The video is called 'a seat at the table.' I think it deals a lot with societal power dynamics. I feel like there are a few things in the video that stand out, though to me the video seems to have little to do with the song.Here's my take (I'm probably missing a few things):The video appears to me to symbolize white feminists who do 'have a seat at the table' becoming frustrated with failed attempts to burn down patriarchy and nearly giving up (the way she tries to run from the table/room). She is brought back to her seat by two black men who appear to be servants. This to me symbolizes their urging her not to give up her seat, and to fight as they do not yet have a seat at the table (there is also a brief appearance later of a black woman who has an almost pleading look on her face).When she crawls across the table, it seems like she is almost being controlled or lured in by the smarmy white guy (white patriarchy), probably symbolizing the lure of giving in and becoming the same as him, lured by power and wealth. Her hand is stopped by a rather androgynous looking person who may represent an LGBTQ person/community. She is once again pulled back into her seat by the two black servants, and handed a new set of matches by the androgynous person aforementioned.
![Dinner Dinner](https://www.xsnoize.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/76e81efd-9b74-4c01-9847-c9234207de54-678x381.png)
This attempt to burn him is successful and she seems to gloat in satisfaction while he burns seemingly unaware of his condition.Then at the very end, one of the servants tosses a match in her lap, so she has become what she sought to burn down, and has herself become a target. Here are some pretty good fan perspectives I found on Youtube.' The song is pretty much about dining with friends and one of them is your lover but you can’t do anything with them because you’re with friends, so the song is about the disconnection from the social gathering and the anticipation of what’s for dessert. As for the video in itself, tbh I’m not really sure why he decided to look creepy in it but someone in the comments mentioned the male gaze and I think it’s a pretty good hypothesis, particularly because Hozier seems to really enjoy being paradoxical i.e singing about something from a certain perspective and showing something from a whole other perspective which you didn’t see coming, usually denouncing something in the process, but that’s just my thoughts ' - Carolane F.&' Hozier always seems to flip the narrative around in his music videos. Cherry wine is sung from the perspective of an abused man and acted from that of an abused woman. Same thing here, the woman appears to hate the dinner and the man seems to be pure evil.
Hozier posted about this track on Twitter before its release, 'This one is about the crushing tedium of social obligations.' He also wrote on Facebook one day after the song's release, 'Dinner and Diatribes' is a playful number that tries to credit that feeling of relief when leaving any tedious social engagement.' “Dinner and Diatribes” was released on February 14th, 2019. Hozier posted about it on Twitter before its release, stating, This one is about the crushing tedium of social obligations.
I'm in love with this! ' - Sam SHTo which someone replied.' She's only hating the dinner because she can't, 'light his fire.' It's driving her insane until she gets it. Then she loses her power again by the end. ' - Reyna ASam SH replies with.' I believe you're absolutely right, however at the end she didn't seem to lose her power, instead she appears to have caught on fire as well. Lighting up his fire lit her up as well? 'I love the 'PARADOXICALOGY' of Hozier's song writing and how the Video director translated it visually..