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The recently released music video for Hozier’s “Cherry Wine” is filled with scenes of tender romance. A woman sits before her dressing table, contemplating her face in the mirror, as she slowly removes her makeup. She flashes back to memories with her boyfriend. The two stumble into the living room, laughing and tangled in an affectionate embrace, and break apart from each other just long enough for him to pour a glass of wine. Then they tumble together onto the couch. A brief shot of a framed picture of the woman kissing a child drifts by. The couple seem to have a loving relationship, and the warm yellow-toned lighting also suggests a happy scene. Why, then, does the woman’s face look so sad as she regards herself in the mirror?

The answer is revealed about halfway through the video: As she wipes away the makeup from her left eye, she uncovers the dark blotchy purple of a bruise. The image is chilling, shocking, and disturbing, in contrast with the warm and tender scenes previously shown. The man is briefly shown lying on the couch rubbing his eyes in frustration and perhaps regret, but no other hints are given of violence or abuse. Most poignantly, as the woman examines her bruised eye in the mirror, a hand taps her shoulder, and as she turns her head she is swept into a tender kiss. She and her partner embrace and caress each other’s faces as she forces a smile. Clearly she will forgive him, if she has not already.

Hozier’s throaty voice and the melancholy and minimal guitar accompaniment create a touching and painfully pitiful mood. Hozier soothingly blends the words of the lyrics together as he sings, “It looks ugly, but it’s clean / Oh momma, don’t fuss over me. The way she tells me I’m hers and she is mine / Open hand or closed fist would be fine / Blood is rare and sweet as cherry wine.” The scenarios he describes fit into the bigger picture of the broken relationship.

The music video shows a loving romance through the woman’s eyes, but still neither she nor the viewer can forget or look away from the blackened area around her eye, which seems strange and inconsistent with the other scenes in the video. The conflict between the woman’s sun-tinted happy memories with her partner and the undeniable ugliness and brutality of her bruise creates a heart-wrenching paradox for her and the viewer alike. Hozier’s music video for “Cherry Wine” is part of his campaign to support domestic abuse charities, and he presents his message powerfully and sympathetically, capturing the nuances of the victim’s emotions and the difficulties of leaving an abusive relationship.

—Staff writer Kay T. Xia can be reached at kay.xia@thecrimson.com.