You know that feeling when you're driving at 2 AM and a song hits so hard you actually have to pull over? That's what happened to most of us the first time we heard the Who We Are lyrics. It isn't just a song. It’s a gut-punch. Andrew Hozier-Byrne, the Irish mastermind better known as Hozier, has this weird, almost supernatural ability to make existential dread sound like a lullaby.
Released as part of his 2023 album Unreal Unearth, "Who We Are" isn't your typical radio filler. It’s the ninth track. It sits right in the middle of a concept album inspired by Dante’s Inferno. Specifically, this track is tied to the Circle of Limbo. It captures that agonizing, "stuck" feeling of being neither here nor there. If you’ve ever felt like you’re just a ghost in your own life, this song is basically your autobiography.
Why the Who We Are Lyrics Hit Different
Let’s be real. Most pop music focuses on the "happily ever after" or the "messy breakup." Hozier goes deeper. He goes for the bone. The Who We Are lyrics explore the specific violence of self-discovery.
“You and I, burned our ways through the world / But it didn’t even know.”
That opening line? Ouch. It speaks to that youthful arrogance we all have—thinking our internal struggles are shaking the earth when, in reality, the world just keeps spinning. We are tiny. We are insignificant. And yet, our internal fires feel like they could level cities. Hozier captures this paradox perfectly. He isn't interested in the version of you that you post on Instagram. He’s looking at the raw, unpolished, and frankly terrifying version that stays awake at night.
The song was co-written and produced with Jennifer Decilveo. You can hear her influence in the grit. While Hozier often leans into choral, ethereal sounds, this track has a raw, distorted edge. It sounds like something breaking. It sounds like a heart being stepped on, but in a way that makes you want to dance—or at least sway rhythmically while crying.
The Dante Connection: Limbo and the Loss of Self
To understand the Who We Are lyrics, you have to understand the context of Unreal Unearth. Hozier structured the album around the nine circles of hell. "Who We Are" represents Limbo. In Dante's work, Limbo is for the unbaptized and the virtuous pagans—people who didn't necessarily do anything "evil," but who are denied the light of God. They exist in a state of perpetual longing.
Hozier translates this into a modern psychological struggle.
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“We're born at night / So we’re grateful for the light / Although it burns / Greatly, it burns.”
Think about that for a second. We spend our lives searching for truth, for love, for "light." But when we finally get it? It’s overwhelming. It’s painful. It reveals the parts of ourselves we’d rather keep hidden. This is the core of the song. It’s about the "carving" of the self. We aren't born as finished products. We are carved out by our experiences, our traumas, and our mistakes. And carving hurts.
I remember reading an interview where Hozier mentioned that this song was written during the height of the pandemic lockdowns. That makes total sense. We were all in Limbo. We were all forced to sit in a room with ourselves and realize that the person we thought we were was largely a collection of habits and social performances. When the world stopped, who were we?
Breaking Down the Verse: "The Screaming Silence"
One of the most haunting sections of the Who We Are lyrics is the bridge. The vocals shift. They become more desperate.
Hozier sings about the "screaming silence." It’s a classic oxymoron, sure, but it feels earned here. It’s that internal noise that happens when everything else goes quiet. He’s talking about the realization that we are often the architects of our own misery.
He uses the metaphor of "carving."
“That’s who we are / We’re what’s left after the carving.”
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This is such a visceral image. Imagine a block of marble. To make a statue, you have to chip away at the stone. You have to remove pieces. It’s a subtractive process. Hozier is suggesting that our identity isn't what we add to ourselves—the degrees, the clothes, the titles—but what remains after life has taken its toll. It’s a heavy thought. It’s also incredibly liberating if you look at it the right way. If you’ve lost everything, what’s left is the "real" you.
The Technical Brilliance: How the Music Mirrors the Lyrics
You can't talk about the lyrics without talking about that scream. You know the one. Near the end of the track, Hozier lets out this high-pitched, primal wail. It’s not "pretty" in a conventional sense. It’s a vocalization of pure, unadulterated pain.
This is where the song moves from a folk-rock ballad into something much more operatic. The drums are heavy. The bass is thick. It feels like the air is being sucked out of the room. This musical tension mirrors the lyrical theme of being trapped in Limbo. You’re waiting for a resolution that never quite comes. The song doesn't end on a happy note. It ends on a realization.
Many fans have pointed out the similarities between this track and some of the darker moments on his debut album. But there’s a maturity here. "Take Me to Church" was an indictment of external institutions. "Who We Are" is an indictment of the self. It’s more personal. It’s more vulnerable.
Common Misinterpretations of the Song
I’ve seen a lot of people on TikTok and Reddit trying to frame this as a simple breakup song. "Oh, he's sad because a girl left him."
No.
While Hozier certainly uses romantic imagery—the "you and I"—it’s much broader than that. It’s about the human condition. It’s about the shared trauma of existing. To reduce the Who We Are lyrics to a breakup anthem is to miss the entire point of the Unreal Unearth project.
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Another common mistake is thinking the "night" mentioned in the lyrics is literal.
“We’re born at night.”
He’s talking about ignorance. He’s talking about the state of being before we gain consciousness or self-awareness. We start in the dark. Every bit of knowledge we gain is a "light" that we aren't necessarily prepared for. It’s a heavy philosophical lift for a song that’s barely over four minutes long, but that’s Hozier for you. He’s basically a philosophy professor with a guitar and better hair.
Why This Song Resonates in 2026
Even though the song came out a few years ago, it feels more relevant now than ever. We live in an era of curated identities. We are constantly "adding" to our personas. We "add" followers, "add" skills, "add" filters.
The Who We Are lyrics remind us that none of that matters.
In a world that is increasingly loud and chaotic, the "screaming silence" of our own souls is getting harder to ignore. We are all just trying to figure out what’s left after the world has finished carving us up. It’s a universal struggle. Whether you’re in your 20s trying to find a career or in your 50s wondering where the time went, the feeling of being in Limbo is something we all recognize.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Aspiring Songwriters
If you’re trying to truly "get" this song, or if you’re a writer looking to capture this kind of depth, here’s how to approach it:
- Listen to the full album in order. Don't just shuffle. The transition from "Francesca" (Lust) to "Who We Are" (Limbo) is essential for the emotional payoff. You need the descent to feel the impact.
- Look for the "subtractive" metaphors. Next time you’re writing, think about what you can take away rather than what you can add. What is the "core" of the message?
- Embrace the "ugly" vocal. Hozier’s scream in this song works because it isn't perfect. It’s raw. In your own creative work, don't be afraid to let the seams show. Perfection is boring; honesty is what connects.
- Read Dante’s Canto IV. It’s the section on Limbo. Seeing how Hozier adapted 14th-century poetry into a modern soul-rock track is a masterclass in adaptation. It shows how old stories can still hold a mirror up to our modern lives.
The Who We Are lyrics are a reminder that it's okay to be a work in progress. It's okay to be "what's left after the carving." In fact, that might be the only version of ourselves that actually matters. Stop trying to be a perfect block of marble. Embrace the chips and the cracks. That’s where the light gets in, even if it burns.