Doom Days

Album: Doom Days (2019)
Charted: 65
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The title track of Bastille's third album is a foreboding tune about technology and news feeds.

    Think I'm addicted to my phone
    My scrolling horror show
    I'm live-streaming the final days of Rome
    One tab along, it's pornographic
    Everybody's at it
    No surprises, so easily bored


    Frontman Dan Smith sings about the need to switch off from worrying about the state of the world. He explained: "We wanted (the song) to be really direct and talk about trying to find escapism from our modern anxieties – phone addiction, porn addiction, fake news addiction, climate change denial (to name a few)."
  • Smith found so much to talk about on the subject that he penned about 50 verses for "Doom Days" before editing it down to the final version.
  • Speaking to NME, Smith explained that his intention for the song was to address escapism and hedonism as a tool to avoid the things going on in the world and people's own personal daily worries.

    So Smith set out to write "this rolling script of these worries" and to poke fun at the way we try to escape them. He admitted that personally he spends too much time on his phone. "Anyone that spends time with me will know that and everyone is constantly ripping me for it, which is completely fair enough cos it's a bit awful," Smith said. "So I wanted to address that."
  • This was the last song Bastille did for their Doom Days album, recorded when they had a couple of hours off in Melbourne and Smith found a studio there.

    "Writing it, I was going for everything from fake news to porn addiction to white privilege," he told The Sun. "Everything that was on my mind or what I was reading about."
  • The Doom Days record is a conceptual journey that takes place over the course of one night, during which Dan Smith attends an "apocalyptic party." The Bastille frontman explained to ABC Radio he is more concerned with feeling than plot.

    "The story of the album is less about a narrative that unfolds with twists and turns," Smith said. "It's more about taking you through a night."
  • At 2:18, this is the shortest track on the album. Said Dan Smith to Q magazine: "It's a question of 'say it concisely, have the chorus twice spit out everything you want to say, then f--k off. ' The whole album's quite short, actually: just long enough to keep your attention and not bore the s--t out of you."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Tanita Tikaram

Tanita TikaramSongwriter Interviews

When she released her first album in 1988, Tanita became a UK singing sensation at age 19. She talks about her darkly sensual voice and quirky songwriting style.

Amanda Palmer

Amanda PalmerSongwriter Interviews

Call us crazy, but we like it when an artist comes around who doesn't mesh with the status quo.

Gilby Clarke

Gilby ClarkeSongwriter Interviews

The Guns N' Roses rhythm guitarist in the early '90s, Gilby talks about the band's implosion and the side projects it spawned.

Director Mark Pellington ("Jeremy," "Best Of You")

Director Mark Pellington ("Jeremy," "Best Of You")Song Writing

Director Mark Pellington on Pearl Jam's "Jeremy," and music videos he made for U2, Jon Bon Jovi and Imagine Dragons.

Gary Brooker of Procol Harum

Gary Brooker of Procol HarumSongwriter Interviews

The lead singer and pianist for Procol Harum, Gary talks about finding the musical ideas to match the words.

Chris Fehn of Slipknot

Chris Fehn of SlipknotSongwriter Interviews

A drummer for one of the most successful metal bands of the last decade, Chris talks about what it's like writing and performing with Slipknot. Metal-neck is a factor.