Do you love long-haired Irish men with smooth, soulful voices? Me, too. That’s what got me to dig into Hozier’s music past his famous single, “Take Me to Church". After a quick Spotify search, and sampling a few songs, I was hooked. As any loyal fan does, I then promptly turned to Instagram to follow the irresistible Irish beau. There I learned about Hozier’s #FaceUpToDomesticViolence Campaign with his song, “Cherry Wine.” Suddenly, there was so much more to love about Hozier than his captivating music and beautiful looks.
The goal of the multifaceted campaign is to highlight the issue of domestic violence internationally through awareness and monetary donation. Hozier recently released a music video to the song, featuring Academy Award award nominated "Brooklyn" actress, Saoirse Ronan, as the featured character. Although the song is written from the male perspective of an abuse sufferer, the music video stars Ronan highlighting the fact that domestic abuse isn’t specific to just one gender.
The striking and emotionally charged video jumps back and forth between scenes of a seemingly happy couple and Ronan sitting in front of a mirror slowly removing makeup to reveal a nasty bruise. A contrast between the simple, sweet melody and the moving, powerful message and music video of the song accurately portray the terrifying dichotomy of abusive relationships. The lyrics of "Cherry Wine" provide insight into what an abusive relationship is like and, particularly, the cycle of justification that is often involved.
In addition to raising awareness with the release of the music video, Hozier has also released a special single version of the song on iTunes. Hozier, Columbia Records, Island Records, and ATV Music Publishing will donate the proceeds from the download of this single to various international domestic abuse charity organizations. These charities include the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence in the United States, Women’s Aid in the UK, and Safe Ireland in Ireland among numerous other charities in countries like Australia, Germany, Spain, and Italy as well as Unicef.
Particularly in light of the prevalence of domestic abuse and sexual assault in the music industry lately, Hozier’s campaign and confidence in speaking out about a sad and personal topic is commendable. Hozier’s personal connection to and care for the topic is evident in his discussion of the topic on his website where he says, “Domestic violence is an ongoing issue in our society, the statistics of which are shocking and the effects of which damage whole families, communities and span generations.” It was only a few years ago when news of Rihanna’s abuse by Chris Brown broke, and yet Brown still continues to make music and has a successful career.
Just this week, news of setbacks in Kesha’s lawsuit against her producer, assailant, and abuser Dr. Luke, has the music community and popular media up in arms about the prevalence and excusing of domestic violence and abuse in the music industry. Hozier’s decision to stand up to this injustice in the music industry and in society as a whole provides a wonderful example of how musicians, and truly any prominent cultural figures, can use their platform to promote good.
