THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS PRESENT: THE SUNNY SIDE OF MY STREET with THE "MIGHTY MEZ" - SONGS TO MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD - EPISODE #30: I WILL FOLLOW YOU INTO THE DARK by DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE (ATLANTIC, 2005)

Ok, this is an ironic first for SUNNY SONGS: an emo number about death. WTF? I can’t really explain why, when I set about devising a list of songs that make me feel good, this one popped into my head. Maybe it’s the unflinching devotion expressed by composer Ben Gibbard. It’s calm, simple, stoic, resolute. “When your soul embarks I will follow you into the dark,” he proclaims. No questions, no hesitation. His love is eternal, and conquers the fear of unending night. We’ll hold hands, he assures his love. I can remember when I first heard it, riding in the backseat of a car on a roadtrip. It wasn’t loud, and took me by surprise, gobsmacking me, and causing me to well up instantaneously. I wanted to know who that singer was, wondering who could have rendered this perfect piece. I had heard about the band from Bellingham, WA, with the unusual name - Death Cab For Cutie, but I had never actually heard them. The name derives, I discovered, from a song title written by the British Bonzo Dog Band humorists, Vivian Stanshall and Neil Innes. Things just got curiouser and curiouser. In the lyric Ben tells us that he was taught in Catholic school that “Fear is the heart of love,” and he is clearly doing his utmost here to countermand that dogma. Recorded solo, on a single mic during a session break, I Will Follow You Into the Dark may have failed to chart on the Billboard Top 100, but it went double platinum, was nominated for a Grammy in 2007, and has been featured in many many tv shows and films, proving that, sometimes, quieter is better.