What does "Pompeii" by Bastille mean? | Song Lyrics Explained

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DISCLAIMER FOR RECORD LABELS:
The content of this educational video is covered by fair use. My explanations are transformative and add interpretation and analysis to the original work much as happens when I teach poetry in a university classroom. When I explain songs, I use only the lyrics or short clips of the original song or music video and do not hurt the song’s salability or provided a market substitute. All copyright claims will be disputed and appealed. Please see me as your ally in my attempt to use a literary perspective to enable fans to better understand and enjoy your wonderful and interesting piece of music.

[@skyblue9284]

Sorry I can’t hear this video over the “EH EH O EH O EH EH O EH O” happening in my head right now

[@dracunorrie5583]

Sky Blue IM YELLING SAME SAME SAME

[@RayneDavila]

MOOD

[@lewisjackson8277]

Don’t diss Bastille

[@frozenhealy7357]

ME

[@loganfox2386]

It’s spelt eheu

[@EmoPurpleTurtle17]

2:51 those lines in the chorus have a double meaning. The people dying from the volcanic eruption in Pompeii can close their eyes and imagine that it's not happening, but it's also about Dan himself, feeling like his life is going in circles and he's not going to be able to move forward in his life because of his self-doubt.

[@linkmasters535]

Deep words in this lyrics that people don’t understand or took the words into their hearts it’s just the same thing as the famous titanic ship no one does not care about the past history of things that have gone wrong with things that are a freak of nature or maybe an iceberg in the ocean that nobody thought there was no iceberg in the ocean

[@8DAUDIOTUNES814]

Someone said it’s about 9/11

[@kearko3564]

The thing is, they can in fact close their eyes, and think nothing's happening, because the people in Pompeii died mainly from the toxic gases

[@Zaabrawl]

I think that their life was stuck and not going anywhere and he is saying that it’s almost like nothing changed at all because being frozen in stone is pretty much how their life already was

[@midwintersymph]

I'm a fan of Bastille. However, I never expected to see a Bastille themed video from you. But since you actually made one, I'm now expecting to see more ;)

[@FatimaZahra-lu8bf]

They're AMAZING. Easily my favourite band.

[@carlahermo8]

Yes they are amazing!!!

[@GiowyTM]

Their lyrics are so Deep. He should listen to them more

[@kameronbodhi8877]

Pro trick: you can watch series at Flixzone. Me and my gf have been using it for watching loads of movies during the lockdown.

[@ibrahimlionel4995]

@Kameron Bodhi Yup, been using flixzone for since december myself :)

[@spidernymph8964]

Maybe he meant that there's something "happy" about kind of an "echo" of the people of Pompeii being left behind, so that in some way people of later generations are able to see them and know them, rather than just being forgotten like most people eventually are when they die. One could almost see dying this way as a gift, like having some part of them live on forever instead of living a longer life but then just dying and being forgotten.

[@clairefischer8445]

Interesting ! Thanks for explaining that !

[@awesomesauceyumyum]

@Radical Larry but most of us will be forgotten faster than them

[@bebekkremes]

Congrats on 200 likes on your comment. Np

[@spidernymph8964]

@Radical Larry Yeah, it is definitely really tragic that those people had to die that way. I think I was just trying to explain how it could possibly be construed as happy. I say "I think" cause this was two years ago lol

[@spidernymph8964]

@@bebekkremes Wot, this has 199 likes? (That's what it says on my end) Lol, thanks dude

[@noorbadran5563]

I always thought that "if you close your eyes does it almost feel like youve been here before" meant the darkness you see when you close your eyes is similar to the city's darkness

[@clairefischer8445]

Oh I love Bastille ! Would you consider explaining "the currents" and what about comparing Bastille's writing and music to Twenty one pilots ? I am pretty sure they have some.things in common ;)

[@raycardenas4841]

Your onto something 😀

[@clairefischer8445]

@@JostCrystalite Ouch ! Well still like then both very much. Can't wait for Bastille come up with a new album :)

[@LeoPokemonBrasil1]

@@clairefischer8445 It's coming soon

[@clairefischer8445]

@@LeoPokemonBrasil1 Nice ! Thanks for the infos !

[@nev3i]

Claire Fischer And Winter of my youth and how its about not wanting to grow old

[@Joel-bx5gm]

YES BASTILLE MORE PLS! I wasn’t expecting you would do something of them but I love Bastille so much I’d love to see more

[@infernoblaze8406]

Calm down

[@MusicUnityOfficial]

Bastille ❤️😍 one times favourite 😍

[@taylorbosworth1183]

Please look more into other Bastille songs!! They're my absolute favourite band and I think a lot of their other songs are just as deep if not deeper! Thank you for at least explaining Pompeii, keep up the good work!

[@PhoenixRiseinFlame]

Do the Bastille song “Skulls.” There is an amazing backstory to the song!

[@pedroupaiva]

OMG YESSSSSSS

[@glorilps]

Yess! That's my favorite by Bastille!!

[@oddreyrose_]

YOU FINALLY DID MY FAVORITE BAND you have no idea how excited I was to get this notification. You really should look into what this band did during the Wild World era (their second album) and Wild World Communications. You'd love it. Also, those deep existential questions are present in a lot of songs by Bastille, definitely worth looking into.

[@memorydatas]

oh hey i know you

[@oddreyrose_]

lanturnite i’ve been CAUGHT

[@nmfilmarts5764]

Ikr thank you!

[@madiehughes]

0:06 of course it's something deep, Bastille's songs may sound happy but they are nearly all depressing, thanks to Dan's songwriting Also, I love Bastille so much, so thanks for this video :)

[@americaavila2293]

AHHHH I’ve been waiting for a Bastille song explanation for AGES! THANK YOU!!

[@thesorcererwiththepointyhat]

now someone needs to explain the quarter past midnight video

[@yousefamr633]

men dressed as a women touching an egg here u go fam no need to thank me

[@shazam2826]

Oh do Bad Blood

[@thuanneramos8789]

It's just crazy dreams Daniel had lol maybe he had a talk with all the guys to know their craziest dreams kkkk

[@GlubJGH]

He probaly made it at like 6 and finished uploading at 12

[@djspookyty]

Okay this song is a bop and I really enjoy you breaking it down 😊

[@Impish.Delight]

THANK YOU, PROFESSOR! Now I will have the meaning of this (one of my favorite) song! Great job and keep it up. 👏👏 Much love. 🌸

[@sinisterinspace]

I remember seeing this on viva for the first time as a younger guy I was completely horrified of this video but also so damn curious what was happening that I always waited for it to come on again and watch it over and over again. I later discovered bastille again and they're so good. Also Dan might have meant with saying it's a happy image that they actually got found and dug out even after so many years. Or he was just saying that it's happy because it's an imediate death. Hm...

[@art-xlr8]

Ohh my God... You did this, this is my super duper favorite song!!!!😆😆😍😍Love you you're Awesome!!

[@cloudcover2943]

My two favorite bands (Bastille and Of Monsters and Men) in one week? Thank you, Mr. Popsong, you have officially blown my mind.

[@evamarkovic203]

This is a great album from Bastille, "All this bad blood" and I've listened it for years ("Laura Palmer" being also one of my favorite songs from it). You should check out Hozier, an Irish singer. Great lyrics there!

[@mitchellfreer6506]

The intro to the song is interesting. I never realized it said eheu. I've been taking latin for 2 years now and eheu meaning alas or oh dear fits so well into the song. Well played Bastille. Well played

[@YoursTrulyChris]

The first shall be deep.

[@spidernymph8964]

The first shall be everywhere.

[@lilymartinez5293]

BRING BACK TWENTY ONE PILOTS TUESDAAAAYY PLZZZ 💛💛

[@johnritner7218]

I'm here from the future, ITS TØP TUESDAY EVERYDAY

[@AntjedePantje]

Yeeeeeees, I LOVE Bastille! You did a wonderful job at explaining it (AND I NEVER KNEW ABOUT THE EH EOH THING HOLY F*) and I hope you do more of them in the future! It's really weird to hear the lyrics in an American accent though, I'm so used to Dan's extreme Britishness 😂😂

[@loganfox2386]

It’s spelt eheu

[@aronseptianto8142]

The music video for me is the representation of a person doing their best from being the same but at the end having such success of running away that he's not running anymore made him being the same/dull The uphill battle is always more fun than walking through a flat plane, the act of struggling is the thing that made our life not dull, the success you get is not

[@fightingamish00]

Wow. This song just got better with your explanation. Thank you!!

[@JillSkousen]

This song has become my anthem for the past months during the coronavirus lockdown and feeling not in control, feeling like the world is imploding, and wondering about how to rebuild myself and my future. I loved the explanations you gave because it added such a layer of dimension to how I’m feeling now and why this song feels so fitting.

[@lordknowsiwannabefilthyric3734]

If I were to lose my eyesight, I would just close my eyes and imagine nothing changed at all

[@bloofy2658]

you really do go for all my favorite artists...

[@LampShadeAffair]

Ahh!!! So glad you did Bastille! I also love how Dan Smith returns to this same imagery of the embracing figures of Pompeii in Skulls. It’s weirdly romantic, in a tragic way (which may have been what he meant by “happy”-either that or it was just a dry joke, said ironically)

[@09jakeward]

Can’t wait for trench

[@kanedacier916]

can’t wait for doom days

[@lanie5759]

They wait us over!!!!

[@isaacthenoob1953]

Pompeii by bastille is my favorite song of all time. Great song. Thank you bastille for making the best song I've ever heard

[@i_am_bubit]

Love this! I would be happy with more Bastille explanations

[@femke922]

i can’t believe you finally did a video on bastille

[@kencramer2232]

I keep coming back to this coz it’s such a unique sound. The chant is hauntingly infectious

[@noneofyourbusiness.8907]

I was actually going to request this song. Interestingly great video, Clifford.

[@rileykennedy6019]

You should definitely do more Bastille videos! Glory is a really good one

[@johanstrauss8654]

Please do some more BASTILLE....theres a few song I need to understand more😱😂

[@m3nny125]

Why do people think that adding random emojis to something unrelated at all makes their sentence funnier like why are you shocked and dying from laughter while asking him to explain more bastille songs?(By The Way I Do Know That I am Late To This Comment Like 2 Years Late But Still, My point Stands)

[@stilesbatman2922]

@@m3nny125 Wallahi mohammed I agree

[@GameplayVideo55]

It all depends on how we interpret the song. For example, I interpret the song as a desire to return to some good old times and childhood. In the lyrics of the song it would be: "I was left to my own devices, many days fell away with nothing to show" - he's actually talking about being stuck thinking about childhood and the good old days, and deep down he hopes he can go back, but he can't, nothing changes and life goes on. "And the walls kept tumbling down in the city that we love" - as time passes and as we grow older, we lose our childhood friends and we no longer enjoy the things we used to enjoy. "Grey clouds roll over the hills bringing darkness from above" - adulthood comes and brings with it worries and problems "But if you close your eyes it almost feels like nothing has changed at all" - talks about how we often like to reminisce about the good old times when everything was simpler, and memories of those better times live and remain in our minds and nothing has changed there "How am I gonna be an optimist about this?" - lyrics probably refers to the fact that we are aware that we will not be able to return to the past and must live in the harsh reality "we were caught up in all of our vices, in your pose as the dust settled around us" - actually talks about how we are stuck in the past, i.e. how we constantly remember and think about good old days and want to return to them, and we sink more and more into depression because that is not possible "Oh, where do we begin? the rubble or our sins?" - we examine what we could change now to feel again the happiness we once felt, how to love back the things we once loved, how to return things to the old way?

[@sajedamahameed9227]

Thank you so much for doing Pompeii for bastille which is my favorite band of all time I truly think you should explain "haunt by bastille" it's one of the unknown songs for them but it's so so beautiful and just one of my favorites

[@fennekinlovers1964]

Im glad that you talk about one of my favorite songs :D

[@amaya8949]

hello i love bastille so much, they were the first concert i ever went to

[@Jessicaellie5]

YES YOURE FINALLY DID BASTILLE AHHH THANK YOU

[@evafrontososilvestro7906]

You don’t know how much I LOVE this song

[@formlesscorvid5336]

Thank you, I genuinely needed to know this, and I totally needed my dog to nose your notif while I'm home sick.

[@FLNYgirl1980]

I truly appreciate your interpretation of these lyrics. I played this on beat saber and it truly resonated with me!

[@najbakhtiar1190]

I ain't a English speaker, so I still learn how to speak and understanding English.. And your English, OMG! It's easy to listen and easy to understand hahah~ keep up for a good work!

[@Thesaviorsway]

I listened to it several times but you hit the hammer on the nail what my mind was subconsciously thinking or telling me.

[@nritsch]

Although I doubt this was one of the intentional meanings, I think the sing is about putting your own hardships in perspective. If something goes wrong for you, you feel like it is the end of the world. But then when you really think about it, you realize you've dealt with similar problems before, and this one, although bad, isn't anything extraordinary.

[@JOPLNHD]

I've heard this song on the radio so many times and did not know it was this deep

[@justanotherpersonwhooverth8262]

Isn’t this 6 years late? 5 if we consider the time it took the song to gain popularity after it was released with the album

[@sheep2924]

Ok nice but now we need good grief by bastille because that one is hella confusing!

[@gmc3610]

Panic! on the toilet its about grief and the confusion of mixed emotions at a funeral - i think

[@Lilsonya262]

It's about being in a state of shock after someone's death and losing all your senses

[@sheep2924]

Ok but what about him saying he is at the same time happy and sad.. idk it seems like he is kinda sarcastic about the death.. f.e: sleeping in the clothes you love. It's such a shame we have to see them burn. Is it maybe the death of a person after a break up?

[@Lilsonya262]

@@sheep2924 I think personally it's about him being sad then opposed to being happy because if you sleep in the clothes you love it brings them memories about them being together once again and I don't think he had intended the to be sarcastic by saying saying it's a shame we had to see them burn meaning he has to get rid of all the things that bring him back memories including the smell sights and whatnot so he won't feel saddened by them

[@sheep2924]

@@Lilsonya262 ok that is an interesting interpretation! Thanks

[@masa4O3O]

nice one, subbed, more of bastille would be awesome!

[@achronicboo]

Personally I think that the end of the video was about "if I am going to be trapped at a standstill, I want it to be at the most beautiful moment I can be.", when I feel like I am doing good, for myself or for my life, if I am trapped, at least it is in a good place.

[@doktor.darkeditz]

I have a lot of great memories with people while listening to this song. I know people change, but I miss you guys. Thanks for the memories if you see this. -James

[@TheHPExperiment]

Wow.... I never realized how deep that song really is. I love it even more now!!

[@TheMonachopsisBand]

Your explanations are so good

[@kawaiitoastt]

We’re learning about Pompeii in school right now and someone told me the Pompeii the song was based on Pompeii the city! I was so shocked because Pompeii was one of my favorite songs.

[@expectedturbulence8475]

Please do more Bastille videos!!

[@MySingingBowgartMSM]

Can you explain Safety Dance by Men Without Hats or Zero by Imagine Dragons?

[@bricksandpieces1]

Another one of your comments is above this

[@Roberto-dw5jz]

Zero is about depression and anxiety

[@lunita4fun]

You are giving me John Green Vibes (mean it as a compliment btw) thanks for the video I always look for lyrics explanation so truly appreciate this one

[@oilonwater3346]

I love how you try to go so deep with this song,, but it literally is just how it is. For example, the eh oh eh oh part was not intentionally meaning “alas,” dan had said that he and some of his friends from To Kill A King were experimenting and he layered the vocals in a way he really liked, that originally he didn’t intend for the monumental intro. Also as a songwriter, dan is often more of a story teller, such as with their song Icarus, so I think he really was telling the story of two people stuck in rubble in a poetic way, I don’t think he intended for it to symbolize that “he felt stuck in a dead end job” especially since this song was created later in their time line of making their first album, and they had already done some small tours and were gaining traction online.

[@aidanbove231]

Do Good Grief, Send Them Off, or just about any of them. Bastille rocks!

[@wolfonmainstreet7146]

Have you ever considered that maybe in his video, the city of Los Angeles is a metaphor for The Volcano and he tried to run away just as the people of Pompeii tried to escape the volcano, but in his version instead of running deeper into the city to avoid the volcano he had to move into the mountain side to avoid the troubles of the city This would make since seeing as no matter how far he traveled away from the city, he still turned, and no matter how far they ran from the volcano they still were caught.

[@frezzysantos4319]

He probably thought if was happy because the people there were able to die in a pretty interesting way. Or maybe the satiesfaction from finally digging up their corpses brought about some sort of closure for the people who died due to the volcano eruption. They could finally rest in piece knowing that somebody found them or something.

It's so cool when good music becomes popular

[@lucasishlol5552]

More of Bastille please! 😍

[@darce3350]

This is crazy because yesterday my sister and I were trying to figure out the true meaning of the lyrics and the video. This is such a good explanation

[@PurpleMan21]

Eee egg roll eee egg roll eee egg roll eee egg roll eee egg roll eee egg roll eee egg roll.

[@BunnyLang]

It makes sense to me that someone who feels they are left to their own devices could feel like there is a literal volcanic explosion. And if you close your eyes does it almost feel like nothing's changed at all--yeah, if you're left to your own devises, it could most def. feel that way. If you close your eyes does it feel like you've been here before--yeah, if you're left to your own devices--pretty much. SO yeah, those walls could definitely crumble down.

[@manuelbogner9093]

GIVE US MORE BASTILLE!

[@heatherwallace8719]

YAY BASTILLE I LOVE DAN AND THE CREW SO MUCH

[@ShermeenAhmad]

But if you close your eyes.. ....while listening to pompeii by bastille, you imagine the people getting destroyed by a volcanic eruption with a happy song

[@arundhatisharma5743]

Please explain all of Bastille's music. They're gems.

[@natalie8212]

Weight of living ( Albatross ) by Dan Smith is amazing.

[@adrie_rosamieee]

You mustn't... You mustn't... You mustn't... *BUT IF YOU CLOSE YOUR EYES*

[@venusathena3560]

You should make another video about Bastille's song. They are fucking poetic

[@axer1015]

What I feel this song means is he is trying to live an a town where everyone is corrupted in a way and he tries to survive, but ends up turning corrupted as well. The corruption might be boredom or staying in a cycle, of which keeps them in the cycle or stay bored. This is only a theory though.

[@caitlyncriswell4279]

Omg I love Bastille thx for making this❤️

[@silvvr.]

All Bastille songs (specially the Bad Blood’s ones) have a much deeper meaning that what you can understand at the first hearing

[@MySingingBowgartMSM]

When do you think oct5ish is?

[@bricksandpieces1]

Another one of your comments is under this

[@thepighouse7663]

It’s a good song with a really deep meaning

[@kilian195]

How am I gonna be an octopus about this

[@kanedacier916]

Dan is such a great songwriter

[@heavendawn4566]

Knowing Bastille and Dan as well as I do this is actually very accurate.

[@theLeonizard]

there is a part a bit more dark could imaginate. Close you eyes, you feel like it never changed, same if it was destruction, Chaos, something it is indeed different. About real life actual, if we talk about Ecology, close your eyes, you feel like it never changed, like if it was always been there, you always been there, same if it not the case. That is one part about if we rebuild the destruction or clease the sins. Do we actually solve the problem or we do like it never been a problem? There are many themes relate as repetition about history events or regular events where we do as a frog cooking in water slowly. Econology, war, discrimination, economic, separation of peoples, etc. Pompeii is like they had many signs and details telling about the risk, they would need to leave, but they didn't understood, they didn't listen, some would knew, others don't. After we say "If I knew it, I made sins to finally result of it" and repeat the mistake, peoples could want to stay in dangerous place same if now we know, take the cigarette same if we know now. It is not mainly that the song, but it seem to have a little part of that detail. If not, well my bad. But it sound a little bit like another song called "Le Déni de L'évidence".

[@acquaura4404]

ah my favorite band!

[@xyloz69]

you misspelled "pompeii" in the thumbnail my dude, there are two "i" s

[@jeremytewari3346]

It’s... it’s a joke...

[@jackj3311]

Brings me back to 4th grade, such a FUCKING BOP (pardon my French but it’s such a good song)

[@xash06]

I'm addicted to this band Bastille

[@brendanlally89]

I always felt he meant after the disaster came everything looked the same but his loss was so huge and his hope and dreams were gone how can his faith be strong enough to get him trough.i was left to my own divides many days fell away.....................I thought meant depression set in he didn't want to bother with life so life went on while he couldn't face the world and so he wasted life and time in exchange for sorrow .. pretty deep alright...(have u ever done rocky took a lover ) brilliant lyrics

[@ellenandersson7036]

Thank you for helping me whit my history homework🌋

[@SkylerLightxx]

plz do more bastille is my favorite band and i loved this

[@travisanderson77]

I feel bad now. I work overnight and they play this song over the speakers and I always tuned it out since I don't like most of what plays overnight. Doubly so because I am fascinated with Roman History and didn't for a second imagine a modern band would make a song like this.

[@allienotwithstanding]

the music video always creeped me out !

[@samp7012]

I love this song sooo much... i want to be a patron but i dont have a lot of money atm... sorry i ❤️ ur channel so much

[@lsyanez]

It actually gives me a sense of PTSD, the song. Like if you close your eyes in a traumatic situation you close your eyes, you want to escape. so I will think of Pompeii by bastille as a "PTSD song".

[@jagyansenipruthal6703]

Love this song!!!😍

[@caffeineandphilosophy]

Possible explanation for why it's "happy:" seeing these people frozen in time, and imagining ourselves similarly frozen, creates a connection between us and the dead, at a kind of metaphysical level. Further, the intimacy of many of their poses and lives humanizes and deepens that connection at a more personal level. The fear of introverts that you describe at the beginning of this video (specifically of the lead singer) is often a feeling of disconnection and aloneness. Seeing both the unity in both death and intimacy can actually, paradoxically, make people feel less alone. Much of Greek spirituality (related to Homer anyhow) has to do with this connectedness in the face of death. So doom we face -- the "grey cloud rolling over the hill" -- is one we face together, not just in our own time, but across all time. "And if you close your eyes, does it almost feel like nothing's changed at all/you've been here before?" That is a line of deep connection, almost deja vu, with an ancient city of other people. So the optimism and happiness comes, for a lonely person, from that feeling of connection, which is almost more valuable than life itself. Slightly theoretical, obviously, but that's how I always understood the song, even before hearing this excellent little video.

[@carly2311]

U forgot one of the i’s in the thumbnail lol. Nice video tho I love your explanations (and roasts)