Bastille raised to high popularity in 2013, and their video for "Pompeii" really had me wondering what exactly was going on. We follow frontman Dan Smith around a city that seems completely barren. The first sign of people that we see besides Smith is a woman at a small restaurant. But something is different about her. We discover the other people in the city have the same problem as this woman, and it's freaking Dan Smith out. They all have completely blacked out eyes. To make it even creepier, as Smith enters an arcade, the video pays tribute to the twins of Stephen King's The Shining. This sends the singer running out of the building and into a car, driving away from the city to find himself stranded as his vehicle refuses to work. As day comes we see Smith's eyes becoming black, and at the end of the video, he has become the same as the other people.There's a much more deeper meaning to this video then people turning creepy. The song "Pompeii" all on its own is a metaphor. Bastille uses the historic tragedy that is Pompeii to symbolise what the world is becoming today. The lyrics talk of black clouds and walls falling down and in the midst of all the destruction, we try to "close our eyes" and pretend it isn't happening, that things aren't changing, and remain optimistic about the future. The black eyes symbolise seeing the truth. Instead of hiding under covers the people now see the world and its cruelties. When Dan Smith's eyes turn black, he loses his innocence and is seeing the world for what it really is. This may seem depressing but disregarding a problem and turning away from it, pretending it doesn't exist, doesn't fix it. Embracing the harsh truths of reality is understanding a problem so you are able to find a solution for it.