Bastille’s ‘Doom Days’ is About ‘Good Omens’ and You’re Not Going to Convince Me Otherwise

I barely watch TV and I only listen to two bands, which means that when I do get into a series or a musical artist I tend to get obsessed to a level that some might find, quite frankly, alarming. Since one of those two bands is Bastille, naturally I was all over their new album like flies to honey when it dropped last week. Coincidentally, this was around the time that I got around to finally finishing up Good Omens and by virtue of consuming these two media side by side I noticed some startling connections.

Before I go any further I want to explicitly state that I am a firm shipper of Crowley and Aziraphale. Let’s be real people, it’s not subtext, it’s text. David Tennant told Refinery29 that the two were each other’s significant other. Michael Sheen is quoted in Bustle saying Zira is in love with Crowley. Sure, they leave it “ambiguous” — in the same way that its “ambiguous” whether Aslan is Jesus.

Now, back to the comparison. Obviously, I’m not saying that Good Omens was an exclusive influence on Bastille’s new album. However, there are plenty of ways in which the two media overlap in ways that I find fascinating, so let’s dive in, song by song.

Quarter Past Midnight

“Quarter Past Midnight” literally has the line “And you said we’d leave this place in dust/ And fall from heaven straight through hell.” I mean come on. The whole song is about people running away together and leaving behind their past to piece together their lives before it all falls apart. That just screams Aziraphale and Crowley to me.

Bad Decisions

Ah, here we have the song that made me realize that this album was riddled with Good Omens connections. This song is about making bad decisions that they have to own up to and “take a bow,” while things go down in flames, because this might be where it ends. Given the way those two deal with their head offices when it is all about to end, it seems pretty fitting. Along with the idea of keeping making the same mistakes, living on earth and with humanity, as well as the belief that maybe what they are doing might be what God actually wants as she plays with the universe, well… I’m just saying. It all fits so well!

The Waves

The intro to the chorus asks “Oh, what would your mother say if she could see what we’re doing now?/ Oh, what would your mother say if she could hear what we talk about?” This is obviously about God, who is gendered female in Good Omens and is therefore the mother of all. The Waves crashing down are also clearly referring to the forces acting against them to enact the apocalypse.

Divide

And here we have what is clearly a love song about Crowley and Aziraphale. Heaven and Hell are trying to divide them. Sung from Crowley’s perspective, he is constantly pleading with Aziraphale to stay with him, for them to form their own side. He is asking why they should be divided when they could instead come together, pleading that Aziraphale not leave him alone. The lines when this is clearest is when he sings “In these darker days, I push the limit to the love you offer/ There’s a riot in my head, demanding we do this forever” which is obviously him pushing the limits because he is a demon and he is pushing the limits of the love of an Angel, and the riot in his head is his conflicting desire, and the demand that they “do this forever” is his desire to live forever with  Aziraphale.

Million Pieces

Well, for one thing this song explicitly references the end of the world, and is from the perspective of Aziraphale, who is in denial about the end of the world and about the end of his relationship with Crowley, and so his heart is breaking into a million pieces. This one might be a bit of a stretch for some people, but I do think it works.

Doom Days

This song is about the world ending, and having the only thing one thinks about when the world is burning be the other person. This one is pretty difficult to argue as being about Aziraphale and Crowley, because it’s essentially about the degradation of humanity, but I would argue that it’s actually about all of the other people in the world who are thinking about the end of the world. A cop out, I know, but I’m not perfect.

Nocturnal Creatures

Yep, another one that is definitely about Aziraphale and Crowley. Partners in crime? Weekend religion? Only ourselves to blame? I wouldn’t change a thing? I feel like I don’t even have to try with this one.

4AM

This one actually really isn’t about Crowley and Aziraphale. I would argue that its about Adam. Granted, he’s eleven, so he’s not really at a 4AM party with passed out drunk people, but his whole schtick is that he doesn’t accept his role as the antichrist because he wants a normal life with his family and friends in pastoral England where he can just be with the familiar, which is really the essence of this song.

Another Place

“Another Place” is the goodbye song that Crowley and Aziraphale have between them before they realize that they can be together. It’s a song about how two people could be together if only they were in a different time and place, because they have a tie that cannot be broken, but they are not in the right situation. So throughout their time together as angel and demon they are not able to be together until they are free of those restrictions.

Those Nights

In my opinion, this song is more about seeking companionship than romantic or sexual love — it’s about needing someone to be there for you, whether that be romantic, sexual, or simply someone to share experiences with. So even if someone believes that Aziraphale and Crowley aren’t in love (which they totally are) this song could just be about the need to be with someone. Yes, it is sexually explicit, but I honestly see that as more of a metaphor. But I can also see Crowley and Aziraphale finding hope in each other as the only ones who share mutual understanding.

Joy

The unparallelled joy of having that one person who always knows what you need and how to lift you up? That is this song, and honestly that is what Crowley and Aziraphale’s relationship boils down to. They derive a kind of joy from one another’s presence that they cannot find in any other human, demon, or angel.

Final Thoughts

Doom Days is amazing. Good Omens is amazing. The two can be intimately compared in such a way that their connections are clear and bountiful. Thanks for taking this trek with me, and I do hope you agree? Leave your thoughts in the comments!