 Death Cab is timeless. All you need is to be depressed. That’s why even at 28 years old, I listen to Ben Gibbard’s music like I'm a moody teenager who just got his first iPod. Here are my Top Ten Ben Gibbard Songs: 10. A Movie Script Ending. Off their 2001 album, The Photo Album, this song represents a glimpse into the future of what Death Cab would be for the next two decades. It’s a classic, and I think everyone should appreciate it more. 9. You’ve Haunted Me All My Life. I think Kintsugi gets too much crap from Death Cab fans and critics alike. While underwhelming compared to their earlier work, I thought it was better than Codes and Keys overall. Plus, it has this gem of a song on there. 8. 60 & Punk. This song was included on My Top Ten Sad Songs To Listen To When You’re Sad. It’s the story of someone who used to be something but is now washed up, and to me that’s one of the most tragically beautiful things in this world. 7. Transatlanticism. Anytime I am feeling up to a good dose of nostalgia, I throw on the title track to Death Cab's 2003 album Transatlanticism. I feel like this album represents a simpler, more emo time in our lives when we wanted to understand the feelings expressed in this album, fully unaware that we’d regret that sentiment come our mid-twenties. 6. Such Great Heights. When you think of Ben Gibbard’s music, you automatically think of "I Will Follow You into the Dark" and "Such Great Heights." The Postal Service has to be the best side project of any musician ever. A beautiful mix of Ben Gibbard’s thoughtful lyrics combined with a more upbeat, electronic sound which puts you in the strange mood of happy sad. 5. Cath... (see below) 4. Your New Twin Sized Bed. I think Narrow Stairs is a highly underrated album by Death Cab. I think a lot of people remember it for "I Will Possess Your Heart", which is a good song with a hypnotically killer bass line, but the rest of the album has some gems that get forgotten. "Your New Twin Sized Bed" and "Cath…" are two such gems. Known by Death Cab fans, sure, but the casual listener might not know them as well. Ben Gibbard’s knack for storytelling is on full display in these two songs. Add in a smooth guitar line responding to Ben’s vocals, and I just can’t get enough. 3. What Sarah Said. I also included this song on My Top Ten Sad Songs to Listen to When You’re Sad. This song is a beautiful story about the final moments of life and crossing over into the next. A hospital portrayed as the afterlife’s waiting room. But the most beautiful part of the song comes at the end where Ben utters, "I’m thinking of what Sarah said. Love is watching someone die." And then the outro repeats, "So who’s going to watch you die" over and over until it fades out. If that doesn’t hit you in your dormant (or not so dormant) emo feels, then I don’t know what will. 2. I Will Follow You into the Dark. Death Cab for Cutie is nothing without this song, and even though it’s not my second favorite Ben Gibbard song (note: this is list is not my top ten favorite Ben Gibbard songs), I have to include it here at #2. I think everyone has had a moment in their adolescence where they stumble upon this song and are immediately in emo bliss. Swept up by lyrics so hauntingly beautiful and now overused that they have probably become cliche. Regardless, it’s a beautiful song, and one that we all wish to feel about a person at some point in our lives. 1. The District Sleeps Alone Tonight. I don’t know why this tops this list, but it does. I can’t really pinpoint exactly what it is about this song that brings me back over and over again regardless of how I am feeling or what stage of life I am in, but it seems to just always hit right. Maybe it’s the lyrics, or maybe it’s the catchy melody and the weird combination of characteristically upbeat sad music The Postal Service is known for. Regardless, I will be old and gray and listening to this song, and whoever is with me will just have to deal with it. Honorable Mentions:
My Backwards Walk. Ok this is a cover, so I didn’t want to include it in my true top ten. But (the original song and) this cover is incredible. I think everyone has felt some version of what this song is about. And if you don’t know, then consider yourself a lucky soul. Passenger Seat. I think you can slow your heart rate at will just by listening to this song. It’s the closest to what it feels like to be a sloth that I will ever know. Soul Meets Body Title and Registration Sleeping In
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