Bastille ‘Pompeii’ (Directors Cut) by Jesse John Jenkins

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2013 has been a remarkable year for Bastille. The band’s full-length debut,[highlight]Bad Blood[/highlight], went straight to the top of the album charts when it was released in the U.K. in March. The Haunt EP, which introduced Bastille to U.S. audiences, entered Billboard’s Heatseekers Albums chart at No. 1 in June. “Pompeii” – included on both Haunt and Bad Blood – has become one of the standout tracks of the year, with over half a million downloads sold thus far. And the “Pompeii” video, directed by Jesse John Jenkins (The Vaccines, Peace), has racked up more than 36 million views.

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“Pompeii” is a song by British rock band Bastille. It is the fourth single from their debut studio album Bad Blood and the first to get major airplay and promotion. The song was released as a digital download on 24 February 2013. It reached number 2 in the UK Singles Chart, number 4 in Australian ARIA Chart, and number 5 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 1 on the Alternative Songs chart.

Lyrically, the song is about the Roman town of the same name, which met its fate with the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. It was nominated for British Single of the Year at the 2014 BRIT Awards.

Dan Smith, the founder of Bastille, envisioned the “Pompeii” clip as the novel I Am Legend if it were shot by the director of Drive, which hints at how inextricably intertwined music, film and literature are in his creative process. His earliest ambition was, quite simply, to be a storyteller; that music would be his métier was a realization he came to years later.

Shot over two days in LA and Palm Springs, Bastille singer Dan Smiths flees Los Angeles and its strange-eyed inhabitants to the calmer confines of the desert in Jesse John Jenkins’ promo for Pompeii.

Producer Brett Webb explains: “Jesse wanted to capture the dramatic change in landscape you can get in California going from LA to the desert”.

At the time of writing, Pompeii is currently number 2 in the UK singles chart with their debut album sitting pretty at both number 1 and 2 on Itunes.

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CREDITS

DIRECTOR
Jesse John Jenkins

PRODUCTION COMPANY
PartizanPartizan website

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Claire Stubbs/Jeff Pantaleo

EDITOR
Max Windows @ Stitch

COLOURIST
Luke Morrison @ The Mill

SOUND DESIGN
750MPH

SPECIAL THANKS
Kieran Mithani

COMMISSIONER
James Hackett, Sam Seager

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“Pompeii”

Eh-eh-o eh-o [6x]

I was left to my own devices
Many days fell away with nothing to show

And the walls kept tumbling down
In the city that we love
Great clouds roll over the hills
Bringing darkness from above

bastille-pompeii-1-DM

But if you close your eyes,
Does it almost feel like
Nothing changed at all?
And if you close your eyes,
Does it almost feel like
You’ve been here before?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?

We were caught up and lost in all of our vices
In your pose as the dust settled around us

And the walls kept tumbling down
In the city that we love
Great clouds roll over the hills
Bringing darkness from above

But if you close your eyes,
Does it almost feel like
Nothing changed at all?
And if you close your eyes,
Does it almost feel like
You’ve been here before?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?

Eh-eh-o eh-o [4x]

Oh where do we begin?
The rubble or our sins?
Oh oh where do we begin?
The rubble or our sins?

And the walls kept tumbling down (oh where do we begin?)
In the city that we love (the rubble or our sins?)
Great clouds roll over the hills (oh where do we begin?)
Bringing darkness from above (the rubble or our sins?)

But if you close your eyes,
Does it almost feel like
Nothing changed at all?
And if you close your eyes,
Does it almost feel like
You’ve been here before?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?

If you close your eyes, does it almost feel like nothing changed at all?

Eh-eh-o eh-o [8x]

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