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1,091,286 Views âą Oct 6, 2022 âą Click to toggle off description
Egyptian journalist and author Mona Eltahawy once referred to the global systems that control and endanger women as the world's "oldest form of occupation."
Ever since hearing her speak in Dublin, I wanted to explore that thought in a piece.
I wrote Swan Upon Leda in Ireland a year ago and recorded it recently with producer Jenn Decilveo. We were tracking it in studio when the news came through of Roe v. Wade being overturned. I felt there was an opportunity to offer some show of solidarity.
We're reminded again by the protests in Iran that progressivism is a global movement. the recent pushbacks against civil liberties and human rights respect no boundaries or borders, and like all acts of control, violence and indeed all forms of occupation, their legacies can be immeasurable in both the personal and political spheres.
Of all the songs coming from my 3rd album "Unreal Unearth", I wanted to offer this song at this time. Iâll be making a donation to Mayday, AidAccess, Plan C and Amnesty International, organizations working toward ensuring women and pregnant people can gain safe access to reproductive healthcare and civil rights. Click the links below to read about their work and contribute to their funds should you be in a position to do so.
Mayday: www.mayday.health/
Aid Access: aidaccess.org/
Plan C: plancpills.org/
Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org/en/
Watch more videos by Hozier: Hozier.lnk.to/listen_YD/youtube
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Lyrics:
A husband waits outside
A crying child pushes a child into the night
She was told he would come this time
Without leaving so much as a feather behind
To enact at last the perfect plan
One more sweet boy to be butchered by men
But gateway to the world
Was still outside the reach of him
Would never belong to angels
Had never belonged to men
The swan upon Leda
Empire upon Jerusalem
A grandmother smuggling meds
Past where the god child-soldier Setanta stood dead
Our graceful turner of heads
Weaves through the checkpoints like a needle and thread
Someoneâs frightened boy waves her on
She offers a motherâs smile and soon sheâs gone
The gateway to the world,
The gun in a trembling hand,
Where nature unmakes the boundary
The pillar of myth still stands,
The swan upon Leda
Occupier upon ancient land
But gateway to the world
Was still outside the reach of him
Would never belong to angels
Had never belonged to men
Views : 1,091,286
Genre: Music
Date of upload: Oct 6, 2022 ^^
Rating : 4.972 (250/35,192 LTDR)
RYD date created : 2024-05-04T14:35:45.020925Z
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YouTube Comments - 1,140 Comments
Top Comments of this video!! :3
"What never belonged to angels
Had never belonged to men"
GOOSEBUMPS!!
282 |
Nobody is free until everyone is free. The furious gentleness of this piece undid me in the first verse, and that only grew more potent as it progressed. If we are to survive, we all need to work together. Thank you for this one.
958 |
The symbolism and story of Leda and the Swan are so powerful. Dominance over innocence. Yeats captured the story in his poem perfectly. Iâve never seen a painting or sculpture of Leda and the Swan that I havenât been moved by.
Thank you for this, Hozier. Itâs remarkable.
â€ïž
757 |
A husband waits outside
A crying child pushes a child into the night
She was told he would come this time
Without leaving so much as a feather behind
To enact at last the perfect plan
One more sweet boy to be butchered by men
But gateway to the world
Was still outside the reach of him
Would never belong to angels
Had never belonged to men
The swan upon Leda
Empire upon Jerusalem
A grandmother smuggling meds
Past where the god child-soldier Setanta stood dead
Our graceful turner of heads
Weaves through the checkpoints like a needle and thread
Someoneâs frightened boy waves her on
She offers a motherâs smile and soon sheâs gone
The gateway to the world,
The gun in a trembling hand,
Where nature unmakes the boundary
The pillar of myth still stands,
The swan upon Leda
Occupier upon ancient land
But gateway to the world
Was still outside the reach of him
Would never belong to angels
Had never belonged to men
2.9K |
LEDA AND THE SWAN
By William Butler Yeats
A sudden blow: the great wings beating still
Above the staggering girl, her thighs caressed
By the dark webs, her nape caught in his bill,
He holds her helpless breast upon his breast.
How can those terrified vague fingers push
The feathered glory from her loosening thighs?
And how can body, laid in that white rush,
But feel the strange heart beating where it lies?
A shudder in the loins engenders there
The broken wall, the burning roof and tower
And Agamemnon dead.
Being so caught up,
So mastered by the brute blood of the air,
Did she put on his knowledge with his power
Before the indifferent beak could let her drop?
Hozier has mentioned Yeats as one of his favorite poets before, and this poem might have been one of the major inspirations for this song. It describes the rape of Leda (the Queen of Sparta) by Zeus in the form of a swan, and alludes to the Trojan War (Helen of Troy, whose abduction triggered the war, was Leda's daughter). The myth, the poem, and the song all speak of sexual violence and unplanned pregnancies.
Considering what the world is going through right now... the timing of Hozier releasing this song could not be more perfect.
2.3K |
i'm from iran and have been a fan of yours for a few years now. i am also literally sobbing. thank you not only for this song and your music but for being so well informed about the situation in iran and human rights in general . lots of love
463 |
I love the line "Past where the god child-soldier SĂ©tanta stood dead" so much! It's such a small line but it just adds so much to the song. Ă©tanta is better known as CĂș Chulainn. He was the son of the Irish god Lugh and was given the name CĂș Chulainn after he killed a guy named Chulainn's guard dog. To make up for it, SĂ©tanta becomes Chulainn's guard dog and gets the name CĂș Chulainn. Meaning "hound of Chulainn". Him using SĂ©tanta's name and not calling him some one else's possession fits the song so much. The song also mentions his death during a battle where he tied himself up to a rock so that he could die on his feet facing his enemies. I think it's just such a beautiful metaphor. Like we may be losing our rights but we're not going down without a fight ya know?
73 |
The instrumentation on this is so richly layered and the lyrics and vocals are as always BEAUTIFUL
424 |
This may help to understand the lyrics.
Swan Upon Leda is a poetic song about womenâs rights and conditions in ancient and modern society.
Following this reasoning, Hozier gave this title to the song, referring to the ancient Greek myth of Zeus raping Leda in the form of a swan as a punishment for becoming Queen of Sparta. From Hozierâs point of view, this myth proves that society always wanted to control women, denying them freedom of decisions and access to prestigious positions. The support the song gives to women is confirmed by famous personalities active in defense of womenâs rights, like Annie Lennox and Allison Russell.
The first lines describe the scene of a little girl giving birth to a child. The reference to the feather confirms the theory that the child is the result of rape, implying that the swan Zeus was behind it.
A husband waits outside
A crying child pushes a child into the night
She was told he would come this time
Without leaving so much as a feather behind
Therefore, the husband waiting outside is Tyndareus, the King of Sparta. Rape, pregnancy, and abortion are hot topics in 2022 after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark piece of legislation that allowed abortion. The confirmation that the lines are about this debate was given directly by Hozier on Twitter.
According to this vision, society was focused on raising boys and girls according to discriminatory and disrespectful ideas since the dawn of time. That explains the last two lines of the first verse, explaining the purpose of Ledaâs rape:
To enact at last the perfect plan
One more sweet boy to be butchered by men
The chorus seems to refer to womenâs right to decide for themselves. Their freedom of choice wasnât belonging to angels (or Gods) in ancient Greece and doesnât belong to men today. The swan upon Leda is compared to the empires that always wanted to conquer and control Jerusalem.
But the gateway to the world
Was still outside the reach of him
What never belonged to angels
Had never belonged to man
The swan upon Leda
Empire upon Jerusalem
Another hint that the lyrics of Swan Upon Leda are about abortion and womenâs rights comes from the following lines:
A grandmother smugglinâ meds
Past where the god child-soldier
Setanta stood dead
Setanta is a demigod of Irish mythology symbol of Irish Nationalism. The grandmothers smuggling meds past the statue of Setanta implies importing in Ireland from the U.K. the medications necessary for abortion, which is now illegal in Ireland.
Swan Upon Leda has a slow, melancholic mood, and it generated a massive buzz for the meaning of its lyrics, according to which society always tried to control women, reducing their freedom of choice. The song is likely to become a new hymn of feminism.
Sourse: auralcrave
1.9K |
I would like to add guys: the issue presented here is timeless and not tied to one specific political event. Violence against women and the violation of our rights has been around forever, everywhere. Since mythical times, as the song portrays. This has to be an ode to women everywhere and their kindness and strength and ability of creation, as well as a portrayal of the violence we face all over the world. I can't know for sure Hozier's thoughts behind this song, but I am pretty sure it was not specially impulsed by the roe v wade overturn as many comments imply. I am not minimizing how heartbreaking it is but oh gosh it's exhausting to hear only about the issues that women in privileged countries go through. I'm sorry, it's just too much seeing the direct correlation so much people are making between this song and american politics as someone who lives in LATAM. There's horrors beyond America's (& Europe's) privilege comprehension that women all over the world face every day, but no one seems to care bc it's not happening in a rich white country.
63 |
âthe gateway to the world, still outside the reach of him.. what never belonged to angels had never belonged to menâ
so beautiful I cannot stop listening to and crying to this
170 |
I know it's not necessarily the context to which this song was written, but I've been finding myself returning to this song more and more often this past month, as the news from events on the other side of the world are becoming more and more devastating to watch. My heart hurts for every life butchered by men in their greed for that which is not theirs to take.
Anyway, from the river to the sea đ”đž
Don't stop talking about it.
70 |
"A crying child pushes a child into the night" this line reminds me of Ann Lovett, an irish 15 year old girl who died in childbirth in 1984. She had hidden her pregnancy from everyone and gave birth alone in front of a statue of the virgin mary. Her child was a still born.
I'm not sure if it was an intentional reference, but still very fitting, especially considering the attack on abortion rights happening all over the world right now.
78 |
I knew he was in his Mystical place, working his magic, about to cast a spell over all of us again. Now it's here. I am so mesmerized, my mind is in another place and I am floating on a cloud. I absolutely love your music, Andrew. And your activism as well. Looking forward to more!
443 |
Never clicked a youtube notification faster in my life. And im in awe of how he some how gotten EVEN better than before. This is one of the most beautiful songs ever.
230 |
i actually had to blink twice and pinch myself to make sure i wasn't hallucinating when i saw this. the king is back.
10 |
I don't think I'll ever get over how otherworldly this song sounds when it hits 0:47 . It just gives you shivers and makes the song that much more amazing.
132 |
Ah. I got chills, and then I just started crying. Leda and the swan is one of the first Greek legends I ever read, and thereâs something about this song that perfectly captured the innocence and loss inherent to that story. It hurts, in a bittersweet way. Thank you for the gift of your music.
120 |
Amazing as always! The message behind the song, Hozierâs posts he shared on social media a few days ago, were so moving. I have always loved not only his music but what heâs stood for, what his songs are about, how he uses his platform and what he creates for GOOD. Thank you for the new song, and thank you for your unwavering humanitarian efforts.
362 |
@NattPatt01
1 year ago
FINALLY. HE'S ARRIVED.
2.8K |