Pompeii.

The thing I've been stuck on for a while now is Bastille's song Pompeii. Not only is it super catchy and really fun to sing, but it has also really been making me think a lot more than most songs typically do. The first few times that I heard it I thought, "Oh, Pompeii. That's a pretty original title. It's a great song, but I don't get why it's called Pompeii." (But then again, there are so many song titles that don't make sense - for example: 'Hispedangongonajelanguiro (Capiche?)' by Pluto Jonze - I didn't think too much of it.) Only after I had heard it about five or six times did it hit me that the song is actually about the ancient Roman city of Pompeii that was destroyed in 79 AD by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Being the history nerd that I am, this got me pretty dang excited. 

Now, when I hear this song, I immediately think of the picture popularly referred to as the Lovers of Pompeii. (Unfortunately, this picture is not actually from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, but is an image of a 6,000 year old couple found in a Neolithic tomb near Mantua, Italy in 2007. Archaeologists call them the Lovers of Valdaro, which is the small village where they were discovered. But that's an entirely different story.)

A more accurate depiction of the "Lovers of Pompeii" would actually be like this:

Since the bodies of the Pompeiians were so well preserved in the ash, when archaeologists arrived, they were left with perfect molds of the last moments of life for these people. Plaster was injected into these molds before excavation to preserve the bodies even further.

While there isn't much information about this particular couple, it isn't hard to imagine how they must have been feeling. In fact, Bastille's song makes it even easier for me to put myself in their place. The lyrics are powerful and very emotional.

And the walls kept tumbling down
In the city that we love
Great clouds roll over the hills
Bringing darkness from above

(To me, this would be terrifying. I don't know about you. You might be brave.)

But if you close your eyes,
Does it almost feel like
Nothing changed at all?
And if you close your eyes,
Does it almost feel like
You've been here before?

(This part reminds me of the ways that we comfort ourselves - or others - when bad things are happening. Sometimes, if you just close your eyes, it feels like everything is still fine. Like you're only sleeping.)

How am I gonna be an optimist about this?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?

(I truly have no idea how I would be an optimist about knowing that I was going to die of something that I had absolutely no control over. The only positive thing that I can think of is at least, if they were lucky, they died in the arms of the ones they loved.)

We were caught up and lost in all of our vices
In your pose as the dust settled around us

Oh where do we begin?
The rubble or our sins?
Oh where do we begin?
The rubble or our sins?

(This is also a very interesting part for me. I feel like, in this sort of tragedy, do you think about helping others or rebuilding the city that you love? Or do you focus on the fact that you are probably going to die anyway and worry about saving yourself, if not physically, then spiritually - just in case? It's hard to say.)

So there's that. 

Pompeii. 

History is cool, people. So let's stop writing stupid love songs (I'm not saying love songs are stupid, let's just stop writing the stupid ones.) and start writing about things that are cool! We need to stop being so boring and start being more awesome. Because after all..

DON'TCHA KNOW?