Wasteland, Baby!

"Movement" is from the album Wasteland, Baby! by Hozier, 2019, Produced in part in Los Angeles, America, and Dublin, Ireland.

    "Movement" is truly one of my favorite songs. It's one of those melodies that just instantly puts a smile on my face and makes me want to dance. 

    The album that "Movement" is featured on, Wasteland, Baby!, scored number 1 on Billboard's top 200 chart, and was undoubtedly a great success.

    Hozier was interviewed when premiering the song and said “I was really enjoying stuff like LCD Soundsystem, and the idea of dancing as a human form of expression—obviously from a distance; you'd be very hard-pressed to find me on a dance floor. Rather than write a dance song, I wanted to write a song about dancing, and on the surface about somebody watching their lover dancing. Then just inquiring into movement and playing around with the language of comparing them to something enormous. There's references to Jonah and the whale—a person inside of a much larger thing that is moving.”

    Hozier is describing his lover dancing, and the effect that it has on him. Notably, he acknowledges that they're not talented, but that's beside the point. This is best illustrated in his lyrics:

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

    In fact, it's almost because they're not particularly concerned with how they look while dancing that it has the effect it does on him.  

You are the rite of movement

Its reasonin' made lucid and cool

And though 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

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 prove

And nothin' to lose

Move me, baby

    He's struck by how they move for themselves; they move to move. They're not trying to prove anything to anyone. This has always inspired me to live for myself, and not focus on how I'm perceived, but rather how I'm true to myself. This is something that Hozier himself is envious of and would like to emulate. This is put plainly in the next lyrics:

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

    I love how Hozier recognizes the sheer beauty of being free and unchained by society's expectation of you (or anyone else's for that matter). I truly believe that everyone could take something away from this song. 

Musical Elements:

1. The BPM is 72 which is moderately slow. It also places the song in the adagio range. It's worth noting that Bohemian Rhapsody is also in this range, and similarly, Bohemian Rhapsody has the same slow beginning building to an all encompassing almost epic peak. 

2. The song's dynamics are heavily reliant on the fluctuation between a piano base and a slow crescendo until the chorus strikes in a Subito Forte, followed by the sudden return to the softness-fortepiano. The shift keeps your attention while also being easy enough to listen to that it lets you focus on the lyrics.

3. During the Subito forte chorus of the song, the vocal harmony begins with an overarching powerful harmony that gradually rises. "That album's first single, "Movement," leans hard into Hozier's gifts for crafting songs that radiate waves of soaring intensity. But as much as he's got the lung power to blow right past the rafters, the singer also knows how and when to modulate and let drama build subtly and quietly. Appropriately enough for song called "Movement," the new track has a stormy, propulsive quality to it — as well as a video (directed by Chris Barrett and Luke Taylor) that leans hard into the physicality of dance, as represented by its star, Sergei Polunin."- NPR

4. "Movement" does an excellent job of displaying Hozier’s vocal range and sheer power of voice. The juxtaposition of his intermixing of soft and loud tones creates an enthralling piece that's hard to split attention from. His vocals range from a low octave to a high burst in the climax of the song. 

5. The lyrics are quite remarkable in the song, as already noted. Hozier focuses on the beauty of being free from the chains that bind us. We're so often taught to fall in line, conform, and stay within the status quo, but the lyrics in "Movement" encourage me to challenge that. to see the beauty in moving because it feels good, not because it has to look good. It's quite a powerful message that can extend in your life as far as you let it. 

    This song has been very impactful in my life. It came at a time when I think I needed to hear it's message the most. It's funny how often music has a way of doing that. 

https://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/2018/11/14/667815054/hozier-returns-with-the-grand-movement-and-announces-a-new-album

https://www.udiscovermusic.com/news/hozier-billboard-chart-wasteland-baby/