Hozier - Wasteland, Baby! Album Lyrics

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Nina Cried Power

It's not the wakin', it's the risin'
It is the groundin' of a foot uncompromisin'
It's not forgoin' of the lie
It's not the openin' of eyes
It's not the wakin', it's the risin'

It's not the shade we should be cast in
It's the light and it's the obstacle that casts it
It's the heat that drives the light
It's the fire it ignites
It's not the wakin', it's the risin'

It's not the song, it is the singin'
It's the heaven of the human spirit ringin'
It is the bringin' of the line
It is the bearin' of the lie
It's not the wakin', it's the risin'

And I could cry power (power)
Power (power)
Power, Lord
Nina cried power
Billie cried power
Mavis cried power

And I could cry power (power)
Power (power)
Power, Lord
Curtis cried power
Patti cried power
Nina cried power

It's not the war but what's behind it
Lord, the fear of foul men is mere assignment
And everythin' that we're denied by keepin' the divide
It's not the wakin', it's the risin'

And I could cry power (power)
Power (power)
Power, Lord
Nina cried power
Lennon cried power
James Brown cried power

And I could cry power
Power (power)
Power (power)
Power, Lord
B.B. cried power
Joni cried power
Nina cried power

And I could cry power
Power has been cried by those stronger than me
Straight into the face that tells you to rattle your chains
If you love bein' free

Ah, Lord, I could cry power (power)
'Cause power is my love and my righteous to me
James Brown cried power
Seeger cried power
Woman cried power
Yeah ah, power
James cried power
Millie cried power
Kenny cried power
Billie, power
Dylan, power
Woody, power
Nina cried power

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Almost (Sweet Music)

I came in from the outside
Burnt out from the joy ride
She likes to roll here in my ashes anyway
Played from the bedside
Is "Stella By Starlight"
"That Was My Heart"
The drums that start off "Night And Day"

The same kind of music haunts her bedroom
I'm almost me again, she's almost you

I wouldn't know where to start
"Sweet Music" playing "In The Dark"
Be still "My Foolish Heart,"
Don't ruin this on me

I wouldn't know where to start
"Sweet Music" playing "In The Dark"
Be still "My Foolish Heart,"
Don't ruin this on me

Tell me who, and I'll be thanking them
The numbered lovers of Duke Ellington
Do I owe each kiss to lip and cheek as soft
As Chet can sing "Let's Get Lost"
And "Let The Good Times Roll"
Let "Smoke Rings" from this "Paper, Doll"
Blow sweet and thick 'til every thought of
"It Don't Mean A Thing"

I've got some colour back, she thinks so, too
I laugh like me again, she laughs like you

I wouldn't know where to start
"Sweet Music" playing "In The Dark"
Be still "My Foolish Heart,"
Don't ruin this on me

I wouldn't know where to start
"Sweet Music" playing "In The Dark"
Be still "My Foolish Heart,"
Don't ruin this on me

I wouldn't know where
I wouldn't know where
I wouldn't know where, I wouldn't know where
I wouldn't
I wouldn't know where
I wouldn't know where
I wouldn't know where, I wouldn't know where
I wouldn't know

"The Very Thought Of You" and "Am I Blue"?
"A Love Supreme" seems far removed
"I Get Along Without You Very Well," some other nights
The radio news reader chimes
Reporting "Russian Lullabies"
She'll turn to me awake and ask, Is everything "Alright"

I wouldn't know where to start
"Sweet Music" playing "In The Dark"
Be still "My Foolish Heart,"
Don't ruin this on me

I wouldn't know where to start
"Sweet Music" playing "In The Dark"
Be still "My Foolish Heart,"
Don't ruin this on me

I wouldn't know where to start
"Sweet Music" playing "In The Dark"
Be still "My Foolish Heart,"
Don't ruin this on me

I wouldn't know where to start
"Sweet Music" playing "In The Dark"
Be still "My Foolish Heart,"
Don't ruin this on me

---

Movement

I still watch you when you're groovin'
As if through water from the bottom of a pool
You're movin' without movin'
And when you move, I'm moved
You are a call to motion
There, all of you a verb in perfect view
Like Jonah on the ocean
When you move, I'm moved

When you move
I'm put to mind of all that I wanna be
When you move
I could never define all that you are to me

So move me, baby
Shake like the bough of a willow tree
You do it naturally
Move me, baby

You are the rite of movement
Its reasonin' made lucid and cool
I know it's no improvement
When you move, I move
You're less Polunin leapin'
Or Fred Astaire in sequins
Honey, you, you're Atlas in his sleepin'
And when you move, I'm moved

When you move
I can recall somethin' that's gone from me
When you move
Honey, I'm put in awe of somethin' so flawed and free

So move me, baby
Shake like the bough of a willow tree
You do it naturally
Move me, baby
So move me, baby
Like you've nothin' left to lose
And nothin' to prove
Move me, baby

Ooh, ooh, ooh
Oh baby, oh baby
Move like grey skies
Move like a bird of paradise
Move like an odd sight come out at night

Move me, baby
Shake like the bough of a willow tree
You do it naturally
Move me, baby
So move me, baby
Like you've nothin' left to lose
And nothin' to prove
Move me, baby
Move me, baby
Shake like the bough of a willow tree
You do it naturally
Move me, baby

---

No Plan

For starts
What a waste to say the heart could feel apart
Or feel complete, baby
Why would you make out of words a cage for your own bird?
When it sings so sweet
The screaming, heaving, f*ckery of the world?
Why would you offer her name to the same old tired pain?
When all things come from nothin' and, honey, if nothin's gained?

My heart is thrilled by the still of your hand
It's how I know now that you understand

There's no plan, there's no race to be run
The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun
There's no plan, there's no kingdom to come
I'll be your man if you got love to get done
Sit here and watch the sunlight fade
Honey, enjoy, it's gettin' late
There's no plan, there's no hand on the reign
As Mac explained, there will be darkness again

Let it hurt, let the awful song be heard
Blue bird, I know you beat, baby
But your secret is safe with me 'cause if secrets were like saints
Keep my body from the fire, higher, guard them from my grave
Your secret is safe with me, and if secrets were like seeds
When I'm laying on the marble, marble of flowers you have made

My heart is thrilled by the still of your hand
It's how I know now that you understand

There's no plan, there's no race to be run
The harder the pain, honey, the sweeter the sun
There's no plan, there's no kingdom to come
I'll be your man if you got love to get done
Sit here and watch the sunlight fade
Honey, enjoy, it's gettin' late
There's no plan, there's no hand on the reign
As Mac explained, there will be darkness again

My heart is thrilled by the still of your hand
It's how I know now that you understand
How big the hourglass, how deep the sand
I shouldn't have hoped to know, but here I stand

And there's no plan, there's no race to be run
The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun
There's no plan, there's no kingdom to come
I'll be your man if you got love to get done
Sit here and watch the sunlight fade
Honey, enjoy, it's gettin' late
There's no plan, there's no hand on the reign
As Mac explained, there will be darkness again

---

Nobody

You know it is twelve o'clock in Soho, baby
It's gin o'clock where I wake up, I don't know
I think about you though, everwhere I go
And I've done everything and I've been everywhere you know

I've been fed gold by sweet fools in Abu Dhabi
And I've danced real slow, the Rockettes on dodgy molly
But I've had no love like your love

I'm nobody
I'd be appalled if I saw you ever try to be a saint
I wouldn't fall for someone I thought couldn't misbehave
But I want you to know that I've had no love like your love

Honey, when you warm the bed on Wednesday
It's suicide Tuesday back in LA
If I had the choice between here and Illinois
The excitement of a thousand hors d'oeuvres soothing up your voice
At first chance, I'd take the bed warmed by the body
Woo, I once won my hands over a burning Maserati, woo
Still I've had no love like your love

From nobody
I'd be appalled if I saw you ever try to be a saint
I wouldn't fall for someone I thought couldn't misbehave
But I want you to know that I've had no love like your love
I'm on the other side while we deny the truth
We could have less to worry about, but honey I won't lie to you
And everything I do I've had no love like your love

---

To Noise Making (Sing)

Remember when you'd sing, just for the f*ck of it
Any joy it would bring
Honey, the look of it was as sweet as the sound
Your head tilt back, your funny mouth to the clouds
I couldn't hope to know that song
And all its words wouldn't claim to feel the same
We felt as the first time it was heard
I couldn't name that feeling carried in that voice
Was it that or just the act of making noise that brought you joy?

You don't have to sing it right
Who could call you wrong?
You put your emptiness to melody
Your awful heart to song
You don't have to sing it nice, but honey sing it strong
At best, you find a little remedy, at worst the world will sing along

So honey sing, and sing, and sing, and sing, and sing, and sing, and sing
Sing, and sing, and sing, and sing, and sing, sing

Remember when you'd sing
Before we moved to it and we'd scuff up our shoes
Honey, the groove of it was whatever you choose
I wan't to be your lover, or the fishermen's blues
You didn't always sing it right
But who could call you wrong?
You put your emptiness to melody
Your awful heart to song
You don't have to sing it nice, but honey sing it strong
At best, you find a little remedy, at worst the world will sing along

So honey sing, and sing, and sing, and sing, and sing, and sing, and sing
Sing, and sing, and sing, and sing, and sing, and sing, sing

Who could ask to be unbroken or be brave again?
Or honey hope even on this side of the grave again?
And who could ask it to be sound or to feel saved again?
Or stick around until you hear that music play again

So honey sing, and sing, and sing, and sing, and sing, and sing, and sing
Sing, and sing, and sing, and sing, and sing, and sing, sing
So honey sing, and sing, and sing, and sing, and sing, and sing, and sing
Sing, and sing, and sing, and sing, and sing, and sing, sing (For the love of it)
Sing, and sing, and sing, and sing, and sing, and sing, and sing (For the love of it)
Remember when you'd sing, just for the love of it
Any joy it would bring

---

As It Was

There is a roadway, muddy and foxgloved
Never I'd had life enough
My heart is screaming out
And in a few days I would be there, love
Ever here that's lived in me is yours just as it was

Just as it was, baby
Before the otherness came
And I knew its name
The love, the dark, the light, the flame

The eyes at the heights of my baby
Let's hope at the fight of my baby
The lights were as bright as my baby
But your love was unmoved

And tell me if somehow some of it remained
How long you would wait for me?
How long I've been away?
The shape that I'm in now is shaping the doorway
Make your good love known to me
Just tell me about your day

Just as it was, baby
Before the otherness came
And I knew its name
The drugs, the dark, the light, the shame

Eyes at the hights of my baby
And this hope at the fight of my baby
And the lights were as bright as my baby
But your love was unmoved

And the sights were as stark as my baby
And the cold was as sharp as my baby
And the nights were as dark as my baby
Half as beautiful too

---

Shrike

I couldn't utter my love when it counted
Ah, but I'm singing like a bird, 'bout it now
I couldn't whisper when you needed it shouted
Ah, but I'm singing like a bird, 'bout it now

The bite on above
But never would fall in
Like a crane at the final breath that is drawn
Remember me, love when everyone
Is a shrike to your sharp and glorious thorn

And I had no idea on what ground I was found in
All that goodness is gone with you now
There when I met you my virtues uncounted
All of my goodness is gone with you now

Driving alone, following your form
Hung like the pearl of some prey you had worn
Remember me love, when everyone
Is the shrike to your sharp and glorious thorn

I fled to the city with so much discounted
Ah, but I'm flying like a bird to you now
Back to the hedgerows where bodies are mounted
Ah, but I'm flying like a bird to you now

I was highest by your warmth
And I was transformed
But your gounded and giving
And darkening scorn
Remember me, love when I'm reborn
As the shrike to your sharp and glorious thorn

---

Talk

I'd be the voice that urged Orpheus
When her body was found (Hey ya)
I'd be the choiceless hope in grief
That drove him underground (Hey ya)
I'd be the dreadful need in the devotee
That made him turn around (Hey ya)
And I'd be the immediate forgiveness
In Eurydice
Imagine being loved by me!

I won't deny I've got in my mind now all the things we'd do
So I'll try to talk refined for fear that you find out how I'm imaginin' you

I'd be the last shred of truth
In the lost myth of true love (Hey ya)
I'd be the sweet feeling of release
Mankind now dreams of (Hey ya)
That's found in the last witness
Before the wave hits
Marvelling at God (Hey ya)
Before he feels alone
One final time
And marries the sea
Imagine being loved by me

I won't deny I've got in my mind now all the things I would do
So I'll try to talk refined for fear that you find out how I'm imaginin' you
I won't deny I've got in my mind now all the things we could do
So I'll try to talk refined for fear that you find out how I'm imaginin' you

---

Be

When all the worst we fear let's fall its weight
When the gyre widens on a window, wave breaks
When St. Peter loses cool and bars the gates
When Atlas acts a man and makes his arms shake
When the birds are heard again and their singing
And once atrocity is hoarse from voice and shame
And when the earth is trembling on some new beginnin'
With the same sweet shock of when Adam first came

Be, be, be, be, be
Be as you've always been
Be, be, be, be, be
Be as you've always been
(Lover be good to me)

Be as you've always been
Be like a love that discovered the sin
That freed the first man, would do so again
And lover be good to me (Lover be good to me)
Be that hopeful feeling when Eden was lost
That's been next to our after since the master was crossed
Which side of the wall really suffers that cost
Oh, lover be good to me

When the man who gives the order is born next time 'round on the boats and back
When the body is starving at the border
Or on TV given people the sack
Love, when the sea rises to meet us
Oh, when there’s nothing left for you and I to do
Oh, when there is nobody upstairs to receive us
When I have no kind words left, love, for you

Be, be, be, be, be
Be as you've always been
Be, be, be, be, be
Be as you've always been
(Lover be good to me)

Be love in its disrepute
Scorches a hillside and salts every root
And watches the slowing and starving of troops
And lover be good to me (Lover be good to me)
Be there and your stairs you stack
Or be like the rose you hold in your hand
I will grow bold in a barren and desolate land
And lover be good to me

Love, won’t you be?
Love, won’t you be?
Be as you always been?
Love, won't you be?
Love, won’t you be?
Be as you always been?
Love, won't you be?
Love, won’t you be?
Be as you always been?
Love, won't you be?
Love, won’t you be?
Be as you always been?

---

Dinner & Diatribes

Honey, this club here is stuck up
Dinner and diatribes
I knew it from the first look of
The look of mischief in your eyes
Your friends are a fate that befell me
Head is the talking type
I'd suffer Hell if you'd tell me
What you'd do to me tonight

Tell me
Tell me
Tell me, ah

That's the kind of love
I've been dreaming of
That's the kind of love
I've been dreaming of

Honey, I laugh when it sinks in
A pillar I am of pride
Scarcely can speak for my thinking
What you'd do to me tonight
Now that the evening is slowing
Now that the end's in sight
Honey, it's easier knowing
What you'd do to me tonight

Tell me
Tell me
Tell me you're mad

That's the kind of love
I've been dreaming of
That's the kind of love
I've been dreaming of

That's the kind of love
That's the kind of love
That's the kind of love
That’s the kind of love
Oh, oh
Let there be hotels complaints and grievances raised
In that kind of love
(That's the kind of love)
(That's the kind of love)
(That's the kind of love)
Oh, oh
Let there be damage ensued and tabloid news
In that kind of love
(That's the kind of love)
(That's the kind of love)
(That's the kind of love)

That's the kind of love
I've been dreaming of, ah
Oh

And that's the kind of love
I've been dreaming of
(That's the kind of love)
(That's the kind of love)
(That's the kind of love)
(That's the kind of love)
And that's the kind of love
I've been dreaming of
(That's the kind of love)
(That's the kind of love)
(That's the kind of love)

---

Would That I

True that I saw her hair like the branch of a tree
Willow dancing on air before covering me
Under garden and calicos
Over canopies that was long ago

True that love in withdrawal was the weeping of me
That the sound of the saw must be known by the tree
Must be felt 'fore the fight that calls
Threatened fire but that was long ago

And it's not tonight (Ooh)
When I'm set alight (Ooh)
I'm blinking so (Ooh)
Your blinding light (Ooh)
Oh, let's not tonight (Ooh)
When you hold me tight (Ooh)
Light the fire bright (Ooh)
Let it blaze alright (Ooh)
Oh, hope that you're good to me
Oh you're good to me
Hope that you're good to me, baby

With the roar of the fire my heart goes to its feet
Like the ashes of ash I saw eyes in the heat
Sitting soft in this purest snow
Fell in love with the fire long ago

Each love I could lose
I was never the same
Watch it's still living roots be consumed by the flames
I was fixed on your hand of gold
Laying waste to my loving long ago

And it's not tonight (Ooh)
When I'm set alight (Ooh)
I'm blinking so (Ooh)
Your blinding light (Ooh)
Oh, let's not tonight (Ooh)
When you hold me tight (Ooh)
Light the fire bright (Ooh)
Let it blaze alright (Ooh)
Oh, hope that you're good to me
Oh you're good to me
Hope that you're good to me, baby

So you know there I stood
As you licked off the grain
Though I've handled the wood, I still worship the flame
Long as ember, November glows
All the wood that I'd loved is long ago

And it's not tonight (Ooh)
When I'm set alight (Ooh)
I'm blinking so (Ooh)
Your blinding light (Ooh)
Oh, let's not tonight (Ooh)
When you hold me tight (Ooh)
Light the fire bright (Ooh)
Let it blaze alright (Ooh)
Oh you're good to me
Hope you're good to me
Hope that you're good to me, Oh
Oh Hope you're good to me
Hope you're good to me
Hope that you're good to me, baby

---

Sunlight

I would shun the light, sharing evenings cool and quiet
Who would trade that hum at night for
Sunlight, sunlight, sunlight

His heart would not take flight
Betray the moon as acolyte
I’m first and fierce if I'm in sight of
Sunlight, sunlight, sunlight

All that was shown to me, sunlight
Something so known to me, sunlight oh sunlight
All of your love is sunlight
All of your love is sunlight (Sunlight, sunlight)
That's what it is, sunlight

Oh the tale's the same
Told before and told again
Soul is born in cold and rain, oh
Sunlight, sunlight, sunlight

At last can grant a name
'Til buried in a burning flame
Is love in its decisive pain, oh my
Sunlight, sunlight, sunlight

All that was shown to me, sunlight
Something so known to me, sunlight oh sunlight
All of your love is sunlight
All of your love is sunlight (Sunlight, sunlight)
That's what it is, sunlight
All of your love is sunlight
All of your love is sunlight (Sunlight, sunlight)
That's what it is, sunlight (Sunlight)

Only starlight fade for you
Only carry me slowly my sunrise
Only starlight fade for you
Only carry me slowly my sunrise

Each day you'd rise with me
Know that I would gladly be
The eucharist to your certainty, oh my
Sunlight, sunlight, sunlight

You strap the wing to me
Death trap climbed happily
Wax melted I need to see under
Sunlight. sunlight, sunlight

All of your love is sunlight
All of your love is sunlight (Sunlight, sunlight)
That's what it is, sunlight
All of your love is sunlight
All of your love is sunlight (Sunlight, sunlight)
That's what it is, sunlight
All of your love is sunlight
All of your love is sunlight (Sunlight, sunlight)
That's what it is, sunlight
All of your love is sunlight
All of your love is sunlight (Sunlight, sunlight)
That's what it is, sunlight

Sunlight, sunlight, sunlight, sunlight, sunlight

---

Wasteland, Baby!

All the fear and the fire
Of the end of the world
Happens each time a boy falls in love with a girl
Happens grace
Happens sweet
Happily, I'm unfazed here, too

Wasteland, baby
I'm in love
I'm in love with you

All the things yet to come are the things that have passed
Like the old enough hands, like the breaking of glass
Like the bonfire that burns, in worth, in a fight felt too

Wasteland, baby
I'm in love
I'm in love with you
And I love too
That love soon might end
And be known in its aching
Shown in this shaking
Lately of my wasteland, baby
Be still, my indelible friend
You are unbreaking
Though quaking
Though crazy
That's just wasteland, baby

And the day that we watch the death of the sun
That the cloud and the cold and those jeans you have on
That you gaze unafraid as they saw from the city ruins

Wasteland, baby
I'm in love
I'm in love with you
And I love too
That love soon might end
And be known in its aching
Shown in the shaking
Lately of my wasteland, baby
Be still, my indelible friend
You are unbreaking
Though quaking
Though crazy
That's wasteland, baby

And the stance of the sea
And the absence of green
Are the death of all things that I've seen and unseen
Are men but the start of all things that are left to do?

Wasteland, baby
I'm in love
I'm in love with you
That's it