I'm starvin', darlin'
Let me put my lips to somethin'
Let me wrap my teeth around the world
Start carvin', darlin'
I wanna smell the dinner cookin'
I wanna feel the edges start to burn
[Pre-Chorus]
Honey, I wanna race you to the table
If you hesitate, the gettin' is gone
I won't lie if there's somethin' to be gained
There's money to be made, whatever's still to come
[Chorus]
Get some
Pull up the ladder when the flood comes
Throw enough rope until the legs have swung
Seven new ways that you can eat your young
Come and get some
Skinnin' the children for a war drum
Puttin' food on the table, sellin' bombs and guns
It's quicker and easier to eat your young
[Instrumental Break]
You can't buy this fineness
Let me see the heat get to you
Let me watch the dressing start to peel
It's a kindness, highness
Crumbs enough for everyone
Old and young are welcome to the meal
[Pre-Chorus]
Honey, I'm makin' sure the table's made
We can celebrate the good that we've done
I won't lie if there's somethin' still to take
There is ground to break, whatever's still to come
[Chorus]
Get some
Pull up the ladder when the flood comes
Throw enough rope until the legs have swung
Seven new ways that you can eat your young
Come and get some
Skinnin' the children for a war drum
Puttin' food on the table sellin' bombs and guns
It's quicker and easier to eat your young
[Instrumental Outro]
About
“Eat Your Young” sees Hozier describe a feast being prepared and served together with the chaos that comes with it. According to the artist, the track is a taste of the 9 Circles of Hell more specifically the 3rd Circle, Gluttony. This is based on the first part of Dante Alighieri’s epic poem known as Divine Comedy.
The title could be alluding to the 1729 satirical essay, ‘A Modest Proposal’ by Jonathan Swift, where he suggests, as a solution to poverty in Ireland at the time, that the poor should sell their children to be cannibalised by the rich.
The track was first revealed on 24th February 2023 in a post on Hozier’s socials, together with artwork and tracklist of the EP. This was followed by the first snippet of the track with the words;
This was followed by the second snippet with a hand doodling drawing and the song playing in the background.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
I don’t know how intentional the reference to Jonathan Swift was in this. That essay [Swift’s 1729 satirical essay A Modest Proposal in which he suggests the Irish poor sell their children as food] is such a cultural landmark that it’s just hanging in the air. I was more reflecting on what I felt now in this spirit of the times of perpetual short-term gain and a long-term blindness. The increasing levels of precarious living, poverty, job insecurity, rental crisis, property crisis, climate crisis and a generation that’s inheriting all of that and one generation that’s enjoyed the spoils of it. The lyrics are direct, but the voice is playful. There’s this unreliable narrator who relishes in this thing which was fun to write.
It’s kind of an idea for a song that has been cooking on me, I guess. This idea of sacrificing the future of other people for the sake of short-term gain. This idea of where children become the ground for culture war for adults to use it as pawns on culture wars, especially when it comes to arm stealing — another school shooting, and then another debate about gun rights, etc. It’s something that’s quite alien to me, coming from the place in the world that I am. I wanted the voice in the song to be that voice of power that shrugs off any responsability to any sort of future that anybody has.
— Via Genius Verified.
- 3.First Time
- 4.Francesca
- 6.Eat Your Young
- 8.Who We Are
- 9.Son of Nyx
- 10.All Things End
- 12.Butchered Tongue
- 13.Anything But
- 15.Unknown / Nth
- 16.First Light