Over the past few years, a friend and I have played this game when we go out of town and the drive takes us over more than 2 hours to get to our destination. We simply call it, best song and fun song. It is quite simple. As we make our journey the playlist flips from song to song, and we both ask each other what song we think is personally the best of that artist and what is the most fun to listen to. More than often, it ends up being the two of us trying to see if we will pick the same thing, but many times it proves to be a very fun conversation! I thought this would be a cool thing to try here with the British alternative band, Bastille.

Bastille has been around since 2010 and has produced many hits including “Pompeii”, “Flaws”, “Things We Lost In The Fire”, and many more. So, what in my opinion do I consider to be Bastille’s best song and their most fun song? Well, I’d say their best song is their 2021 single: Distorted light beam. For me, this song naturally became a bop that stuck. The cyberpunk-like synth and vocals by Dan Smith backed by an epic track that pulses the further you get into the song, made me feel like I could go anywhere or be anyone, as the lyrics of the song repeat in the chorus.

When I’m dreaming tonight, I can do anything
When I’m dreaming tonight, I can go anywhere
When I’m dreaming tonight, I can be anyone
So don’t wake me up, don’t wake me up.

However, after replaying the song multiple times I dug deeper into why this song became their best song for me. It was the lyrics…The lyrics speak so much truth. This digital juxtaposition Bastille takes on the idea of dreaming and video games attempts to highlight how both the dream world and the digital one, can provide a fantasy. A place of freedoms that is better than reality. When I came to this conclusion…it blew my mind! Both dreaming and video game entertainment are fictitious, but both can become something that greatly impacts us as a viewer because video games and dreams, force people to physically participate in what takes place. In turn, this causes us to feel entrenched in a fanatical world that often can feel better than our own (aside from nightmares).

So, what do I think is their most fun song? Well, I’d have to say: Things we lost in the fire. The piano start that leads into the heavy percussion of the song creates an epic feeling that lends its hand to the lyrics of the song talking about catastrophe, losing, and what the future may hold. Overall, it is a song that I can’t help but want to sing along to. If you find yourself listening to music in a car on the way to somewhere with a friend or two, try playing best song and fun song. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed!