Bastille - Pompeii and the Black Eyed Kids

Good morning, afternoon and evening ATS --

I'm sure most of you have heard of the song Pompeii by Bastille. I personally think it's great and wanted to see the music video, which has over 64 million views.

First off (for those who don't know of it), let me begin by briefly explaining the urban legend of the black eyed kids.
The majority of the stories start off with a knock on the door or car window
and either one or two children are standing there asking for a favor. They always want to come inside and use the phone, get some food, etc -- and become very insistent and angry when denied. It usually isn't until you deny them access when they look up at you with their eyes. An overwhelming sense of fear comes to the person encountering them even before seeing their black eyes. Long story short, no one really knows what happens when you let them in but here are some freaky stories apparently pulled from reddit...
Stories of the Black Eyed Kids

In addition here are a few stories from some of our family at ATS

Black Eyed Kids - Did I just have an BEK experience?

My son (16) came home frightened!! Black eyed non-human?


Okay now back to Bastille's music video...
(This also serves as a brief synopsis for those who can't view videos)

The video loads and for about 30 seconds to a minute I'm bobbing my head enjoying the music as the guy sings and wanders through this town. He comes into a convenience store and the lady behind the counter looks up at him and her eyes change to black.

Frightened he runs out and while running through town he comes across others who also have black eyes. He tries to escape the town by looking for a car to break into. He drives for a while and eventually the vehicle breaks down. After falling asleep in the car, he wakes the next morning and realizes his eyes, too, are turning black. He walks and walks and by the end of the video his eyes are finally black like everyone else's.

Watch for yourself (it's a darn good song)


Now I searched around and found A LOT of people were confused by the song lyrics versus the music video. There isn't really an explanation out there for it. I found it odd that the use of people with pitch black eyes were used in a song about Pompeii's destruction.

What are your thoughts ATS? What's up with the black eyes -- is he running from these fabled black eyed people?

I think the song and the Black Eyed Children phenomenon as popularly understood share nothing in common but the use of black eyes as a symbol for lack of a soul.

I watched the video and didn't particularly care for the music but what I saw was a guy walking through run down streets and dull empty commercial venues, lamenting the decay of the city due to some poorly defined "sins", and asking if it seems better with your eyes closed as he encounters people who have no eyes who are otherwise carrying on normally in this bleak empty world. He tries to go somewhere else, he finds nowhere to go, he becomes one of them. It's a pretty standard story of disillusionment.

One could relate the black eyed kids to the same feeling I suppose, in a less literal way. If one took the black eyed kids to be a folk tale illustrating how our society has become very impersonal and driven us so far apart from one another that it is too frightening to reach out and help even the most harmless seeming strangers, that would bring the two subjects together.

The BEK urban myths are creepy. In this case, regarding the MV, Bastille is utilizing urban myth combined with artistic interpretation to create an internet buzz. Good entertainment and music marketing for supernatural enthusiats. I gather the MV is communicating a message that fear will consume people, and what is perceived as strange or wicked can drive someone to abandon society and become the very thing feared. Otherwise, it is just pure artistry playing on popular mysticism.

I had never heard of this. I'm positive I'll be having nightmares tonight, but I'm still gonna read these stories.

Thanks a LOT, OP.

The song is okay, I can listen to it.

If you listen to the lyrics it and tie it to the video it suggests an 'awakening' per se, a realisation of 'being here before', perhaps a knowledge, and a further realisation that many others are brainwashed, perhaps soul less entities, zombified by society, media and belief systems.

There is a photo app that does that to eyes in a photo, it isn't nice!

reply to post by iamhobo


Children can be quite spooky without any requirement for having black eyes:



As to the video, it's likely the black eyes symbolize a loss of innocence in recognizing the death and destruction of Pompeii.
He doesn't want to lose his purity, his innocence in acknowledging such massive cataclysm, because, by doing so, one becomes mortal, so, he tries to run.
One, however, can never avoid the loss of innocence, and the onset of the corruption of mortality, so, regardless of how he runs, eventually the recognition of death catches up to him and his innocence is lost, whereby, he's then, just like everyone else, as opposed to looking down on everyone and being separate or above them as the perspective indicates from the opening shot in looking down.

eh.

mebbe.

mebbe not.

Never heard of Bastille. But I don't normally listen to modern mainstream pop and don't know anyone who does. I saw where they won at the Brits, though.
The Black Eyed Kids would be a good name for a group.

reply to post by AliceBleachWhite


Hey, didn't I see those two in a movie about a big hotel in Oregon with a crazy guy?

Seriously tho.. I think the BEK phenomenon is quite interesting. I suppose if the music makes more people aware of a strange thing like this, it can only lead to curiosity on other things and maybe even a general awakening! ...Or not, but we can hope.

Ok, so I have had a chance to read some of these stories. Needless to say, every little creak in my house is making me jump a little bit.

Now I'm wondering... What supposedly happens if you allow them in? Are there any stories of people that have? I'm not saying I believe these stories, but I'm interested (and creeped out) nonetheless.

Another video featuring this is Delta Rae's "Bottom of the River".

When the blonde chick is being led down the fence, there's two dudes with pitchforks and hats, they have black eyes. About 1:08

The video symbolizes Bastille selling their souls to the industry, the industry turning the band into whatever they want, pushing whatever agenda they want.