Posted by Swan Upon Leda is a song released by the Irish singer Hozier in October 2022. The song became viral immediately as it entered an essential public debate about women’s rights in society. The lyrics are very cryptic, so people need a deep analysis of the lines and their meaning. In this article, we will provide all answers, and you will also find the complete lyrics at the end.
A first look at Unknown, the possible new song by Hozier: check it out
You can find the official streaming of the song below.
Swan Upon Leda: the lyrics and their meaning
Swan Upon Leda is a poetic song about women’s rights and conditions in ancient and modern society. The cultural and social charge of the lyrics became explicit after this Instagram post where Hozier announced the release:
Egyptian journalist and author Mona Eltahawy once referred to the global systems that control and endanger women as the world’s “oldest form of occupation.”
Ever since hearing her speak in Dublin, I wanted to explore that thought in a piece.
Following this reasoning, Hozier gave this title to the song, referring to the ancient Greek myth of Zeus raping Leda in the form of a swan as a punishment for becoming Queen of Sparta. From Hozier’s point of view, this myth proves that society always wanted to control women, denying them freedom of decisions and access to prestigious positions. The support the song gives to women is confirmed by famous personalities active in defense of women’s rights, like Annie Lennox and Allison Russell, who positively commented on the Instagram post.
The first lines describe the scene of a little girl giving birth to a child. The reference to the feather confirms the theory that the child is the result of rape, implying that the swan Zeus was behind it.
A husband waits outside
A crying child pushes a child into the night
She was told he would come this time
Without leaving so much as a feather behind
Therefore, the husband waiting outside is Tyndareus, the King of Sparta. Rape, pregnancy, and abortion are hot topics in 2022 after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, transferring the responsibility of ruling abortion to the single states. The confirmation that the lines are about this debate was given directly by Hozier on Twitter.
According to this vision, society was focused on raising boys and girls according to discriminatory and disrespectful ideas since the dawn of time. That explains the last two lines of the first verse, explaining the purpose of Leda’s rape:
To enact at last the perfect plan
One more sweet boy to be butchered by men
The chorus seems to refer to women’s right to decide for themselves. Their freedom of choice wasn’t belonging to angels (or Gods) in ancient Greece and doesn’t belong to men today. The swan upon Leda is compared to the empires that always wanted to conquer and control Jerusalem.
But the gateway to the world
Was still outside the reach of him
What never belonged to angels
Had never belonged to man
The swan upon Leda
Empire upon Jerusalem
Another hint that the lyrics of Swan Upon Leda are about abortion and women’s rights comes from the following lines:
A grandmother smugglin’ meds
Past where the god child-soldier
Setanta stood dead
Setanta is a demigod of Irish mythology symbol of Irish Nationalism. The grandmothers smuggling meds past the statue of Setanta implies importing in Ireland from the U.K. the medications necessary for abortion, which has been illegal in Ireland for years.
Swan Upon Leda has a slow, melancholic mood, and it generated a massive buzz for the meaning of its lyrics, according to which society always tried to control women, reducing their freedom of choice. The song is likely to become a new hymn of feminism.
A first look at Unknown, the possible new song by Hozier: check it out
Read other popular song lyrics and their meaning on Auralcrave
The complete lyrics
A husband waits outside
A crying child pushes a child into the night
She was told he would come this time
Without leaving so much as a feather behind
To enact at last the perfect plan
One more sweet boy to be butchered by man
But the gateway to the world
Was still outside the reach of him
What never belonged to angels
Had never belonged to man
The swan upon Leda
Empire upon Jerusalem
A grandmother smugglin’ meds
Past where the god child-soldier
Setanta stood dead
A graceful turner of heads
Weaves through the checkpoints like a needle and the thread
Someone’s frightened boy waves her on
She offers a mother’s smile and soon she’s gone
The gateway to the world
The gun in a trembling hand
Where nature unmakes the boundary
The pillar of myth still stands
The swan upon Leda
Occupier upon ancient land
But the gateway to the world
Was still outside the reach of him
What never belonged to angels
Had never belonged to men
