anonymous August 6th, 2006 11:42PM  
Ben Gibbard recently said on the radio during lollapalooza that this song is about after life and how he thinks what if heaven and hell aren't real or don't want anymore and then there's nothing but dark or like a limbo state...

And it's about commitment with the person you love...

"if heaven and hell decide that they both are satisfied, illuminate the 'no's' on there vacancy signs, if there's no one beside you when your soul embarks. I'll follow you into the dark."

anonymous August 13th, 2006 06:20PM  
This is basically a tender, reflective love song. The protagonist of the song is saying that, while he's not sure what will happen after death, (there's a reference to him leaving catholic school, and maybe his religious faith), he is willing to follow the "you" in the song (his special person) and be with them wherever they go, even to the very end- and beyond.

anonymous December 22nd, 2006 11:45AM  
You're all right. This song is about afterlife and how a guy is talking to his girlfriend about when she dies he's going to follow her into the dark. Meaning there what if there's no such thing as a heaven or hell. What if there's nothing but darkness. Like the last person said, correct. He's saying he'll follow her to the ends of the earth, into the dark. Nothing can tear apart their love. In catholic school he put up fight with a nun talking about love and whatnot. ("Fear is the hear of love" I thought meant he was afraid to love her after this "as vicious as roman rule" lecture.) He gave up his faith~ "so I never went back". They've seen everything to see so it's like nothing can separate them, not even death. She's walked the journey with him and now she's dead but it's nothing to cry about because they'll be together when he dies. "The soles of your shoes are all worn down, the time for sleep is now, it's nothing to cry about, we'll hold each other soon in the blackest of rooms. If heaven and hell decide, that they both are satisfied, illuminate the No's on their vacancy signs, if there's no one besides you when your soul embarks, then I'll follow you into the dark"

anonymous June 22nd, 2007 04:21PM  
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.

anonymous December 7th, 2007 04:17PM  
This is in response to the Christian who had questions about this song. I asked my dad who is a pastor about the song (if it is okay to listen to or not) and he basically said, if it is not affecting your relationship with God, then you should not worry about it too much and it is basically between you and God. He also said it would be a different story if it said something about lucifer (the devil) it is between you and God so it is just a decision you will have to make (whether you think it is right or not). You should try praying about it also it might help. Yeah, I am a Christian too and I listen to them also and I think it should be fine, but its your choice. God bless and good luck!

anonymous May 2nd, 2008 08:41PM  
It seems like no one really understand the "Fear is the Heart of Love" line. Many religions (like Catholics) teach you to fear God's wrath, and therefor obey him. That fear, supposedly, is the basis for loving & obeying God. Do what God tells you, or you'll go to hell. Love God because you fear him. That's why the nun said "fear is the heart of love." Naturally, that doesn't sit right with a lot of people, and causes the song's author to "hold his tongue," & "never go back." Many people don't believe that you should obey (or love) out of fear. He calls Catholic school "as vicious as Roman rule" because the Romans ruled with an iron fist, with fear.

tarma07 September 10th, 2008 08:20AM  
As for me, my interpretation for this song in my own opinion would be, The song is a love song which generally means: "Whatever will happen, wherever you'll go, who ever you are, I will Love you with all my heart."

anonymous January 6th, 2009 10:32PM  
No. He is not saying that there is no heaven or hell. If heaven and hell have figurative 'no vacancy' signs then they might exist. He is simply saying that he is unsure about the afterlife. Also, because he left Catholic school does not mean he abandoned the Christian faith completely. Again he is saying that he is unsure about a policy run by knuckle bashing nuns. And how it is taught. Not that he has completely lost his faith. It isn't fair to make all the assumptions. Simply a love song about following his mate 'into the dark'.

anonymous February 8th, 2009 08:20PM  
This is an interpretation website, so nothing anyone has said is wrong, but I'm actually kind of upset at the interpretations I've read thus far. The words "dark" and "black" in this song are not just referring to the absence of color, but rather of nothingness altogether. Yes, this song is a love song, but I think it is equally a song about religion. "I held my tongue as she told me son, fear is the heart of love, so I never went back." FEAR IS THE HEART OF LOVE. This line is SO important to the meaning of this song. The fear of hell and punishment is what drives so many people to be religious. He never went back because he disagrees with the nun (and so should everyone). He wishes there was no fear of hell nor reward of heaven. He has lived a long life and experienced many things and been to many places. "Soles of your shoes are all worn down the time for sleep is now" - Hes tired and he's ready to sleep. To rest. To die. Hes ready to follow is loved one into nothingness, emptiness, thoughtlessness.....the dark

anonymous February 19th, 2009 12:27AM  
This song is so simple yet meaning-full. Yes it could and probibly about uncertanty of after-life. Also he could be saying how is still satisfied with his life so far. "you and me, have seen every thing to see", also being in love while felling fully satisfied. But there is a define Macon hint or tone to this song.

anonymous June 21st, 2009 08:40AM  
i think its saying - don't be scared or upset, we've done it all together and now we'll do this together , he's saying that he'll always be there no matter what 'i will follow you into the dark' can say into the dark of death , the dark of the unknown or that even though its dark which symbolises unhappiness, he loves her that much he's willing to go there.

AquarianTerrace October 23rd, 2009 01:40PM  
I feel like songs can represent whatever is meaning to the listener; and what I get from this song is that the darkness he sings about is the unknown. The writer clearly had bad experiences with religion as a child (as many of us had). I myself grew up in catholic schools and was taught of a loving excepting god that on the other hand judges and condemns his children if they aren't good enough in life. That if we don't follow all of these rules he's made up for us, then we won't be allowed into his kingdom when we die. But when you know what love truly is, you see that it's unconditional and that all of these stories just don't add up. SO the writer turned away from those stories (" I held my tongue as she told me son, fear is the heart of love. So I never went back")And now, he doesn't know exactly what the afterlife entails. To him it is the unknown; the darkness. But he does know that he'll be with that one person he loves, no matter where death leads them.

bub December 29th, 2009 11:17AM  
I honestly think it goes like this:

"Love of mine some day you will die
But I'll be close behind
I'll follow you into the dark"

Meaning that when his lover dies, he will follow her into death.

"No blinding light or tunnels to gates of white
Just our hands clasped so tight
Waiting for the hint of a spark"

Meaning that if she does not get taken to heaven or wherever people say there is when you die, he will sit with her and hold her hand.

"If Heaven and Hell decide
That they both are satisfied
Illuminate the NOs on their vacancy signs"

Meaning that if heaven and hell say no to them, take it in and accept it and look at the bright side....

"If there's no one beside you
When your soul embarks
Then I'll follow you into the dark"

The bright side is that if no one is there when she dies, he'll be there and he will go with her.

"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"

Meaning when he went to catholic school, and a nun bruised his hands(probably smacked by a ruler), he tried not to yell at her as she said "fear is the heart of love", and he took that as good advice. (he never went back, he will follow his love into the dark no matter how scared they are).

"CHORUS"

"You and me have seen everything to see
From Bangkok to Calgary
And the soles of your shoes, are all worn down"

Meaning they've lived life and seen a lot, and now their all worn down
(I thought he could have meant their real souls were worn down).

"The time for sleep is now
It's nothing to cry about
'cause we'll hold each other soon
In the blackest of rooms"

obviously meaning it's time to die or cross over and not to cry because they'll see each other when they're dead, in limbo or whatever you wanna call it, in the dark.

"CHORUS"


i hoped this helped. :) I love this song, and this is what I think when I hear it.

ICS January 23rd, 2010 12:40PM  
The meanings of this song are actually really obvious, it's just a matter of interpreting the details.

He has a good relationship with his girlfriend/wife and she's afraid of dying so he's comforting her. But in the beginning he's telling her that she will day "some day", like it's a natural thing and we all die someday (which is true). Later on it goes:
"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
It's nothing to cry about
Cause we'll hold each other soon"

Maybe they have aged through the song and she is now dying (the lyrics above are suggesting that she's going to die before him, so she might have cancer or something). You can tell that she is afraid of the after life, maybe because she hasn't been a (good) Christian and doesn't know what awaits her. He isn't religious either (it says that he "rejected" Catholic School), so he comforts her with the fact that they've lived a happy life, and no matter what awaits them, at least they'll have each other. He actually seems to find life more important than eternity, so he might not even believe there's an after life; "the dark" might just be darkness, nothing else.

anonymous March 14th, 2010 10:36PM  
I think his lover has cancer or something and that's why she's scared of dying. he's going to follow her into the dark, into death. they've been together and seen everything, their soles oftheir shoes are worn, saying that they've had a good life. everyone dies, it's alright. I'll follow you. thy sorta thing. and I think this song is MOSTLY about religion. he abandoned christinity because he didn't agree with it. FEAR IS THE HEART OF LOVE. fear hell, fear god, and obey him. love him so you don't go to that horrible place called hell. that's such an importnt line. so if heaven and he'll don't take them they'll be together. in darkness, nothingness.

mfsnowflake3 March 15th, 2010 04:44AM  
When he's talking about the catholic nun I think she is a symbol of a relationship maybe a parent who physically abuse him, he had to keep his mouth shut or the abuse would be worse. The abuser even told him "fear is the heart of love" in other words, that he loved him and he should understand that this violence/fear that he experienced was true love--of course he runs from this abuser and never goes back--I had an abuser once try to teach me this lesson and I ran too---do you think the abuser was in the catholic church, not necessarily a nun, maybe a priest in black?-just a thought

I also think that the person he is singing too he loves with all his heart, and when he says that they will go first and he will follow later, I think it means they are older than him, and when his time comes he will join them since there is no sense of time in the afterlife so they won't be alone even if it takes years on earth for the singer to die naturally...

i also think that the singer thinks they may not be good enough for heaven or hell...since they rebelled from the teaching that fear was the heart of love....and so the singer is saying that he is not good enough either and they will be ok by themselves in the unknown than with everyone else (the conformists) in heaven and hell...