Two days before Valentine’s Day, Hozier released the music video for his song “Cherry Wine.” The song has a delicate, pretty melody that relies heavily of an acoustic guitar that sets the stage as a couple enjoy a lovely, romantic Valentine’s Day.
A woman removing her makeup is the center of the video as it switches between her, looking in the mirror, and her memories with her husband earlier that night. The couple returns to their apartment, casually drinking and playfully kissing each other.
It appears that they are deeply in love with each other and have a #goals relationship. When the video returns to the woman by herself removing her makeup, it shows her wiping off her foundation revealing a black eye and that she is a victim of domestic abuse.
Hozier wrote“Cherry Wine” from the perspective of a man suffering from domestic abuse and focuses on the cycle of justification that can be used to continue the abuse.
“With the song Cherry Wine, I tried to get across the difficulty of coming to terms with and facing up to domestic violence and the dynamic of an abusive relationship,” Hozier said in an interview with the website radio.com. The disconnect between the sweet tune and its lyrics is reflected in the video as it is shocking to see that the woman was abused.
Hozier sends a powerful message with “Cherry Wine” and its video about domestic abuse and how everything can seem lovely on the outside without revealing the true nature of a relationship. Anyone can be a victim of domestic abuse and a seeming perfect appearance can be deceptive. All proceeds of downloads of “Cherry Wine” will go directly to a series of international domestic abuse charities.
Aishwarya Singh is a sophomore in the College of Engineering. She can be reached at [email protected].