“Joy” by Bastille
Bastille’s “Joy” Dan Smith finds the singer waking up in a devastated state, as he is lying on the kitchen floor, mentally broken. The backdrop of the track is that he is recuperating from a night out on the town and now has to deal with a hangover. As such, when he arises from his slumber, he does so in a state of anguish, as in his “mind is falling”, and his “pulse quickening”. And despite him acknowledging that living in regret “can’t change anything”, that does not negate the fact that he wishes he could have arose under different circumstances.
Then he receives a phone call from a special person, and this immediately fills him with “joy”. Indeed just as he was “giving up”, receiving this perfectly-timed call imbued him with hope.
The exact nature of his relationship with the individual who is making this call is unspecified. However, the insinuation is that this person has played the role of saving the singer’s “brain from (his) brain” in the past. In fact he states that this individual saving him “from self-pity”. So what is certain is that this person serves an important psychological function in his life – sort of like a psychiatrist – but likely on a more-intimate level and more along the lines of ‘setting his mind free’, as in making him think positively. And as is expressed especially near the end of the track, it is this individual in particular who makes him feel that way.
Facts about “Joy”
- “Joy” was officially released on 2 May 2019, where it premiered on BBC Radio 1. It is part of Bastille’s 2019 album titled Doom Days.
- The entire Dooms Days album transpires over “the course of one apocalyptic night”. And “Joy” is the climatic song.
- “Joy” marks the first time Bastille incorporated a gospel choir into one of their tracks.
Did Bastille release this as a single?
Yes. It came out as the third single from Doom Days. The songs “Quarter Past Midnight” and “Doom Days” are also singles that appear the aforesaid album.
