Lyrics:
[Verse 1] I couldn't utter my love when it counted Ah, but I'm singing like a bird 'bout it now I couldn't whisper when you needed it shouted Ah, but I'm singing like a bird 'bout it now [Chorus 1] The words hung above, but never would form Like a cry at the final breath that is drawn Remember me, love, when I'm reborn As the shrike to your sharp and glorious thorn [Verse 2] And I'd no idea on what ground I was founded All of that goodness is going with you now Then when I met you, my virtues uncounted All of my goodness is going with you now [Chorus 2] Dragging along, follow in your form Hung like the pelt of some prey you had worn Remember me, love, when I'm reborn As a shrike to your sharp and glorious thorn [Verse 3] I fled to the city with so much discounted Ah, but I'm flying like a bird to you now Back to the hedgerows where bodies are mounted Ah, but I'm flying like a bird to you now [Chorus 3] I was housed by your warmth, thus transformed By you're grounded and giving, and darkening scorn Remember me, love, when I'm reborn As a shrike to your sharp and glorious thorn
Analysis:
“Shrike” by Hozier is a reflection on regret from the perspective of an individual who struggles to convey him/herself to others, despite the urgency of the situation. Observing the verses independently from the choruses, the initial follows an ABAB rhyme scheme and the latter constitutes itself with the repeated: “Remember me, love, when I’m reborn / As a shrike to your sharp and glorious thorn” and therefore an ABBB rhyming pattern.
The title of the song “Shrike” is also a name of a bird. This bird is not like most other birds as it is a curnviour and a deadly predator for its size. This 20cm long solitary predator is known for the brutality with which it kills its prey. Just with the sharpness of their bill, they are able to kill large insects, lizards, mice, and even smaller birds. Sometimes they may even carry their prey and impale them on a thorn of a tree as if dangling meat from a meat-hook. Using this bird as a representation and title of a poem/song is a very bold statement. As it entails quite aggressive and heavy topics to be discussed throughout the poem. Reading the poem, it may seem as if it is not the case, and a Shrike is not being highlighted due to its predatory instincts, but rather as a beast, who seems solitary and strong… but is reliant so dearly upon a thorn of a tree.
The song starts out by very explicitly presenting its themes. It is clearly presented to us that the song discusses the motif of “regret”. This motif is further built throughout the song and used as a leverage to establish a theme. This theme discusses the idea: “Every decision made by an individual is transformed solely based on the time of such a decision. The regret of making a decision, but only after that “golden second” is what is the most painful of any human regret. It is so that one is fully aware of the missed opportunity to thrive, and therefore lives in constant doubt in one’s ability”. Hozier does this so eloquently by employing symbolism, metaphors and personification throughout the lyrics. The song initiates with the lines “I couldn’t utter my love when it counted / Ah, but I’m singing like a bird ‘bout it now” following up with “I couldn’t whisper when you needed it shouted / Ah, but I’m singing like a bird ‘bout it now”. This is a very clear and literary representation of a situation which might have inspired such a song. Despite being such an explicit recollection, it also serves its purpose by setting the tone and mood of the song itself. After reading that first stanza, it becomes clear to the listener that the song is about regrets, loss and the irreversibility of time. The song further continues and more concretely established the relationship between the singer and this “person” by symbolically comparing it to the relationship between a “Shrike” and its “Glorious Thorn”: the deepest of relationships, a relationship of survival. Further development of this literary relationship provides evidence which clearly demonstrates that both the shrike and thorn are personified to provide depth to the symbolism.
Hozier continues by stating that — at a particular moment it was as if his words were there, but never could complete themselves: “The words hung above, but never would form”. He further establishes so by using the incompleteness of life and the conclusively of death as a similie for the situation: “Like a cry at the final breath that is drawn”. He regurgitates that he had wanted to do it, and tried his hardest, but world seemed to be against him. He further establishes the importance of that moment in time by stating that “I fled to the city with so much discounted”: at the moment he escaped the situation, but: “Ah, but Im flying like a bird to you now”, he simply could not maintain distance from reality. He also signifies that the personified thorn is timeless in his finite life, and that he will be reborn, and simply hopes that the timeless thorn still remembers him: “Remember me, love, when I'm reborn /As a shrike to your sharp and glorious thorn”.
Towards the end of the song, he concedes. Despite an overarching feeling of regret and therefore a surplus of desires and what if’s; the reality that this shrike can simply not survive without the existence of the thorn is highlighted. The shrike and its relationship to the thorn is being represented by the following lines: “I was housed by your warmth, thus transformed / By you’re grounded and giving, and darkening scorn.” It is in this concluding stanza of the song, where Hozier transcends the setting and looks upon his regrets and the “thorn” from an outsider’s perspective. It is now where the realisation of the song occurs: “Every decision made by an individual is transformed solely based on the time of such a decision. The regret of making a decision but only after that “golden second” is what is the deepest of any human experience. It is so that one is fully aware of the missed opportunity to thrive, and therefore lives in constant treachery in one’s ability”. It is now where it becomes clear why the thorn is so symbolic. As it is now when we observe the thorn as a thorn in one’s mind. A constantly stuck and painful realisation of the past, something which you can never jettison and must endure as the pain ensures its presence.
I must thank you all for your time!
Birds.