: References to The Divine Comedy appear through the "sweat of fever on the brows of Beatrice," positioning the narrator within the circles of sin before love is lost.

The narrator admits to using "lofty tales" and romantic imagery to mask his true, perhaps more primal, intentions.

"Talk" by Hozier is a haunting exploration of desire, manipulation, and the performative nature of seduction. Released on his 2019 album Wasteland, Baby! , the song contrasts smooth, soulful instrumentals with lyrics that reveal a narrator carefully crafting a "refined" version of himself to win over a lover.

: He envisions himself as various parts of this tragic myth—the voice urging Orpheus, the "dreadful need" that made him turn back, and the "immediate forgiveness" in Eurydice.

Hozier uses Greek and classical literature to build the song's "refined" exterior: