you may know, if any of these apply to you, that i’m currently obsessed with a song:
- you follow me on twitter or facebook (though i am trying to refrain myself from posting about the song daily, so you may have missed it)
- you see a guy in a white Ford C-MAX rental totally rocking out (no, like really rocking out, drumming on the steering wheel, dancing in the seat, singing at the top of my lungs) on US Highway 422 near King of Prussia, PA during commute hours
- you work in the cubicle next to me and see me rocking out, and simply go, “same song?” with a befuddled and disappointed expression on your face
that song is “Pompeii” by the British band Bastille. there are several things i love about it (the driving choral background, the breakdown and then full-on attack of the chorus), but going deeper for some reason it resonates (ha, see what i did there?) with me, not necessarily due to the lyrics or meaning (although those are good, don’t get me wrong), but definitely musically.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F90Cw4l-8NY?rel=0]
i’ve listened to this song pretty much nonstop for five days now, with my current “record” at three hours straight on repeat. OH GOD HOW I CAN ROCK OUT TO THIS SONG.
but i’m starting to digress, as this is a blog about my travels, so back on track: also very cool is that the British Museum asked them to perform it at the opening of an exhibition about Pompeii and Herculaneum.
this got me to thinking about when i visited Pompeii in 2007, the last trip i took as a grad student in Germany (cheap flight to Naples for the win!). i normally love old sites and archeological ruins, but i left unimpressed with Pompeii. i think it was built up so much that when i got there, it was a bit of a let-down. plus, i was with a friend so i didn’t get to linger and absorb. still a cool place, but i didn’t get that sense of wonderment i normally get at old sites. this song, however, got me wanting to visit again and give it another chance. ever since my second chance trip to Vienna over New Year’s Eve, and my upcoming second chance trip to Budapest (which i hope will be great), i’m beginning to think i might need to add this to my list of places that didn’t impress me much the first time, but would not mind reexploring. in any case, i loved the Amalfi Coast as a whole and would gladly return anyways.
i’ll sign off with some pictures (which i think are a little more poignant when you listen to the song at the same time?):
