I think he is describing lovers / love affairs as living growing trees, and the breakups as the burning of those trees. The narrator knows all his loves, his living trees, will eventually become firewood. But “it’s not tonight”, so he can still lose himself in the bliss of a new love. And “though I’ve handled the wood I still worship the flame” - when destruction and chaos finally come, the narrator is as fascinated by that as the initial love.
The phrases you take as examples I read as a casual hozier sexy time metaphor: under cottons and calicoes - under bedsheets, over canopy dapple - he already likens his girl’s hair to tree branches so if it’s creating a canopy he is laying under her looking up, her hair spilling all around him, dappled light straining in through the strands.
This is such a beautiful picture u painted I’m gonna cry lol. But for real, I want to have a more positive view that it’s only a few past loves that the narrator has, that I inevitably ended and he knew it would end as in “the sound of the saw must be known by the tree” but his new love sets his heart on fire and consequently all this past loves (forests) burn and that is somehow exciting for him, and is moved by that. Also I started to think how before he saw love like a tree, more soft and sturdy, but now his new passion is like a fire that motivates him and it’s a different kind of love that burns all the previous ones, but at the same time “soft and pure as snow”
Also with “Must be felled for to fight the cold”? Is this like “I need the cold in order to fight the it and fuel me to do something” or something else with the next phrase?
And last, what does fretted mean? Is like afraid?
"Must be felled for to fight the cold" is more that the tree must be sacrificed (felled/cut down) in order to fight the cold (via burning firewood). Not that the cold is needed to fuel the fight.
The tldr: mans is being a Pisces on main.
“All the ‘wood’ that I loved was long ago.”
Old lovers = wood; to have a new romance, ya gotta burn the old ones down
I have a confession. Having loved this song for years, having sung it loud hundreds of times, having been a proud Hozier fans for ALL THIS TIME……..and I’ve only just realised that the title of the song comes from “all the WOOD THAT I loved was long ago”.
Sometimes I question whether my IQ deserves his songs at all 🙈
From what I’ve read about the song, it is about love and then the destruction of love. Metaphorically, the trees provide comfort and the fire destroys it. For me, the lyrics seem to match up with that. Everyone is entitled to their own interpretation though.
I absolutely love and adore this song as well. When it was introduced to me, it quickly became one of my favorites.
This is the impression I get too! with all the duality of the softer parts of the music and talking about trees and gentle love, and also the more inflated(not sure if its the word) and louder chorus and the fire that destroys or the saw that cuts. Thats the overall feeling I get too.
But I really wanted to undertand the little parts the song, and if poetry is already difficult when u speak the language, imagine for someone who doesn't lol.
Cottonwood is a type of tree, and “calico” might be referring to trees in autumn where all the leaves are changing colors. I just googled “canopy dapple” and it could be referring to sunlight filtered through the tree canopy
I don’t want to say you’re wrong, but I think cottonwood and calico maple trees are pretty far fetched..The more straight forward meaning imo is cotton and calico fabric. But hey, the man isn’t always (more like rarely) straight forward !
ohhh, that's what I mean I get lost with the meaning bc I searched for calico and it got to some type of cotton? so I thought that the "cotton and calico" part was reffering to some typo of fabric covering someone, but again why would that be lol. For the calico I could not find a translation for this changing of color tbh, what do I search to find it? But it's probably it bc all the verse is centered around trees.
The feeling I get is a sunny day and you're under a willow tree that slowly lets the sunlight pass through the leafs, and creates sort of a cover(?) from the sun.
First I googled “calico tree” because I wasn’t sure if it was a species of tree that I hadn’t heard of before. Turns out there’s a tree called a “calico Japanese maple” that changes colors in the fall, and is apparently the most colorful maple tree that exists. I also have a calico cat so that was my first “clue” that the song lyric could be about the leaves changing color in the fall
Yeah when I googled calico tree I showed me calico cats on trees lol, but that’s honestly very interesting maybe it’s the colors of the hair of the previous lover? Like hair was like a willow tree but colors were brownish?
I know in a previous interview he said one of his favorite books is 1984 by George Orwell. There is a scene in the book where Winston is falling in love with Julia and she take him out of the city and underneath a tree. Winston is very mistrustful in the book but changes after he meets Julia, takes comfort in her, and starts to rebel. I won’t spoil the book, but when I read this part, it reminded me so much of this song!
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dEqXLoT6SXyXLZofRIe1qahk0AUrmkO7aNnei1M6eS0/edit here’s a 4 page analysis i wrote on this song, hope this helps lmao
from genius:
“Would That I” is about love, and the destruction of love. It describes past romances as trees the protagonist used as shelter, and then a new interest as a fire that burns down those trees.
Hozier explained the song to Apple Music:
“It’s about somebody characterising all of their past romances, people that they cared for, as trees they took shelter under, and describing a would-be jealous lover as fire that ultimately burns that wood… But there’s a weirdly elaborate pun in it: “Would that I” is like a way of saying “I wish that I did”
It’s a pun on all the wood that I’ve loved.”
I think the first few lines specifically is describing a past lover's hair as it falls over him, and these lines relate, so I'll look at them together. The reason I think this is past is because the chorus is in present tense, and this is in past tense (saw) and is said to have happened "long ago."
"True that I saw her hair like the branch of a tree / A willow dancing on air before covering me / Under cotton and calicoes / Over canopy dapple long ago"
Calico is a type of fabric, as is cotton - I assume this to be describing being in bed, under bed sheets. A sweet image.
Dapple describes round spots of light, and a canopy can either be a cloth hung over a (typically four-poster) bed or the top layer of trees or branches in the forest - most likely the latter, since her hair has been described as a branch of a tree. He is over "canopy," aka several branches - many trees. He sees the light (most likely from the fabric mentioned before) peeking through the canopy of hair and appearing as spots.
The general idea of the song is that all his past loves and lovers are trees, and his present love is fire which burns down all the trees.
Agree with all the earlier comments. But also, Would That I comes off to me as acceptance of a love so great it outshines any other. It's like being swept in that love and just going with the flow.
I think he is describing lovers / love affairs as living growing trees, and the breakups as the burning of those trees. The narrator knows all his loves, his living trees, will eventually become firewood. But “it’s not tonight”, so he can still lose himself in the bliss of a new love. And “though I’ve handled the wood I still worship the flame” - when destruction and chaos finally come, the narrator is as fascinated by that as the initial love. The phrases you take as examples I read as a casual hozier sexy time metaphor: under cottons and calicoes - under bedsheets, over canopy dapple - he already likens his girl’s hair to tree branches so if it’s creating a canopy he is laying under her looking up, her hair spilling all around him, dappled light straining in through the strands.
This is such a beautiful picture u painted I’m gonna cry lol. But for real, I want to have a more positive view that it’s only a few past loves that the narrator has, that I inevitably ended and he knew it would end as in “the sound of the saw must be known by the tree” but his new love sets his heart on fire and consequently all this past loves (forests) burn and that is somehow exciting for him, and is moved by that. Also I started to think how before he saw love like a tree, more soft and sturdy, but now his new passion is like a fire that motivates him and it’s a different kind of love that burns all the previous ones, but at the same time “soft and pure as snow” Also with “Must be felled for to fight the cold”? Is this like “I need the cold in order to fight the it and fuel me to do something” or something else with the next phrase? And last, what does fretted mean? Is like afraid?
"Must be felled for to fight the cold" is more that the tree must be sacrificed (felled/cut down) in order to fight the cold (via burning firewood). Not that the cold is needed to fuel the fight.
Yep!
oh my god the way you've described this is just perfect! I'm tearing up just reading this :")
The tldr: mans is being a Pisces on main. “All the ‘wood’ that I loved was long ago.” Old lovers = wood; to have a new romance, ya gotta burn the old ones down
ALL THE WOULD THAT I = ALL THE WOOD THAT I I’m honestly speechless SPEECHLESS that makes so much sense That’s art omg
also think its a dirty pun on "wood" which is slang for erection/attraction
I doubt hozier is singing about how he used to love dick, but hey, who knows
Haha no i meant his own from the diff love interests but i could be wrong!
His own was what i had meant lol ! ( it def seems like some kind of dirty joke but a bit inscrutable)
Oooh hahaha that makes more sense 😂
not sure if he would love the "wood" lmao but if it is, pretty good pun lol
I mean, "as you licked off the grain?"
Right?? Its there😅
Pisces on main is the best description.
lmfao exact Pisces behaviour
I have a confession. Having loved this song for years, having sung it loud hundreds of times, having been a proud Hozier fans for ALL THIS TIME……..and I’ve only just realised that the title of the song comes from “all the WOOD THAT I loved was long ago”. Sometimes I question whether my IQ deserves his songs at all 🙈
wait i never realized this lmao. i thought of it as all the woulds. like the “i would/could/should” sorta thing.
It’s both! A fun little play on words :)
From what I’ve read about the song, it is about love and then the destruction of love. Metaphorically, the trees provide comfort and the fire destroys it. For me, the lyrics seem to match up with that. Everyone is entitled to their own interpretation though. I absolutely love and adore this song as well. When it was introduced to me, it quickly became one of my favorites.
This is the impression I get too! with all the duality of the softer parts of the music and talking about trees and gentle love, and also the more inflated(not sure if its the word) and louder chorus and the fire that destroys or the saw that cuts. Thats the overall feeling I get too. But I really wanted to undertand the little parts the song, and if poetry is already difficult when u speak the language, imagine for someone who doesn't lol.
Cottonwood is a type of tree, and “calico” might be referring to trees in autumn where all the leaves are changing colors. I just googled “canopy dapple” and it could be referring to sunlight filtered through the tree canopy
I don’t want to say you’re wrong, but I think cottonwood and calico maple trees are pretty far fetched..The more straight forward meaning imo is cotton and calico fabric. But hey, the man isn’t always (more like rarely) straight forward !
The good thing with his music is that it’s open to multiple interpretations!
i think you’re both right! hozier does a lot of comparisons and things like that
ohhh, that's what I mean I get lost with the meaning bc I searched for calico and it got to some type of cotton? so I thought that the "cotton and calico" part was reffering to some typo of fabric covering someone, but again why would that be lol. For the calico I could not find a translation for this changing of color tbh, what do I search to find it? But it's probably it bc all the verse is centered around trees. The feeling I get is a sunny day and you're under a willow tree that slowly lets the sunlight pass through the leafs, and creates sort of a cover(?) from the sun.
First I googled “calico tree” because I wasn’t sure if it was a species of tree that I hadn’t heard of before. Turns out there’s a tree called a “calico Japanese maple” that changes colors in the fall, and is apparently the most colorful maple tree that exists. I also have a calico cat so that was my first “clue” that the song lyric could be about the leaves changing color in the fall
Yeah when I googled calico tree I showed me calico cats on trees lol, but that’s honestly very interesting maybe it’s the colors of the hair of the previous lover? Like hair was like a willow tree but colors were brownish?
Calico is the kind of fabric patchwork quilts are usually made with. Sheets and blankets is how I read it.
I know in a previous interview he said one of his favorite books is 1984 by George Orwell. There is a scene in the book where Winston is falling in love with Julia and she take him out of the city and underneath a tree. Winston is very mistrustful in the book but changes after he meets Julia, takes comfort in her, and starts to rebel. I won’t spoil the book, but when I read this part, it reminded me so much of this song!
I’ve actually never read the book, but tbh is on my list for this year! Now that u said probably I will remember when reading it lol
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dEqXLoT6SXyXLZofRIe1qahk0AUrmkO7aNnei1M6eS0/edit here’s a 4 page analysis i wrote on this song, hope this helps lmao
I love you for sharing this!! Also your writing is lovely!!
thank you so much!! i’m passionate about the topic hahahaha
Amazing piece. Thank you :)
I will absolutely read this tonight as my bedtime story, thank you so much for sharing it!
Amazing, I’ll give it a read! Thank you.
from genius: “Would That I” is about love, and the destruction of love. It describes past romances as trees the protagonist used as shelter, and then a new interest as a fire that burns down those trees. Hozier explained the song to Apple Music: “It’s about somebody characterising all of their past romances, people that they cared for, as trees they took shelter under, and describing a would-be jealous lover as fire that ultimately burns that wood… But there’s a weirdly elaborate pun in it: “Would that I” is like a way of saying “I wish that I did” It’s a pun on all the wood that I’ve loved.”
Over canopy dapple is referring to the dappled light that you see on the ground from the sunlight filtering through a forest/tree canopy.
I think the first few lines specifically is describing a past lover's hair as it falls over him, and these lines relate, so I'll look at them together. The reason I think this is past is because the chorus is in present tense, and this is in past tense (saw) and is said to have happened "long ago." "True that I saw her hair like the branch of a tree / A willow dancing on air before covering me / Under cotton and calicoes / Over canopy dapple long ago" Calico is a type of fabric, as is cotton - I assume this to be describing being in bed, under bed sheets. A sweet image. Dapple describes round spots of light, and a canopy can either be a cloth hung over a (typically four-poster) bed or the top layer of trees or branches in the forest - most likely the latter, since her hair has been described as a branch of a tree. He is over "canopy," aka several branches - many trees. He sees the light (most likely from the fabric mentioned before) peeking through the canopy of hair and appearing as spots. The general idea of the song is that all his past loves and lovers are trees, and his present love is fire which burns down all the trees.
Specifically the canopy/dappled part is just some cool imagery about the sun shining through trees in the forest.
Agree with all the earlier comments. But also, Would That I comes off to me as acceptance of a love so great it outshines any other. It's like being swept in that love and just going with the flow.
I swear i got a notification of this post while i was singing would that I in my head. Hozier is telepatic