Album: Arc (2013)
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Songfacts®:

  • This was inspired by frontman Jonathan Higgs wish to write "an orchestral, sort-of 'Eleanor Rigby' quartet song," but "it got a bit out of control." Higgs told The Line Of Best Fit: "We slaved for ages on it. It was originally just orchestral with a far more electronic accompaniment but we really worked hard to try and get the rest of the band involved in it."

    Bassist Jeremy Pritchard added that he and the other two band members are "kind of the sides-men on that song." "And we're perfectly happy to be," he continued, "really, because the strings arrangement is central to it. And if you take that away we're not really contributing much. The beat is important and that was vital - finding the right thing for Mike to play, a happy back-beat [gestures drumming]".
  • Higgs references a classic line from the movie Casablanca when he sings: "Of all the dead volcanoes on Earth, you just happened to retch and roll through mine."
  • Higgs directed the song's music video, which sees him perform the track in the aftermath of a volcanic eruption as ash falls down on him. Speaking to NME about the concept behind it, Higgs said: "This song is about being with someone you love at the end of the world, even if it's just the world that you both share."

    "I wanted to do something visually related to the ash/concrete bodies found at the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Pompeii," he added. "They are amazingly powerful to look at and formed by a totally natural, destructive force. The bodies of the people are huddled together while there is death literally raining down. That's what I wanted it to feel like."

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