Lyrics for I Will Follow You Into the Dark as interpreted by sethbrown

I Will Follow You Into the Dark Lyrics
Love of mine
Someday you will die
But I'll be close behind
I'll follow you into the dark
No blinding light
Or tunnels to gates of white
Just our hands clasped so tight
Waiting for the hint of a spark

If heaven and hell decide
That they both are satisfied
And illuminate the "No"s
On their vacancy signs
If there's no one beside you
When your soul embarks
Then I'll follow you into the dark

In catholic school
As vicious as Roman rule
I got my knuckles bruised
By a lady in black
And I held my tongue
As she told me, "Son,
Fear is the heart of love"
So I never went back

If heaven and hell decide
That they both are satisfied
And illuminate the "No"s
On their vacancy signs
If there's no one beside you
When your soul embarks
Then I'll follow you into the dark

You and me
Have seen everything to see
From Bangkok to Calgary
And the soles of your shoes
Are all worn down
The time for sleep is now
But it's nothing to cry about
Because we'll hold each other soon
In the blackest of rooms

If heaven and hell decide
That they both are satisfied
And illuminate the "No"s
On their vacancy signs
If there's no one beside you
When your soul embarks
Then I'll follow you into the dark
Then I'll follow you into the dark

Interaction
Mail to a friend Send Lyrics to a Friend
Share on Facebook

Stumble It
Add to Del.icio.us Add to Del.icio.us




  • 305 Comments
  • Printer Friendly Lyrics
oldest first     Expand All
you fail me
08-05-2005

Rated 0 
I'm pretty sure this is my favorite song on the new CD.

Log in to reply
Benjammin
08-05-2005

Rated 0 
Me too. I love it. Has an iron and wine feel to it. Just captues my heart with emotion and makes me want to just lie in bed and continue to bask in it's wonder.

Log in to reply
miktrebla
08-06-2005

Rated 0 
Definitely my favorite song as well. It's so beautiful, and it sure does have an "Iron and Wine" feel to it.

Log in to reply
drowningnoah
08-06-2005

Rated 0 
wow, i haven't heard a prettier song about death than this.

Log in to reply
.partly.cloudy.
08-10-2005

Rated 0 
ben gibbard at his best.. this song is absolutely beautiful. turning on the "no's" on vacancy signs.. so clever. definitely up there on my favourite songs off "plans" so far.

Log in to reply
helenrips
08-10-2005

Rated 0 
the afterlife is a dark place.

Log in to reply
lavender sky
08-11-2005

Rated 0 
One of my favourite songs on Plans, the lyrics are really awesome.

Log in to reply
marshmallowfood
08-12-2005

Rated 0 
favorite song of the moment

Log in to reply
me_yes_me
08-12-2005

Rated 0 
i love this song. it presents the recurring theme of death, but of course, in a borderline-optimistic way. the lyrics are good, and it's a sweet song. i heard ben wrote it for his girlfriend. anyways i think all of the song about death on plans are surprisingly upbeat and optimistic... is this meant to be ironic?

Log in to reply
Sadex
08-14-2005

Rated 0 
I don't quite understand the whole catholic school deal... can anybody reitterate that for me?

Log in to reply
cybercyph
08-15-2005

Rated +1 
The catholic school bit-- on the surface, he's just telling a story about his youth. He's saying he went to a catholic school that was very strict (i.e., roman rule) The nuns (ladies in black) used to hit him on the knuckle with a ruler (bruised knuckles). One of those nuns told him that fear is the heart of love (christianity teaches christians are to fear god, and from that fear comes love for him). Ben rejects this, but doesn't respond (biting his tongue) and leaves the school (never went back)--or, in a wider interpretation, leaves the faith altogether.

It seems like this verse is included to explain why he doesn't particularly care for either heaven or hell, instead just seeing the afterlife as a darkness.

Log in to reply
1 Reply
PlipToShevanel
08-15-2005

Rated +1 
I thought Ben was Christian though. I mean the CD is named after his favorite joke.

"How do you make God laugh?"
"Make plans."

Hmm. Beautiful song though.

Log in to reply
1 Reply
Spunkle
08-16-2005

Rated 0 
just because that's his favorite joke doesn't mean he's christian...and cybercyph's description is right on cue i think

Log in to reply
Stratocaster1688
08-20-2005

Rated +1 
First off, this songs meaning doesn't lie in death, its just using death to define life. For instance, if he is saying that he will follow her into death, hes definatley saying that he is hers for life; that he wants to grow old with her.

It is a fact that many older people after being married for 50 and 60 years grow extremely close. When one dies, the other often dies soon thereafter. And that is mainly the concept this song is trying to convey.

"I will follow you into the dark." = I will always be there for you when you are uncertain, even into the greatest uncertainty of all...death.

It reminds me of the end of "Passenger Seat" from Transatlanticism. "When you are embarrassed, I'll be your pride, when you need direction, then I'll be the guide, for all time."



Log in to reply
ineedabreakdown
08-22-2005

Rated +1 
man oh man.
i've never cried before just because a song was so beautiful.

I don't want to download too much of the CD, so that when I buy it it will be new and fresh, but with these lyrics I had to. And it as worth it.

Log in to reply
robotfoodab
08-24-2005

Rated 0 
the whole catholic school thing...i think you're taking it too literally. ben gibbard never tells you exactly what he means. he doesn't code his story with names like "ladies in black" that'd be too obvious. i think he just wanted to say that there are so many ways to look at love and he didn't agree that fear equals love. and this song is the most optimistic thing i've ever heard, it's not sad at all, although it's very melancholy. the message of the song is "if death scares you, i got your back. that's how much i love you. we're together forever." who knows? maybe death is freedom.

Log in to reply
garyebersbach
08-25-2005

Rated +1 
catholics dont teach you to fear god, maybe some christian groups like puritans or crazy people like that not catholics tho and he was born in 77, catholic schools by the time he was in highschool like early 90s probably didnt even have nuns anymore i know catholic schools now dont have any and you think in early 90s they would still let nuns hit kids? thats insanely stupid and catholics do not teach you to fear god its a loving god

Log in to reply
3 Replies
aereogramme
08-28-2005

Rated 0 
it is certainly a different song. just the acoustic guitar and ben singing. quite a great song though! i enjoy it quite a bit!

Log in to reply
CaptainCancer
08-30-2005

Rated 0 
This song gives me an eargasm.

Log in to reply
rememberit
08-31-2005

Rated 0 
About the Catholic part, I went to Catholic school in the early 90s and there were definitely nuns who used paddles. I remember one yelling at me for coloring the Tree of Knowledge the "wrong color." Way to squash a child's creativity... So I can relate to that part of this awesome song.

Log in to reply
mperkel
09-02-2005

Rated 0 
"The catholic school bit-- on the surface, he's just telling a story about his youth. He's saying he went to a catholic school that was very strict (i.e., roman rule) The nuns (ladies in black) used to hit him on the knuckle with a ruler (bruised knuckles). One of those nuns told him that fear is the heart of love (christianity teaches christians are to fear god, and from that fear comes love for him). Ben rejects this, but doesn't respond (biting his tongue) and leaves the school (never went back)--or, in a wider interpretation, leaves the faith altogether.

It seems like this verse is included to explain why he doesn't particularly care for either heaven or hell, instead just seeing the afterlife as a darkness." -cybercyph

I totally agree with the statement above, but i believe the entire song is about death. They add that verse in the song to back up from where he is coming from when he says that.

In the first verse (No blinding light
Or tunnels to gates of white), the common belief about death is blinding lights and tunnels of pure white, he is saying that when they die, they won't see that, they will just have each other and their memories. [Those beliefs have actually been proven that when your dying you lose your eyesight, when your eyes slowly die out it creates a small hole which you see the light, which is very intensely bright, people think its heaven, it's just earth, but your cornia gets really small)

Then (If heaven and hell decide
That they both are satisfied
And illuminate the "no"s
On their vacancy signs) Kindof stating how he doesn't believe in heaven or hell at all, they'll just be together.

(The time for sleep is now
But it's nothing to cry about
'Cause we'll hold each other soon
In the blackest of rooms) One of the important part of the songs. Stating how death is unstoppable, its just a matter of when. When you eventually die, you shouldn't cry or have fears about it, it's only natural. The part about holding each other song is kindof contradicting what he was saying before, but he clears it up with "In the blackest of rooms" meaning there is no afterlife, its just darkness.
One of the hardest things to explain to a human, is that after this life, there is nothing else. You cest to exist basically, sure family memories and evidence of your life is still there, but you as a person cese to exist. I think he is trying to convey that in this song.
It talks about his disbelief in god, disbelief in heaven and hell or any afterlife.
Death shouldn't be something to be afraid of either. It's just another part of life.

Log in to reply
tin14man
09-02-2005

Rated 0 
For those who said it has an Iron & Wine feel to it, I agree. I actually bought the latest Iron & Wine cd, Our Endless Numbered Days, the same time I bought Plans. I had only heard 1 Iron & Wine song before I bought OEND, so it was a gamble to purchase it. Needless to say, I had the great feeling of listing to it and Plans on the drive home from Best Buy. And yes, both blew my away...no bad purchases today!!

Log in to reply
SadieG
09-03-2005

Rated 0 
I love this song so very much. It reminds me so much of my parents. They were both killed in a car accident about a year ago. My mom was killed instantly, and my dad died about an hour later. It's as if he knew that my mom was gone, and he couldn't live without her. It is so much like the song. My dad went to Catholic school when he was younger. It's as if my dad really did follow my mom into the dark. It makes me cry everytime.

Log in to reply
245am
09-04-2005

Rated 0 
First of all, to SadieG: To me, this song means infinite love. And if it reminds you of your parents, I'm sure they'll be together forever. I'm about your loss.

This song is talking about everlasting love, love that never ends, and being together forever. It's connected and maybe based on the term "soul mate." When the songs says "If there's noone beside you when your soul embarks I will follow you into the dark" means that soulmates is a literal term. This song is saying that maybe there isn't a hell or a heaven, and when you die, you're free to be with the one person you should be with forever.

Log in to reply
Emericanskater
09-06-2005

Rated 0 
I agree with the whole long lasting love, growing old together thing. But i was driving hte other day and i was thinking , what if they were younger, and the girl had cancer and he's talking about if she dies from it that he'll kill himself to be with her... kind of romeo and juliet like. That was jsut a thought i had. i was kind of putting this song together with what sarah said and got to that conclusion i guess.

Log in to reply




  • Add Your Comments
What does this song mean to you?

You must be logged in to post your comments.

Feel free to create an account with us, or log in with your existing account, to start adding your comments to songs.





Popular
Top:   Lyrics, Artists, Albums
Random:   Lyric, Artist, Album

Your Ad Here