What does I Will Follow You Into The Dark mean?

Death Cab For Cutie: I Will Follow You Into The Dark Meaning

Album cover for I Will Follow You Into The Dark album cover

Song Released: 2006


I Will Follow You Into The Dark Lyrics

Love of mine some day 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...

  1. anonymous
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    Oct 21st 2008 !⃝

    "I Will Follow You into the Dark" is a song of undying love for another, a love that will continue into death.
    As a young boy the person seems to have his disagreement with Catholicism. "Fear is the heart of love" seems to have provoked him enough to leave the religion. It may mean either that he does not fear the church and God or that he may completely disagree.
    The song can be interpreted two ways. One, the young man will follow the girl into the unknown, and the rest of their lives. Two, the young man loves the girl enough to follow her into death and beyond. If heaven and Hell won't take them, he will willingly plunge into darkness spend eternity with the one he loves

  2. tarma07
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    Sep 10th 2008 !⃝

    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."

  3. anonymous
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    May 27th 2008 !⃝

    In reference to the video, you fear what you don't know.

  4. anonymous
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    Feb 21st 2008 !⃝

    This song is about a man loving a woman so much that he could not bear to live without her. Following her into the dark represents him committing suicide after she dies.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  5. anonymous
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    Jan 28th 2008 !⃝

    To the two Christians before me if you like the song because of the way it sounds, then cool. But if you know the lyrics then you should know that it has unbiblical implications. I liked the song when I first heard it, but when I listened to the lyrics it made me change my opinion. Normally it takes more for me to not like something, but with "no blinding light, or tunnels to gates of white- just our hands clasped so tight"- the song is putting your love for a girl above God. I don't know about you, but I would never leave God to follow a girl.

  6. anonymous
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    Dec 7th 2007 !⃝

    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!

  7. anonymous
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    Nov 23rd 2007 !⃝

    I am quite distracted - I wonder wether this song contains lyrics that are not very Christian. In fact, I'm Christian (and I'm absolutely convinced that I want to be a Christian, it's not just because my parents educaten me that way), but still I love this song. But it would somehow feel umcomfortable if this song was just hte opposite of what I think death is going to be like. [Love of mine someday you will die But I'll be close behind] Does this imply suicide ("close behind", as if he was planning to die just after his love)??? [If heaven and hell decide That they both are satisfied.] Does this mean that he thinks heaven and hell can just make a deal and that heaven has a desire, the satisfaction of which can just be decided on? (sounds somehow blasphemical to me...) [Illuminate the NOs on their vacancy signs.] I don't get that part... ["Son fear is the heart of love"] ...nor I do get this part... So, after all, I fear this song might contain criticism on christianity and its image of an afterlife. Of course I would never support these strict catholic schools, but still, I believe in God and an afterlife. Now I fear I might not be able to fight that out with my conscience... Could someone answer my questions and/or simply tell me if death cab or this song is criticizing christianity??? thanks

  8. shakeninja
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    Oct 3rd 2007 !⃝

    He is saying that him and the person he loves wandered the entire earth and learned all the ideas religions and principles there were to know. and when they finally ended their journey they were weary and that they had wandered for so far and so long that their shoes were worn to nothing. as they sat together they contemplated the world and heaven and hell and they wondered what the point of existence was and what the afterlife could bring that would be worthwhile.and then they realized that in the end the only thing that truly mattered was the love they had for each other. and they new that regardless of heaven or hell they would always be together and that because they would always have each other to hold and love even a dark empty room would be the perfect heaven.

  9. anonymous
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    Sep 30th 2007 !⃝

    [Loosely stated by Ben Gibbard] This song refers to Ben's epiphany after leaving catholic school and standing up to beliefs imposed upon him that no one actually knows what truly happens to us when we die, what we're walking into or what it will consist of [hence, it being like a dark/unknown place or image]. He states that while that might be fearful, dark image, he'll follow his significant other [you] 'into the dark', and that they won't be alone.

    "There's nothing to cry about, because we'll hold each other soon".

  10. anonymous
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    Aug 21st 2007 !⃝

    I was told that it was sort of about his fear of death, and it grows bigger and bigger(or maybe that's just what the video is about), and that the fear is sort of like a hole, and once he gets in the "hole", he realizes that's it's not that big of a deal, or he realizes that death isn't that big of a deal. of course, I'm going by the video

  11. anonymous
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    Jul 9th 2007 !⃝

    This song is saying that if hell doesn't want her and neither does hell, no matter where she goes after she dies he'll always be with her. He's basically saying how much he loves her and that they'll always be together no matter what happens.

  12. anonymous
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    Jun 22nd 2007 !⃝

    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.

  13. anonymous
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    Dec 22nd 2006 !⃝

    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"

  14. cami1390
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    Oct 26th 2006 !⃝

    This song is powerfull,deep, and has so much meaning,
    here he's talking about someone that he has loved so much, but they could never be together, the song talks about if she should die that he would still save his heart for her "waiting for the hint of a spark" because he still loves her. "illuminate the no's on their vacancy signs" is talking about how he hopes that if her and her former lover are done with that she would open her heart up to him because he has been waiting for her. "son fear is the heart of love" means that the catholic school teacher was telling him that fear is what makes love love, he was scared to tell her how he felt.

    The song is basically talking about a relationship that never truly happeed but he is so in love with her that he will folow her into the dark, love her till her death and still after she's dead, that when her heart is free from what evers holding her back from them being together, (bf or timing) he will wait, and that they will be together soon, he will wait till she's ready. This song has such a deap meaning to me.

    A close friend told me that whenever he herd this song he thought of me and that he would follow me into the dark, I started to cry because I had the same feelings for him, but we could never have a relationship, this song breaks my heart. I still feel it every time I here that song, tears come to my eyes.

  15. haze
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    Aug 28th 2006 !⃝

    Hell follow the girl forever even to the death. If heaven and hell don't want anymore souls or if the pearly gates don't even exist and there is only blackness, it doesn't matter because they will both be together. He left the catholic faith because he had to suffer to be a "good catholic" and he had to fear death and live a "good catholic" life in order to be loved by god and to not go to hell so he left the faith.




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