Band Introduction : Bastille and the story behind some of their songs

Introduction to the band Bastille, and also how it got its name. Also discusses the story behind the songs Flaws, Icarus and What would you do?


It's a band from London, first formed in 2010. It started out as a solo project by Dan Smith, who later decided to form a band. It has 4 members.

Why is the band named as Bastille?

Well, because Dan Smith's birthday comes on July 15th 14th which is the French National Day also know as the Bastille day. French revolution?

I had stumbled upon one of their songs before, but never really gave them much attention then until, I heard Flaws.

Flaws is a very beautiful synthesized song. It just has such a good feel. The voice is such emotive and innocent. And obviously the British accent always is an argument winner.

I love the tiny synthesized fillers in the song, they remind me of the music in  Mario. This song is just too innocent and peppy.

What is the story behind the song Flaws by Bastille?

Well here is an intercept from an interview, It tells what the protagonist in the song feels.

"perplexed by, and probably a bit jealous of, some people who seem so completely confident and comfortable in their own skin"
Which does make sense too. But for me and for many other Youtubers who commented on the song, the song is more about two people in a relationship. It's about how this guy is completely amazed by his girl's way of being carefree and wearing her flaws on her sleeves. He wants to be like that and learn that. It's like two opposite people completely compatible in a relationship, both on the opposite side of the spectrum and still ending up being in the middle of the rainbow. (Oh my god, that was cheesy. Pardon me.)

Anyway, the band denies any such intention in the song. Isn't it funny how songs can be interpreted so differently by different people?

" I don’t see Flaws as a relationship song at all, but pretty much everyone who has spoken to me about it has heard it that way"

Check it out on Itunes!

Another good song by the band is Icarus. Icarus from the Greek Mythology.

What does the song Icarus by Bastille mean?

Here is what the band has to say about the song,

"Icarus’ makes it difficult to believe the band are exclusively singing about a Greek Myth: “Icarus comes from things I feel about myself and other people that I know, I generally try not to write songs that seem too personal and sometimes use characters or stories to try and move the focus away from myself and from more obvious topics."

Before you listen to the song, what exactly is the Icarus reference in the song?

Well for those who have forgotten or don't know. Icarus comes from the Greek Mythology. Icarus was the son of Daedalus the architect behind the Labyrinth. Daedalus and his son both were imprisoned by the king Minos of Crete.

To escape, Daedalus comes up with idea of making fake wings attached to his arms using wax and feathers. He and his son both get these contraptions. Daedalus warns Icarus not to go too close to the sun because it would melt the wax away and result in a tragedy. But when they begin flying Icarus gets really excited and giddy about the fact and ends up flying too close to the sun. His wax melts away and he probably ends up frantically flapping his arms for a moment or two before falling down ( Unreliable cartoon source). Anyway, he ends up falling and dying and this becomes an classic example of failed ambitions also known as Hubris which also comes from the Greek Mythology .

"Hubris means extreme pride or arrogance. Hubris often indicates a loss of contact with reality and an overestimation of one's own competence, accomplishments or capabilities, especially when the person exhibiting it is in a position of power. Hubris is usually associated with the "simple-minded"."

Source: Wikipedia.

Anyway, here is the song, it will make way more sense now. I just love the way he says the word Icarus.
Check it out on Itunes!

Another song which I really liked by them is "What would you do". 

It is a cover of a pretty famous rap by City High. It has some really nice lyrics. I don't want to spoil it but it is about this girl who ends up being a stripper because she thinks that the only thing she can do to feed her baby. She tells her story and then this guy tells her to leave the job and says there are other respectable options to earn some buck. That she is not the only one with problems. I cannot decide which side to take. What would you do?

I like the cover better than the original because its more musical in a sense and I just love the reverb in the song.

Check it out on Itunes!

Another song which you should check out is, Pompeii. 
Check it out on Itunes!

Anyway, comment what you think about the songs? Which side would you take?

Check Bastille out on Itunes!

Share this, share some good music.

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Opening old wounds.

This is the last senti note I am posting for a long time now.

Again it is something I had written long back. And I am not editing it before posting. Long back. Please don't try to connect the dots because they won't.



Opening up old wounds .

When something bad happens between you and someone you love, what follows is untameable anger and hatred. But as time passes by you fall into a stage where you just stop remembering the person. As if something never happened between you both. You are completely oblivious to the past event. Then comes the part, where small things trigger nostalgia. Your jacket, some particular song, some smell, or your accidental reading of old diaries. This phase is strange. You finally start thinking about your past more clearly. You still hate the person for what he or she did to you, but at the same time you cherish the sweet memories you shared with that person. You are suddenly calmer, but there is this urge building up in you that wants you to be at peace with your past. What is one to do then? Does one let go of old prejudices and ego and reach out to him or her. Or one should learn to let go and accept the fact that things always happen for a reason? Are some chapters permanently closed in our lives? What stops us from opening them? Is it the fear of facing the similar old fate? Is it fear of confrontation? Or is it just plain ego? Don't people who were once so special to you deserve another chance? It’s like, opening up old wounds and letting the blood flow but at the same time enjoying the pain and the rush it gave the first time. Well, it’s time to mend the wounds.

Present note:

Funny thing, because I can now tell you how it went. Though most of the questions are still unsolved. 

However many times I have tried opening old wounds, it has been a temporary affair. It lasts a very little time. There is something so fascinating about the past. That is why I always end up opening old wounds. It gives me a high, everything seems to fall in place. There is something so fascinating about discussing what ifs. And everything feels alright. But it doesn't last. Sooner or later you realize why it didn't work. And poof! you are back to your old life. Your trip ends. Its good that you are at peace with it at least, but   expecting everything to be the same is too much to ask for and I have stopped hoping for it. Some people are meant to be in your life for a certain time and in retrospect you'll realize their role. Asking them to overstay, demeans the role they played. 

The Great Gatsby. On music and different perspectives.

So I finished reading The Great Gatsby. I am sure you’ve heard about it somewhere or the other. It’s written by the Scott Fitzgerald. If you haven’t, a movie based on the book is releasing on 17^th. 

So I took up the book because a friend suggested it to me, and I had almost given up on the book after a few pages, but then I saw the trailer of the movie and I saw the book differently. I was almost subconsciously humming the song that plays in the trailer while reading the book. I am hooked to that song.

There are books, which leave you in the state of incompleteness. Yearning. You end up longing for being a character in that book. A mute character who is watching by the sidelines. You are always there in the scene, looking at everything that is going around, feeling important as if you have a say, but nobody ever really asks. But you are there.

There is more to the incompleteness I feel, it is the lack of a muse. Especially after reading ‘The rule of four’ . But that deserves a whole post in itself.

This will not be a book review, and I will not write about the theme of the book because I don’t want to spoil it for you. I’ll keep it pending till I watch the movie.

This post is about 2 songs which I found in the trailer of The Great Gatsby. And mostly about perspectives. How a piece of lyric can be interpreted so differently leading to different songs. Even the same   interpretations can lead to different interpretations by the listeners. It is also about the circumstance in which you hear the song.

 Foremost, Love is blindness by Jack White. He is the guy from White Stripes (no longer). No? Seven Nation Army? The Bayern Munich song? GIJOE trailer song? No? Die.

So it is a cover of the song by the same name from U2. It is a brilliant song. 

Okay lets do something first. I'll just post the lyrics. While reading them, try to form a tune. Try to sing them. Imagine it is your song. Just read it in a tune. Please do it. This post is all about perspectives.

"Love is blindness, 

I don't wanna see

Won't you wrap the night 

Around me

Oh, my heart

Love is blindness.

I'm in a parked car

On a crowded street,

And I see my love

Made complete.

The thread is ripping

The knot is slipping.

Love is blindness.

Love is clockworks,

And it's cold steel

Fingers too numb to feel

Squeeze the handle

Blow out the candle

Blindness"

Here is the original video. I am not a vevo fan, but this video deserves to be seen.

Here is what i found on wikipedia about the song, 

"Author Atara Stein wrote that the song "suggests that love can operate only through a willful self-deception, a voluntary surrender to what one knows is an illusion. The singer begs his lover to 'wrap the night' around him because, as he proclaims, 'I don't want to see.' The singer knows that the image he creates of his loved one is false, but it is the only image that can satisfy him. He must perceive his beloved in idealized terms, so she can reflect back to him the image of himself that he desires to see" 

Now listen to Jack White's version. The difference is worth noting. I am in love with this song. The energy and madness is overwhelming. Especially during the end, when the guitar when the guitar starts screeching. This song is one of the reasons i am waiting so eagerly to watch the movie, and why i didn't give up on the book. Every book should come with OST's. 

Both the songs are so different in a way. The U2 original is more in surrender. More like accepting something and letting it go. While the Jack White version breathes anger. It paints an image of anger and frustration. You know you've screwed and you are reveling in pain.

Its really fascinating. How a piece of lyric, for which initially you can't think of any music, has two or many more such beautiful interpretations.

Similarly, another song from the trailer is "Happy Together" , originally by the Turtles. 

Here is some of the lyric. Do the same above. Just try to read them with a tune in your mind. Make something up.

Happy Together by The Turtles

"Imagine me and you, I do

I think about you day and night, it's only right

To think about the girl you love and hold her tight

So happy together

If I should call you up, invest a dime

And you say you belong to me and ease my mind

Imagine how the world could be, so very fine

So happy together

I can't see me lovin' nobody but you

For all my life

When you're with me, baby the skies'll be blue

For all my life"

Now listen to this, i am going to skip the original, and rather show you 2 different covers.

The Simple Plan one. This was not on the trailer.

And this is the one from the trailer.

It is by a band called Filter.

This version is so powerful and different than the Simple Plan one. More serious. It paints such a strong image. When i was in school, i was hooked on to Simple Plan's version. I used to find it really catchy. But this one is so powerful. Maybe it is the circumstance in which you listen to a song for the first time that defines your relationship with the song. For me this song totally goes with the Gatsby trailer. Whoever decided all the OST's needs to be given a pat on the back.

And finally, the trailer. Don't check the other trailers of this movie. Because they have spoilers in them.

I know there are many other songs with very different covers, if you know any please comment. Please. 

Also, could you please subscribe (hover your mouse to the top right of the screen), so that i don't have to post about this on facebook everyday. Please, old sport? :)