My Interpretation of the Oblivion Music Video
bandstille You wanted me to let you know and kingofbastille and dan-fucking-smith I thought you might be interested in this idk haha This is just my current opinion and interpretation, it is by no means correct nor set in stone! Feel free to go to my ask box to ask questions and tell me about your theories. :) So I basically see this video as an end to the 'Jacket Trilogy' and showing the aftermath of what happened in the Bad Blood and Flaws music videos. That's why I think the video starts off with Flaws playing in the background; it's sort of Dan's death song, as the video for Flaws is basically Dan being dead. It's continuing on from that and the fact that he's dead. I think that Sophie's character is someone who knew Dan's character well, whether she's a lover, family member, or just a really good friend. She's listening to that song because it reminds her of him and his death, and also reminds her why she's about to do what she's about to do. She's very nervous (breathing heavily and fidgeting etc), not only because she's going to sing but also because she's going to take things quite (okay, very) far. One thing I'm not too sure about is if in this particular video Dan died by drowning or driving. If he died from drowning like in Bad Blood then I assume that driving was just something his character enjoyed. When she walks out she's wearing the jacket which was used in both the Bad Blood and Flaws music videos, probably so that she can have a part of Dan with her when she's out there. (If this video is carrying on from Dan having drowned then I'm not too sure how she got the jacket, but this is just my interpretation and it's probably far from right. If he died when driving then she obviously obtained it relatively easily.) So, this is where everyone got a bit confused I think. When Sophie's character starts singing you don't hear her voice or a girl's voice, it's Dan's voice. Dan has said before that Oblivion is about trying to follow somebody to where they go when they've lost their mind and they're in a state of oblivion, and I think that hearing Dan's voice out of a female's mouth is showing that she's in this state. Everything she's doing in the video is for Dan's character and it's his voice we hear when she sings, and I think that's a clear representation for the fact that she has lost her mind and is oblivious to everything other than the pain and misery she feels after his death. I see her performance of the song as a tribute to Dan and as a farewell to the world as she used to know it / a farewell the the world altogether. As Sophie's singing we see shots of the crowd (which I don't think has any real meaning) and then shots of people bringing in damaged cars. I think that these cars being brought in helped increase Sophie's character's confidence, as she clearly does become more comfortable when singing. I think that her seeing what killed Dan (if in this particular video he died when driving, rather than from drowning) gives her confidence in what she's doing and what she's about to do, and assures her that it's right. If in this video Dan did die from drowning then it's probably seeing something that Dan loved which makes her feel so certain that what she's doing is correct. After she really picks up confidence, we see some shots in daylight which I assume are her memories. She's walking around touching the cars and we see footage of cars bumping into each other; she was probably going with Dan to see it all at the time. We also see people who she maybe feels are like her; they might have gone through what she's going through, they might be people who she now understands (e.g. there's a woman alone with her son, maybe she's lost her husband). At this point the song is finishing and she's really confident, like, really confident. Everything she's seen in front of her and everything she's remembered has now completely convinced her that she is doing the right thing. As Sophie's character is walking over to a car we see a flashback of her looking at the photo of Dan and the band (but Dan being more important in this moment) in their driving gear, he's the only person and it's the only thing she is no longer oblivious to. Then a quick flashback to when she was looking at the cars and meeting people, a reminder of everything leading to this moment. She then gets in the car, puts on a helmet and the video ends. When she gets into the car she could either be trying to do the thing that Dan loved to do for him, since he's now dead, or she could be trying to kill herself. Either way my theory of the whole video still fits. The video's not an exact representation of that intimate moment between two people that Dan once described and it's not from the person's point of view who is trying to get through to the oblivious person, unlike in the song. It's the other way round, in fact, and I think it's more about the actual person than than that exact intimate moment. More of a 'companion piece' as Dan called it, rather than an exact representation. However, as I mentioned earlier, Dan has said that Oblivion is about trying to follow someone to the state of oblivion where they've lost their mind. If he died from driving and she's trying to kill herself, too, I see this video as Sophie following Dan into death, the same way he went. The most stand out lyrics of the song are 'you always take it further than I ever can', and I think that's exactly what the video's portraying. Sophie's character has lost her mind and is completely in this state of oblivion after Dan's death and she therefore ends up going further than anyone without the exact same experience as her could ever go. Overall, I think the video is showing just how far love and compassion can send someone into the state of oblivion and losing their mind, so far, in fact, that she'd either risk her life or kill herself - exactly what she's doing when she gets into the car. The video is simply a pretty beautiful representation of the lyrics: 'When oblivion is calling out your name You always take it further than I ever can.'
