Cover art for I, Carrion (Icarian) by Hozier

I, Carrion (Icarian)

Aug. 18, 20234 viewers213.2K views

How to Format Lyrics:

  • Type out all lyrics, even repeating song parts like the chorus
  • Lyrics should be broken down into individual lines
  • Use section headers above different song parts like [Verse], [Chorus], etc.
  • Use italics (<i>lyric</i>) and bold (<b>lyric</b>) to distinguish between different vocalists in the same song part
  • If you don’t understand a lyric, use [?]

To learn more, check out our transcription guide or visit our transcribers forum

About

This song bio is unreviewed
Genius Annotation

“I, Carrion (Icarian)” is a reimagining of the Greek myth of Icarus as a love song. Hozier has explained that the song imagines Icarus as so in love that he is unaware that he is dying; the speaker in the song does not care whether he falls, as long as his love is with him.

The artist said while explaining the song live:

This song has tried to imagine that he was so enamored and so breathless and so ecstatic in the moment that he felt the air rushing by him, that he never knew he died. And that he sort of woke up, he woke up dead, as we say, and was in complete denial of it, having been in such a place of ecstasy, and it’s kind of like, that mixed up with some sort of a love song.

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

What have the artists said about the song?
Genius Answer

It’s trying to capture that feeling when you’re lifting off. That sometimes when you’re falling in love with somebody, you’re met with this new lightness that you haven’t experienced ever before, but it’s also terrifying. To fully experience the best of that, you have to take into account that it could all collapse inwards and that you’re OK with that. It’s trying to hold those two realities in both hands and just playing with the imagery of it. It felt appropriate to come out of the hurricane of ‘Francesca’, where two characters are trapped in a hurricane forever, into someone who is just on the wind.

via Apple Music

What did Hozier say about "I, Carrion (Icarian)"?
Genius Answer

“When I was first sort of writing the album, I was trying to write songs that existed above ground and sort of below ground. And the way this song sort of started out is, if you can imagine, you know the man, Icarus, the story of Icarus whose dad strapped him up in a death trap and said, ‘Off you go’. And he hit the water and he few too close to the sun, etc. The glue on his wings melted. But this song has tried to imagine that he was so enamored and so breathless and so ecstatic in the moment that he felt the air rushing by him, that he never knew he died. And that he sort of woke up, he woke up dead, as we say, and was in complete denial of it, having been in such a place of ecstasy, and it’s kind of like, that mixed up with some sort of a love song.”

—Hozier’s speech at a pop-up show.

Comments