The most power somebody can have over you is sometimes unknown to you. Through the song “Power”, Bastille recounts his experience regarding this through the theme that loving somebody to the point of obsession gives them an unhealthy power over you, and how only you can make the decision to escape despite the pain.
Verse one opens the song with and gives us background on how Dan Smith, the singer and songwriter, would rather have a real relationship on a deeper level than settling for a simple relationship of being “just friends”. Through the lines “Aim, throw your best shot right at me/ 'Cause pain, I can take it easily “We see how he’s willing to bear the pain that may be the cost of that relationship. The next lines reinforce the idea with “Did you really think I'd fall to my knees/ Just to pray for some sweet simplicity?”. Dan Smith uses a rhetorical question as a statement saying he wouldn’t give into pain for anything less or simpler than a true relationship.
The intro verse was mainly to give background on the kind and amount of love Bastille is talking about. We see lines like “squeezing my heart”, “your bare hands, they hold too tight”, and how he’s “caught here in [her] sights” used to expand on his concept of the power she has over him. Then the chorus combines both these background ideas into the theme, first the depth of his love, then the type of power she has. He uses repetition of the word power to give it emphasis then goes on to say how he will “will never understand the power [she was] holding over me”. This line is an reinforces the unknown or incomprehensible nature of the power somebody may hold. At the end of the chorus, we see the want to be free because she’s “had it too long”.
Next, the second verse explains the unhealthy aspect of this power through the concept of pain. Bringing in science to the equation, Smith questions what pain really is by stating how its “just synapses firing in our brains”. This is similar to the first verse where he used a question to give a statement, now using a statement to pose a question. Continuing, he kind of ignores the science behind pain and goes with the raw emotional side about how she “cuts [him] deep” and how the more one loves you and the closer you are, the more vulnerable you are. Using a metaphor of “Achilles’ heels” we see how weaknesses are revealed. The bridge now explains escape with Dan standing up to her telling her to hit him harder, “rip the plaster”. He uses this expression of sometimes you have to go through pain to get it over with, but doing it quickly minimizes it, like ripping a bandage.
Through his use of metaphors and different usage of sentences like questions and statements, Bastille reinforces his lyrics with meaning. Specifically, the song was written with a theme in mind unlike much of popular music which has lost meaning behind the lyrics. Power demonstrates a complex concept of the unknown repercussions that love and obsession brings.
Smith, Dan. “Bastille – Power.” Genius, Genius, 9 Sept. 2016, genius.com/Bastille-power-lyrics.