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Bastille‘s hit collaboration with Marshmello, “Happier,” is an upbeat but sad song about a breakup. The video, however, is about a bullied young girl, played by Miranda Cosgrove, who’s comforted by her beloved dog — that is, until — SPOILER ALERT — the pooch dies. Bastille singer Dan Smith explains why they decided to make a sad song into an even more depressing video.
“We’ve always said, with our videos, it’s fun to sort of respect the song but maybe throw it into a different light,” Dan tells ABC Radio. “And the song is about a relationship, but in the case of the video, it’s about letting go of a beloved pet. And it’s been fascinating to see how much people relate to it.”
Maybe “relate” is too tame a word. Dan says that the video has induced mass sobbing in both their fans and their friends.
“Every time I check my Twitter feed, one in every five messages is, ‘You made me cry with a video!” Dan laughs. “So many of my friends back in the U.K., when it came out, like, texted me, like, ‘Why am I uncontrollably crying at one of your music videos!?'”
“We’ve never had that before,” Dan says of the reaction to the clip. “Our videos tend to be kinda weird and dark and Lynchian and odd, so it’s been interesting. I think…in a lot of ways the song and the video have provoked quite a different response from what we’re used to.”
“Happier” has certainly provoked a lot more streaming and downloading than Bastille is used to. It’s become their biggest hit ever, reaching #3 on the Billboard Hot 100.
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