Singing Faithfulness To The Love Of Your Life (April 1, 2007)

My son Ben was surprised that I liked Ben Gibbard's I Will Follow You
Into The Dark, because the song clearly is sung from the perspective
of an atheist. But it is not the atheism that I like - it is the
promise of faithfulness till death. Gibbard sings to his own
accompaniment on an acoustic guitar:

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 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

No afterlife, just a barren black nothingness for Gibbard and his
beloved - but at least he promises to be there when she leaves, and
that could be 60 years from now! Presumably he plans to be there for
the intervening years as well. That is good. Not enough Christians
understand the meaning of "till death do us part." If the song
reflects Gibbard's true intent, and, resisting the temptations of
musical stardom, he remains a faithful companion to one woman until
she dies in a nursing home, then, despite his atheism, he will have
done well.

It seems like poor Gibbard had a bad experience with religion when he
was young. He sings,

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

My experience in school was very different. As far as I know, I never
had a Christian teacher - abusive or kindly - but I did have an
English teacher who labored hard to turn me and my classmates into
existentialists. It was a wearisome campaign on the part of an
otherwise outstanding instructor, and my recollection of it has
inspired me just now to work out some alternate lyrics to Gibbard's
tune:


In public school, dismal as Pagan rule
I got my spirit bruised by a skeptic in black
He told me too, that I should read Camus
And learn life is meaningless
So I never went back

When limbo and hell decide
That they both are satisfied
Illuminate the lights on their "Go Away" signs
When Jesus stands beside you
As your soul departs
You'll still be joined unto my heart

Ok, it is not very good yet - this is still a work in progress! But it seems to me that, if an atheist can sing life-long commitment to his beloved in the context of existential gloom, surely we can do the same in the context of divine hope.