Originally envisioned as a solo project for songwriter Ben Gibbard, Death Cab for Cutie formed in the late ‘90s in Bellingham, Washington. Gibbard released an album entitled You Can Play These Songs With Chords and that release lead him to sign a record deal with Barsuk Records. Shortly after signing the record deal, Gibbard recruited guitarist Chris Walla, bassist Nick Hamer and drummer Nathan Good to form the initial lineup. Since then, Good left the group and was replaced by Jason McGeer.

In November of 2004 the band left Barsuk Records and signed a long-term deal with Atlantic Records. Even though the band was happy with the decision to go with Atlantic, they had an uneasy feeling about corporate economics and still encouraged their fans to download their music from the Internet.

“I Will Follow You Into the Dark” is from their 2005 album, Plans. It was recorded at Long View Farm in North Brookfield, Massachusetts and was released in August of 2005. Many fans consider this album to be a natural progression from their previous album, Transatlanticism. This song was a return to Gibbard’s roots as a solo singer-songwriter. The performance, captured by producer/guitarist Chris Walla, happened while Gibbard was waiting for Walla to fix a technical issue. Walla overheard the tune and immediately asked Gibbard to track the song. The final performance on the record ended up being a mono recording with very little editing.

THE CAPO
For this tune, Gibbard uses a capo on the fifth fret. A capo allows you to easily change the key of a song while keeping the chord shapes consistent. Because of this, the guitar part is written in the key of C while the vocal part is written as it sounds in the key of F.

INTRO
The song begins with a 16-bar instrumental intro. This establishes the sound of the progression that will be used in the Chorus. The let ring indications throughout the tune show where the fret hand completes the fingering. Use these as clues to where the chord shapes change, however there are some transitional areas you want to watch out for. In the first measure, the change from Am to C actually begins on the “and” of beat 4 where the G and C notes ring into the C chord in measure two. The full C major chord isn’t complete until beat one of the second measure.

As you can hear on the recording, Gibbard is using his fingers instead of a pick. Usually when you see an indication for w/ fingers it suggests that two or more notes being played simultaneously would be plucked. Gibbard employs a technique where he uses his thumb to play the bass notes and his index finger to strum the chords. Fig. 1 shows the right hand fingerings for the first four measures of the Intro. Notice the accent marks below the notes on beats 2 and 4; here is where Gibbard uses his index finger to accent the chords. The sim indication in the fifth measure means to continue accenting in a similar manner.

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THE VERSE
The Verse presents a slightly different chord progression that uses the chord shapes in Fig. 2. Although the strumming pattern changes slightly, you want to keep using the same technique of playing the bass note with your thumb and strumming the chords with your index finger. This will keep the sound consistent throughout the various sections of the tune.

THE CHORUS AND CODA
The chord progression from the Intro returns in the Chorus. Gibbard continues his unique fingerstyle approach. Make sure to emphasize the walk down in the bass notes in measure four going from C to G/B and then an A minor chord in measure five. The other unique chord in the Chorus happens in the measure before the first ending. The F minor chord acts as a “borrowed” chord from the parallel key. In the key of C the F minor chord functions as a minor sub-dominant (iv) chord that is borrowed from the key of C minor. Using these types of chords adds interest to the progression and breaks you out of the rut of staying entirely diatonic throughout the tune. The Codas that happen at the end of the tune are short, but help with the understanding of the form of the tune. The first Coda is a five measure extension to the third Verse. After the first Coda, the Chorus repeats and then goes into the second Coda, which ends the tune with Gibbard strumming whole notes on the last three chords.

Want more? Check out these cool links at guitaredge.com

• Get more tab from Death Cab for Cutie at guitarinstructor.com
• Get Death Cab for Cutie guitar tab transcription books at musicdispatch.com
• Download “I Will Follow You Into the Dark” from iTunes
• Get cool Death Cab for Cutie gear at oldglory.com
• Visit Death Cab for Cutie online at deathcabforcutie.com

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