I’ll Follow You into the Dark
Artist: Death Cab for Cutie
Songwriter: Ben Gibbard

Hello Artist Accelerator Nation!

The most important lines of any verse are the opening and closing lines. These are called the power positions. (At some point I’ll explain the scientific reasons why, but for now, trust me…)

Great songs have great power positions. The most important ideas of your verses should be in the power positions. They should compliment each other. If the power positions are mismatched, the verse feels awkward.

I’ll Follow does a great job with its power positions. Especially the first two verses…

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

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

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 in the blackest of room

…here’s just the power positions…

Love of mine, someday you will die
Just our hands clasped so tight, waiting for the hint of a spark

In Catholic school as vicious as Roman rule
So I never went back

*You and me have seen everything to see, from Bangkok to Calgary 
Cause we'll hold each other soon in the blackest of rooms

*(In my opinion, verse three power positions have merit, but they aren’t as clear or cohesive as the first two verses)

Notice that you get a pretty good idea of what the verses are about by only reading the power positions. This is a great test to perform on your own lyric. If you strip all the middle lines of your verses away, do the remaining lines make sense? Do they tell your story? If your power positions are cohesive and the answer is yes, then your lyric is probably fine. If your power positions don’t make sense, you are probably in trouble.

Song Power Positions

I wouldn’t really call this next thing a technique or tool. I’m sure it only has a minor bearing on understanding the song as a whole…still, I think it’s cool the way it works in this song. The first and last line of the ENTIRE SONG brilliantly summarize the entire song….

Love of mine, someday you will die
Then I’ll follow you into the dark

BAM!

How cool is that? I don’t think a song needs to do that to be “great”. In fact, I personally prefer putting the hook/title of the chorus in the OPENING line, which is a stronger position for it. Still, I love the way that concept works in this song.

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Unbalanced Last Chorus – Saving the Best for Last!

Alright, I have one last thing to say about this lyric, and it has to do with the last chorus. All the verses and the choruses of this song have an even amount of lines – 4 lines apiece. These are considered “balanced” sections. They are extremely stable. Most sections, in most songs we hear are balanced like that. There is nothing out of the ordinary. This is not a bad or good thing…4 lines “feel” right, when we write them.

Aha! The LAST chorus of this song has 5 lines, Gibbard adds an extra line, throwing the section out of balance. Here it is again…

If heaven and hell decide that they both are satisfied
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

This is incredibly significant. Think about the subject of the song…following someone beyond this life…following someone into the unknown. What is more unstable and unbalanced than going somewhere unknown and unfamiliar? Repeating the line at the end gives the statement extra resolve even in the face of uncertainty…it’s like a musical exclamation point…an exclamation point that happens just prior to stepping into the imbalance and chaos of the ultimate abyss. My guess is he didn’t intend it to be that way. He was just repeating the hook for emphasis. Still, you can’t argue with the power of that metaphoric closure, whether intended or not.

Good luck in your writing this week. Go write something cool and inspiring. Deal?

Cheers,

~Shane