'Too Sweet' by Hozier - Lyrics & Meaning

Hozier recently gifted fans with four tracks that didn't make it onto his acclaimed 2023 release, Unreal Unearth, compiling them into an EP he's dubbed Unheard.

In a post on social media, the artist described the unreleased tracks, writing; "These are songs that might’ve made it to the circles of gluttony, limbo, violence and the outward ‘ascent’ respectively but could not for different reasons.

'Empire Now', 'Fare Well' and the Allison Russell collaboration, 'Wildflower and Barley’, make up the mini-release, as well as one absolute banger, 'Too Sweet'.

'Too Sweet' is anything but.

Coming alive with a singeing bass line and hot beat, the song sounds sensual, insatiable and a little bit dingy in the best ways. It's barrooms and smoke, neon and nightlife, as the creeping tune builds into an intoxicating gospel.

Hozier's vocals shine against the starkness, his harmonies all at once soothing and scorching.

"It can’t be said I’m an early bird
It’s ten o’clock before I say a word
Baby, I can never tell
How do you sleep so well
You keep telling me to live right
To go to bed before daylight
But then you wake up for the sunrise
You know you don’t gotta pretend
Baby, now and then"

In the opening lines, listeners are introduced to two people at odds. One is a night-owl, an all-nighter and a late riser.

The other appears to pride a more structured lifestyle, waking up before sunrise and urging their partner to live much the same way. But Hozier sings, "Baby, now and then..."

Don’t you just wanna wake up
Dark as a lake
Smelling like a bonfire
Lost in a haze
If you’re drunk on life, babe
I think it’s great
But while in this world

In other words, don't you want to live, let loose and have a little fun while you still can?

Hozier adds, "If you’re drunk on life, babe / I think it’s great", but the artist has other plans.

I think I’ll take my whiskey neat
My coffee black and my bed at three
You’re too sweet for me
You’re too sweet for me
I take my whiskey neat
My coffee black and my bed at three
You’re too sweet for me
You’re too sweet for me

He craves a little bitterness, darkness, danger and his partner is quite the opposite, preferring softness, sweetness and structure instead.

He goes to sing how they treat their body like a temple with the lines, "You treat your mouth as if it’s heaven’s gate / The rest of you like you’re the TSA, and asks, But who wants to live forever babe?"

He wishes he could go along with that lifestyle, take the straight and narrow, but in reality...

You know you’re bright as the morning
As soft as the rain
Pretty as a vine
As sweet as a grape
If you can sit in a barrel
Maybe I’ll wait
Until that day

Hozier again depicts the other person as being ‘sweet’ and likens them to a grape on the vine. For the first time in the song, he offers a glimmer of possibility, as he suggests that if the partner takes time to mature ‘in a barrel’, then maybe their perspectives will align more closely. However, this is seemingly false hope, as - continuing on from the grape analogy - if this ages in a barrel, it'll become wine, which is still ‘too sweet’ compared to the protagonist's whiskey.

I think I’ll take my whiskey neat
My coffee black and my bed at three
You’re too sweet for me
You’re too sweet for me
I take my whiskey neat
My coffee black and my bed at three
You’re too sweet for me
You’re too sweet for me

It can’t be said I’m an early bird
It’s ten o’clock before I say a word
Baby, I can never tell
How do you sleep so well
You keep telling me to live right
To go to bed before daylight
But then you wake up for the sunrise
You know you don’t gotta pretend
Baby, now and then

Don’t you just wanna wake up
Dark as a lake
Smelling like a bonfire
Lost in a haze
If you’re drunk on life, babe
I think it’s great
But while in this world

I think I’ll take my whiskey neat
My coffee black and my bed at three
You’re too sweet for me
You’re too sweet for me
I take my whiskey neat
My coffee black and my bed at three
You’re too sweet for me
You’re too sweet for me

I aim low
I aim true and the ground is where I go
I work late where I’m free from the phone
And the job gets done
But you worry some, I know
But who wants to live forever babe
You treat your mouth as if it’s heaven’s gate
The rest of you like you’re the TSA
I wish that I could go along
Babe, don’t get me wrong

You know you’re bright as the morning
As soft as the rain
Pretty as a vine
As sweet as a grape
If you can sit in a barrel
Maybe I’ll wait
Until that day

I’d rather take my whiskey neat
My coffee black and my bed at three
You’re too sweet for me
You’re too sweet for me
I take my whiskey neat
My coffee black and my bed at three
You’re too sweet for me
You’re too sweet for me

I take my whiskey neat
My coffee black and my bed at three
You’re too sweet for me
You’re too sweet for me

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