426
Publication Date: 2009-12-29
A new selection of works by Britain's foremost prose satirist Easing poverty in Ireland by eating the children of the poor was the satirical "solution" suggested by Jonathan Swift in his essay "A Modest Proposal" (1729). Here Swift unleashes the full power of his ironic armory and corrosive wit, striking his targets-the ruling class and avaricious landlords-with deadly precision. This masterly essay is accompanied by a generous selection of prose works, among them humorous pamphlets critiquing British rule in his native Ireland, articles and correspondence, a loving eulogy to his beloved "Stella," the daughter of a house servant whom he mentored, and pieces on such diverse subjects as the nature of broomsticks, the joys of punning, and comical rules for servants. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.