I, Carrion (Icarian) by Hozier
Hozier came to Melbourne, and as someone who finds his lyrics poetic and emotional I decided to make a small writeup about one of the songs that I absolutely loved: I, Carrion (Icarian).
Also this was initially drafted a few days before the concert and immediately after writing this I fell sick and couldn’t go to the concert anyways. 🫡 đź«
Hozier opens with a simple request: should he ever be caught by a sudden squall (a powerful gust of wind that brings him crashing down) he asks only that the ground be allowed to embrace him.
This plea carries a deeper meaning; it is a message to his lover, urging them not to fear his potential downfall as he spreads his wings and dares to soar. Acknowledging the turbulence and risks that come with his journey, he also accepts the possibility of failure, asking only that he be left to face the consequences of his fate.
Context on the story of Icarus is needed to understand the depth of this song.
Daedalus, father of Icarus, was the creator of the labyrinth that kept the Minotaur. When the Minotaur was slain, Daedalus and Icarus were suspected to have leaked the plans and therefore were imprisoned in a tower.
However, Daedalus manages to build makeshift wings for Icarus and him using leather, bird feathers and beeswax that would allow them to fly out of the tower they were imprisoned in.
Before setting out to fly, Daedalus specifically warned Icarus that he should not fly too low, or the moisture from the sea would soak the feathers, nor too high, or the heat of the sun would melt the wax and the wings would disintegrate.
And with that Icarus takes the leap of faith, while on our world with Hozier takes the leap of faith and falls for his love interest, his muse.
It is interesting how “we fall in love” and yet we feel the most weightless when our hearts are full of love. And in every sense to fall in love with someone is to take a leap of faith from the prison of our mind, the prison of doubt, fear and shame.
Much like the Icarus that takes the leap of faith from the tower, Hozier feels light and weightless as he realizes that most of the weight that burdened him (and his muse) were given by the world.
The judgement of the world around us can weigh us down a lot. It is when we let go of our fears and fully be vulnerable with another that we realize most of our fears and self judgements were created by social constructs. These get stripped away as two lovers leave the world they knew behind to be fully be with one another.
Regardless of his reasoning, the outcome remained the same: Icarus’s wings failed him, and he plummeted from the skies to meet his end.
Returning to the tale of our free-spirited Icarus, we find him soaring out of the tower, only to make the grave mistake of flying too close to the sun. The intense heat melted the wax holding his wings together. But why did he do it? Some argue it was ambition while others say it was foolishness, a reckless confidence whispering, “Nah it’ll be fine,” as he ascended ever higher.
Regardless of his reasoning, the wings of Icraus broke loose and with that Icarus fell from the sky to his demise.
Hozier, however, is fully aware that soaring high might lead to burning. Yet, he holds unwavering faith that he cannot fall, for the words of his muse infuse him with strength and courage, driving him to keep reaching ever higher.
In fact, he says that only thing that falls away from him is the world below him as he takes flight and soars higher.
What exactly would Hozier’s world look like? What does he mean by his world?
In Greek mythology, Atlas is a Titan that has been sentenced to hold the weight of the world on his shoulders for eternity. In psychology, Atlas is used metaphorically to describe the personality of someone whose childhood was characterized by excessive responsibilities. The Atlas personality is typically found in a person who felt obliged during childhood to take on responsibilities such as providing psychological support to parents, often in a chaotic family situation.
This becomes relevant as we step into the second verse of the song where Hozier dives deeper into describing the role of his muse.
This is the first place where we get to fully understand the role that his muse plays in his life. A contrasting picture is drawn here between Hozier and his love interest. While he feels lightweight from the love of his muse, his muse holds together the weight of the world on their shoulder.
His entire foundation (the ground) was held together by her. It wasn’t obvious to him at first as he wondered about it (once) and realized that the entire time it was his muse that was holding the weight of his world.
This paints a picture of someone who has to hold the worries of everyone around them, and supports them entirely to let go of the judgement given by the world and fly freely (for he can not fall as long as he is uplifted by her words).
He asks her to let go of the weight that she is holding as he is now flying and feels weightless and goes a step further to ask to share the burden that she is shouldering.
As the weight on her shoulders (the emotional burden of those around her) reduces, she too can let go of the social judgements and worries of others to fly with him.
And if by any chance they both fly too close to the sun, his only hope is that if his muse does fall, they would fall to his side. Ideally this should indicate that he wants to catch his muse if they fall while soaring through the sky.
The dynamic between his muse and Hozier one where both parties show self sacrificing love, where his muse holds the weight of the world on their shoulder and uplifts Hozier to leave the world behind and soar skybound. Meanwhile Hozier also wants his muse to share the burden that they are shouldering so that they can float and experience the skies with a hope that he can catch them if they soar too high.
After asking his muse to soar with him, he has several confessions to make about the reality of life and a final request that he first made at the beginning of the song.
Firstly, he accepts that while the words of his muse uplifts him to soar freely through the skies, he does not have actual wings and never will have them, meaning that he will not be able to fully let go of the judgement and the burdens by society. Sooner or later, he will fall or land and come back to the weight of the ground.
And if he does fall, he only asks to be her own Icarian carrion. There are two aparts to this request. A carrion is defined as the decaying flesh of a dead animal while Icarian is used as an adjective to indicate the characteristic of being excessively ambitious. Put together literally, he wants to be an ambitious carrion meat if he does fall. From all the carrion that lands the earth he is ambitious that he will be the carrion of his muse and theirs alone.
Hozier ends the song with the final words
If I should fall on that day
I only pray, don’t fall away from me
Altogether the song ties together a beautiful tale of a man deeply in love with his muse that sees the effort that they are giving and is truly grateful for their support.
His muse shoulders the burden of many and in the case of Hozier, the words of his muse uplifts him to soar to the skies and in doing so asks to shoulder some of the burden that his muse is holding. After soaring eventually when he falls he has only the selfish request of not intervening when he hits the ground (i.e. be subjected to the burdens of society) and once he does, let his flesh decay as the only carrion of his muse.
So what is there for us to take home from this tear jerking song?
If ever you are in love with someone who takes care of you despite your flaws and uplifts you, take care of them and make sure that you share the burden with them and build a world where both of you can take turns soaring and fall to each other’s arms despite the highs and lows that life throws at you.
Andrea Sacchi (1599–1661), Daedalus and Icarus (c 1645), oil, 147 x 117 cm, Musei di Strada Nuova, Genova, Italy. Wikimedia Commons.
Anthony van Dyck (1599–1641), Daedalus and Icarus (1615-25), oil on canvas, 115.3 x 86.4 cm, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada. Wikimedia Commons.
Merry-Joseph Blondel (1781-1853), The Sun or the Fall of Icarus (1819), mural, 271 x 210 cm, Denon, first floor, Rotonde d’Apollon, Musée du Louvre, Paris. By Jastrow (2008), via Wikimedia Commons.
Statue of Atlas Farnese - Napoli
The Lament for Icarus (1898) by H. J. Draper
I, Carrion (Icarian) by Hozier
Allow the ground to find its brutal way to me
I feel lighter than I have in so much time
I’ve crossed the border line of weightless
One deep breath out from the sky
I’ve reached a rarer height now that I can confirm
All our weight is just a burden offered to us by the world
And though I burn, how could I fall
When I am lifted by every word you say to me?
If anything could fall at all, it’s the world
That falls away from me
You have me floatin’ like a feather on the sea
While you’re as heavy as the world
That you hold your hands beneath
Once I wondered what was holdin’ up the ground
But I can see that all along, love, it was you all the way down
Leave it now, I am sky-bound
If you need to, darlin’, lean your weight to me
We’ll float away, but if we fall
I only pray, don’t fall away from me
I do not have wings, love, I never will
Soarin’ over a world you are carryin’
If these heights should bring my fall
Let me be your own
Icarian carrion
If the wind turns, if I hit a squall
Allow the ground to find its brutal way to me