Who We Are

Hozier's song 'Who We Are' delves into the complexities of identity and the human experience. The lyrics poignantly express the struggle of understanding oneself amidst the challenges and losses that life inevitably brings. The opening lines, 'You only feel it when it's lost / Gettin' through still has a cost,' set the tone for a reflective journey. The metaphor of love slipping through fingers 'drop by drop' evokes a sense of gradual loss and the difficulty of holding onto what is precious.

The chorus, 'We're born at night / So much of our lives / Is just carvin' through the dark,' suggests that life is a continuous process of navigating through uncertainty and darkness. This imagery of carving through the dark symbolizes the effort required to find one's path and identity. The line 'And the hardest part / Is who we are' underscores the central theme of the song: the challenge of understanding and accepting one's true self.

In the second verse, Hozier reflects on the pursuit of dreams and the sacrifices made along the way. 'You and I burned out our steam / Chasing someone else's dream' speaks to the disillusionment that can come from following paths that are not truly one's own. The 'phantom life' that 'sharpens like an image' but also 'sharpens like a knife' highlights the duality of clarity and pain that comes with self-realization. The repetition of the chorus reinforces the idea that the journey of self-discovery is ongoing and fraught with difficulty, but it is an essential part of the human experience.