In the Woods Somewhere – Lyrical Interpretation

In this article, I’m going to take a stab at interpreting the lyrics to the song “In the Woods Somewhere” by the artist Hozier. If you’ve never heard the song and you’d like to preview it, or you’d like to listen to it again before reading the article, then you can watch it here on YouTube.

As with most great lyrical works, this song appears to make heavy use of symbolism. This approach allows for any piece utilizing the style to be interpreted by different audience members in ways that are both specific and meaningful to the listener. That said, this is merely my interpretation, at this point in my life. Indeed, even the same listener can enjoy the same song with differing interpretations.

I’ll break the song down verse by verse, and I’ll provide an exposition on its meaning. After reviewing the final verse, I’ll deliver a summary that expounds on the overall meaning based on each verse’s breakdown.

I hope you enjoy the breakdown. Leave your comments and questions below!

VERSE BREAKDOWN

My head was warm
My skin was soaked
I called your name ’til the fever broke

The imagery here initially evokes thoughts of a sick individual. The narrator is clearly disheveled. A warm head and soaked skin definitely fall in line with having a fever. However, I believe the fever here is one of love, not physical illness. The name the speaker is referring to is likely a person that he either pines for or misses. When a body has a fever, it is trying to fight off an infection. Perhaps the main character is trying to rid himself of the love he feels. We will refer to this desired person as The Other.

When I awoke
The moon still hung
The night so black that the darkness hummed

Previously sleeping, the narrator has awaken to see the moon. The moon typically symbolizes cycles or seasons. It represents that change is constant, yet meaningful. This could indicate that the earlier consideration of the speaker trying to get over a painful love is accurate. Our protagonist could be trying to cycle out of the painful spiral this love has caught him in. There is also mention of extreme darkness, a symbol of mystery, sadness and fear.

I raised myself
My legs were weak
I prayed my mind be good to me

The narrator is in a physically weakened state. He is hoping that his mental acuity can pull him through this wakened state; but he is not sure it can.

An awful noise
Filled the air
I heard a scream in the woods somewhere

A catalyst comes in the form of an auditory cue. An awful noise that is pervasive enough to seemingly overshadow all other ambient noise. The scream suggests that someone may be in danger.

A woman’s voice!
I quickly ran
Into the trees with empty hands

This is our first cue to action. The speaker recognizes the previous noise as the voice of a woman coming from the woods. He pursues the sound into the woods with “empty hands.” Considering the sound he is following is described as both “An awful noise” and “…a scream…,” the audience would be reasonable in assuming there is possible danger waiting at the sounds origin. Having empty hands would indicate that the protagonist would be vulnerable. He has no weapons or tools to aid him.

A fox it was
He shook, afraid
I spoke no words, no sound he made

The audience is left to conclude that the hero of the tale has reached what he believes to be the origin of the sound. Instead of a woman, he finds a fox. It would seem the fox symbolizes something other than the animal stated. We currently have no reason to consider that the fox can mimic the voice of a woman. We can question the narrator’s perception based on his wish that this mind be good to him. Perhaps he has not correctly recognized the sound. However, we need more from the story to determine this.

The fox is stated to be both shaking an afraid. In general symbolism, the fox does not represent fear. If we continue with the stated assumption that this animal is used as imagery for another concept, then we must await further information on this encounter.

Finally, it appears the speaker is merely acknowledging the animal without speaking. The fox makes no sound. This is pretty straightforward.

His bone exposed
His hind was lame
I raised a stone to end his pain

This is further information regarding the fox. It is injured. This would give reason for it shaking in fear. The narrator wants to end its suffering. This is depicted by the speaker stating it was going to kill the fox via stoning. At this point, it would appear this scene indicates that the speaker is attempting to dispel hurt and/or fear.

What caused the wound?
How large the teeth?
I saw new eyes were watching me

In this verse, the protagonist begins a deductive exercise as he internally inquires about the circumstances that lead to the fox’s injury. On the surface, he is describing his observation of the fox’s wounded leg. However, I believe the imagery points to a question about what has caused both the hurt and fear that the narrator wished to dispel in the previous verse.

Additionally, we now have further information to support the fox as a symbol. The speaker states “… new eyes were watching me.” The fox is being used as bait. The fox is often used as a representation for cleverness and mischievousness. The fox may not be the instigator of the trap, but the usage of the imagery suggests that misdirection is at play.

The creature lunged
I turned and ran
To save a life I didn’t have

The owner of the eyes from the previous verse makes its move. Depicting the creature as lunging for the speaker proposes danger for the hero. Our protagonist flees the attack. Based on previous verses, we can conclude this beast left the fox in order to capture more desirable prey. It seeks to devour our hero.

The narrator states he runs to save a life that he didn’t have. We have no reason to believe that he is not alive since he is taking action throughout the story. Therefore, I submit the life that he didn’t have is actually a life that he desired but had yet to bring to fruition.

Deer in the chase
There as I flew
Forgot all prayers of joining you

While fleeing the lunging creature, the speaker notes a deer is also running. Deer are not hunters. This deer is also running away from something.

Question: Is the deer running from the beast, or is it running from the narrator? Is it running from both? I offer that the deer is running from both of them. The deer probably considers them both aggressors.

Further, deer represent gentleness and innocence. We’ll delve more into this later and determine how this plays into the overall context.

Finally, the narrator mentions that he forgot all prayers of joining “you.” This is likely the first mention of The Other, the person referenced in the first verse. Interestingly, the protagonist only does this upon seeing the deer. Since he cannot seemingly catch the deer and says, “Forgot all prayers of joining you,” it’s reasonable to assume he associates the deer with The Other. I now question if it’s possible that all of the animals in these verses are aspects of The Other. If true, then we have the fox representing fear and hurt, the beast symbolizing aggression and danger, and the deer indicating innocence and gentleness.

I clutched my life
And wished it kept
My dearest love, I’m not done yet

The narrator specifies only his own actions. The first two lines indicate that he successfully escaped the beast. However, in the third line, he mentions he’s not done yet. Considering that all previous actions culminated in the speaker appearing to abandon joining The Other, it appears safe to conclude that his declaration of not being done is not an indication to reenact previously mentioned endeavors, but it further reinforces that he did not succumb to the beast.

How many years
I know I’ll bear
I found something in the woods somewhere

In the final verse, the narrator admits that he will carry the weight of what he has experienced. He also questions just now long he’ll toil under the burden of the experience before he can fully heal from it.

SUMMARY

The following is what I think the overall context suggests.

The narrator starts out indicating he is struggling with the loss of someone. He is left feeling both physically and mentally weak from the experience. I submit this is why the speaker requests his mind be kind to him. He’s hoping for a good dream. While seemingly waking from sleep, he actually continues in a fever dream about this person. The fever is not borne of illness, but represents a heart sick from lost love.

The speaker then hears his lost love calling out from the woods. However, the woods represent the world in which he met her, in real life. As it is often said, “It’s a jungle out there.” This wilderness mentioned by the protagonist is of the same vein as the jungle from the popular saying.

It’s important to recall that the narrator goes into the woods with empty hands. When he finally attends to the encounter, he is vulnerable, lacking weapons or tools.

Upon reaching the origin of the sound, our hero finds himself confronting the fear and pain that drew him to his lady-love so long ago. As he did in real life, our leading character attempts to relieve the pain and suffering; even going so far as attempting to uncover its cause. Unfortunately, doing so triggered another psychological response from the woman. This is the defense that tries to protect her by having her recall the past trauma and remain afraid so that she avoids befalling the same fate, again. This caused an upheaval in the relationship that adversely affected the protagonist. His attempts to flee the beast represents his endeavor to both side-step the aggressive response and join with her more gentle and innocent side, represented by the deer. Unfortunately, that core part of her is unreachable while the beast is both present and powerful. The deer flees from before both the speaker and the threat of the beast. The hero had no choice but to abandon the desire to partner with the deer in an effort to not succumb to the toxicity represented by the beast.

Let us again call back to his lack of tools or weaponry. It is possible that this was his first encounter with this level of relationship dysfunction. He approached her with vulnerability, but was met with aggression. It seems likely that he didn’t have the skill set to work through her trauma with her. Thusly, he was left with only the option to flee once the attacks became untenable.

Even though unsuccessful at pursuing love with this woman, he vows to not give up on finding love with someone else. However, and as the saying goes, “Hurt people hurt people.” The narrator is aware that he now carries the baggage of this experience. He contemplates how long he will take to heal from the toxic, romantic encounter he suffered out in the world. This final verse is a call back to the second and third verses in which the moon represents cycles, the darkness represents sadness and fear, and the hero admits to being both physically and mentally weak. He is physically and mentally weak from the emotional and psychological burden of the experience while also understanding that overcoming the sadness and fear of the moment is part of the cycle of finding love, losing it and finding it anew.