I Will Follow You Into The Dark- Death Cab For Cutie
Percy’s perspective:
Here’s a song that completely reminds me of Percy and Annabeth’s fall into Tartarus:
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
So, Annabeth is obviously Percy’s love, and throughout the books, we all read that Percy understands he’ll die soon, and so will Annabeth. We also know that in the end of Mark of Athena he was so terrified about the thought of losing her again that he never let go of her hand. This bit’s pretty self-explanatory, he followed her into the dark.
(I also kinda like the idea of the dark symbolising the unknown, and Percy following her in that sense too.)
But I was also thinking about how falling into Tartarus is something demigods haven’t experienced before, so no one would’ve known what it felt like, or whether (and we still don’t know this) they both died, or it was ‘blinding light’ falling down or they’d already crossed into the Underworld and ‘tunnels to gates of white’ depending on where they’re destined to go.
Hands clasped so tight is just… vew[pjgej a lot of Percabeth feels right there. And of course, ‘waiting’ for what’s to come next. (Us too, as fans.)
If Heaven and Hell decide
That they both are satisfied
Illuminate the NOs on their vacancy signs
If there’s no one beside you
When your soul embarks
Then I’ll follow you into the dark
Okay, so, Percy’s unaware of where they’d be or are going, so I’m wondering if maybe the idea of whether he’s a hero or an idiot for following her crossed his mind. The Underworld can easily be both a Heaven and a Hell depending on where you are. Or whether they’re full or not where they’re supposed to be.
And the last stanza of that verse is just Percy’s thoughts to falling into Tartarus with Annabeth right there again.
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
This verse is pretty interesting. Roman rule obviously symbolises Camp Jupiter to me. The ‘lady in black’ fulfills Gaea and the way she tormented everyone through dreams, knowing Percy’s weakness is his loyalty to friends and telling him in a weird way that ‘fear is the heart of love’, him ‘never going back’ to not admit that idea as true out loud though he knows it is.
If Heaven and Hell decide
That they both are satisfied
Illuminate the NOs on their vacancy signs
If there’s no one beside you
When your soul embarks
Then I’ll follow you into the dark
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 rooms
Percy and Annabeth’s relationship has got them through a lot of things, and we could clearly see how tired and over-worked Annabeth was in Mark of Athena, preparing for her sole quest. So I think when she fell, she really was ‘all worn down’ at having done what was asked for her but nothing being okay.
I’m thinking Percy really would’ve reasssured her, talking about how they’re together and will ‘hold each other soon’, despite the ‘blackest of rooms’ being Tartarus.
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
I think Percy, in that moment, was probably not even thinking of what would happen next to the pair of them. He’s ridiculously impulsive and he was just driven by the idea of Annabeth being lost to him and he couldn’t deal with that. Annabeth having to go it alone on her quest worried him a lot, thinking of ‘no one beside’ her, and whenever next her ‘soul embarks’, the next quest or dilemma or situation that falls their way, I’m pretty sure he’ll always follow her into the unknown… ‘follow her into the dark.’
