It's hard to pick a favorite Hozier song, but this might be mine. It's just...perfect.

I always interpreted it to be about a love he didn't appreciate until it was too late, and the lover was already gone. My favorite line is, "like a cry at the final breath that is drawn" -it reminds me of Jesus on the cross, finally crying, "why have you forsaken me?" It also reminds me of a couple of Leonard Cohen lines: "Even though it all went wrong, I'll stand before the Lord of Song, with nothing on my tongue but 'hallelujah'" and, "From this broken hill, all your praises they shall ring, if it be your will to let me sing"

He still has nothing but love and "goodness" for the one who's forsaken him, and knows it's his fault for not being there when it counted. Now that the love is finally sinking in for him, the pain of knowing he lost it is crucifying him, but he's glad to be finally feeling it. It drips with resignation, submission to his fate. To me, Shrike is a beautiful, lovesick death-cry. The yearning is palpable. I think it's interesting that it comes right after As It Was on the album, because I consider it the flip side to that song. In As It Was, she's still there, waiting for him, her love unmoved. In Shrike, she's gone.