“Icarus” is a song written by Bastille about the Roman myth “Daedalus and Icarus.” Bastille is an indie-pop / alternative band who have a recording label under Virgin Records, EMI, and Capitol Records. Bastille has four members of their band, including: Daniel Smith (the main singer), Kyle J Simmons (guitar), William Farquarson (piano), and Christopher “Woody” Wood (drums). Their unison of instrumental and vocal talent bring together a beautiful song every time they record a new record.
In particular, Icarus was released in 2013 along with their album “Bad Blood.” One of Bastille’s songwriters, Dan, got a degree in English Language and Literature at the University of Leeds, England. Because of this, they are an excellent candidate to use metaphors and arguments very strongly, just like they do in “Icarus”.
“Icarus” is intended primarily for younger people. This is because not only was Icarus a very young boy, Bastille makes constant references to their life having “only just begun”. Therefore, it is assumed that Bastille is arguing for younger people to listen up unless they wish to end up like Icarus, drowning. The song isn’t targeted towards older people as much since they have the wisdom and experience that they can see what would and wouldn’t cause a metaphorical death.
Specifically, I will argue that “Icarus” is a story of a young person who is embarking a new journey. That journey could be physical, such as beginning college, or emotional, such as a relationship or trying to rediscover who one person really is. Bastille mainly conveys this through pathos, for constantly scaring the audience into the inevitability of death, metaphorical that is, that could be caused by flying too close to the sun, or making a mistake. Referencing death triggers the audience’s emotions and causes them to think twice before going for a flight with new wings, or embarking a new journey. Bastille accomplishes this messages beautifully through their use of instruments, timing, and attention to lyrics.
There is one main fallacy that Bastille uses in “Icarus.” First, they use scare tactics. Although the audience won’t literally die by making mistakes, usually, they still are terrified of death. By implementing the theme of death on their audience, Bastille scares them into wanting to never make mistakes again. This could be hazardous because people are supposed to make mistakes. Making mistakes causes people to learn and grow from them. Without mistakes, as a society, we would be nowhere in society. So, this scare tactic is a major fallacy.
These days, many young people are getting ahead of themselves and don’t take a look at a situation before they approach it. By getting into a situation without thinking of the consequences first, that could cause many problems that could have been avoided had the person looked and learned first. Bastille implements this theme throughout “Icarus” thanks to their use of pathos.
[credit to: http://www.bastillebastille.com/ (their official website)]