Hozier’s Literary Soul: How “Wasteland, Baby!” Blends Poetry with Passion
So, I’ve been diving into Hozier’s work again lately — especially his 2019 album Wasteland, Baby! — and honestly, it feels like rereading a favorite novel that hits differently every time. What’s fascinating about Hozier is that he’s not just a musician — he’s a storyteller, a poet, a thinker. His lyrics carry the weight of centuries, yet they resonate with the world we’re living in right now. This album isn’t just music; it’s literature with a rhythm.
Wasteland, Baby! is deeply influenced by the poetic canon, particularly T.S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land.” And Hozier doesn’t hide that — he’s openly said Eliot was a huge influence, even carried the poem with him while touring. Eliot’s world was fragmented and reeling from war, and Hozier draws that same chaos into a modern context: spiritual decay, climate crisis, political confusion. But where Eliot offers despair, Hozier responds with a strange, defiant kind of hope — a belief that love can grow even in the rubble.
Biblical and mythological allusions are everywhere, too. In “Sunlight,” the myth of Icarus gets reworked as a metaphor for falling in love — not with foolishness, but full-hearted surrender. “Talk” plays with the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, and the desperation of trying to pull someone back from the edge. There’s even Plato’s Cave in tracks like “Sedated,” where illusion and truth blur. It’s wild how much he packs into these songs, and it never feels forced.
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One of the most haunting metaphors he’s ever written comes in “Shrike.” He uses this small, predatory bird — known for impaling prey — as a symbol for love and loss. The line “hung like the pearl of some prey you had worn” just stops you. It’s gentle and brutal at the same time. That’s what Hozier does — he doesn’t just describe heartbreak, he gives it myth and ritual.
Even in a song like “Nina Cried Power,” which is a tribute to protest music, the literary energy is there. It doesn’t just honor icons like Nina Simone or Mavis Staples — it channels them. It’s about legacy, and he revives their voices without ever overshadowing them. Then you get to “Almost (Sweet Music),” and suddenly you’re wading through jazz history — nods to Chet Baker, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday — all stitched into this love song.
Hozier’s songwriting process, from what he’s said, is chaotic and obsessive. He works on multiple songs at once, often isolated in the Irish countryside. He leans into metaphors, into silence, into emotional accuracy over catchy hooks. And while he might not call himself a poet, his work is undeniably poetic. Critics see it too — his lyrics get compared to Jeff Buckley and Leonard Cohen, and it’s well-deserved.
What I love most is that Wasteland, Baby! proves there’s a real appetite for depth in mainstream music. Despite being packed with literary and historical layers, it debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. That tells you people aren’t just listening — they’re thinking , feeling , decoding . For those of us willing to go a little deeper, Hozier offers more than just songs. He gives us something timeless, tender, and beautifully complicated.
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