Discover the story of the song > Swan Upon Leda – Hozier

The song tells the story of a husband who is expecting his partner, but she sends their child off into the night without leaving a trace. The protagonist talks about a plan to have another boy killed by men. The chorus speaks of the protagonist's inability to access the world, referring to a swan on Leda and an empire on Jerusalem. The second verse is about a grandmother passing medals to a soldier and someone's frightened boy beckoning him to continue. The outro repeats the refrain about the door to the world being out of the protagonist's reach.