Hozier's literary influences

Works of literature, both prose and poetry, that according to Hozier have inspired his songs and music. For those who want to uncover the hidden dephts of his lyricism, give the yearning another layer of meaning and and fall into a Hozier-shaped rabbit-hole.

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created by Plankton

last updated August, 2026

Comments

ezrac

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Edited

I have some suggestions per my deep dive into Hoziers book taste while trying to find good book recs

The Republic by Plato is referenced in Sedated specifically The Allegory of the Cave (which has its own page if you want to be specific) this can be seen with the line "adding shadows to the walls of the cave" and I believe other songs reference it in some way.

Hozier has mentioned that the book I Put a Spell on You: The Autobiography of Nina Simone by Nina Simone is one of his favorites. Nina has had a tremendous impact on his music and the song "Nina Cried Power" is a reference to her.

He has Wilde has been a huge influence on his work and stated The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde is once of his favorite books. This can be see in "From Eden" with the line "A rope in hand for your other man / To hang from a tree" which is reference to Wilde's poem *Chanson" which reads "And a hempen rope for your own love / To hang upon a tree."

If your open to influences that may not have direct references but thematically influence his work I suggest stealing from the article "Hozier's Poetic & Literary Influences"

PlanktonOP

Thank u so much for the suggestions! Somehow I was super sure I added the Complete works of Oscar Wilde lol. Thanks for noticing :) I'll have a look at your suggestions in detail tmr but it seems you've done quite some research so I'm positive I'll add them! 🥰

sunblessedbabe

“Fall into a Hozier shaped rabbit hole.” One one-way ticket pls. 😩

PlanktonOP

I'd recommend you to read Dante's inferno and then watch YouTube videos analyzing the connections between Inferno and Unreal Unearth🫡

kenznais

Okay I have a reverse reference here (not necessarily to be added to this list but just as a fun fact); the lyrics in No Plan, “as Mack explained, there will be darkness again”, is a reference to a lecture given by astrophysicist Dr. Katie Mack, who then included other lyrics from No Plan in her book The End of Everything, Astrophysically Speaking!