I Will Possess Your Heart

The song's lyrics depict a one-sided obsessive relationship from the point of view of the pursuer, who implores the object of his affection that she needs to "spend some time" with him so that he might "possess [her] heart." The song is written in the key of D, but the main motif continually switches modes from major to minor as the chord goes from D to F with a moderate tempo of 134 beats per minute. The music is dominated by a distinctive 4-bar bass guitar riff that is repeated through nearly all of the song. This is interspersed with piano chords that generally follow a D–D/C–F–G progression. The lead vocals have a range of D3–G4. The instrumentation also includes multiple guitar parts, drums, and backup vocals. Gibbard characterized the song as "five minutes of build and then a three-minute song", Harmer said of the bass line, "I immediately gravitated to the creepy, stalker-ish theme that Ben created with the lyrics and the piano chords.... I liked the idea that once a stalker gets obsessed with an idea, it just keeps repeating in his head, so I wanted the bass line to have a repetitive, incessant theme." The song was released on March 18, 2008, initially as a "surprise stream" on the band's website, and soon after was picked up by radio stations. It was released in two versions: the album version of the song is over eight minutes long, while the radio edit largely removes the instrumental introduction, shortening the song to four minutes. == Reception ==

The song received acclaim from critics. James Montgomery of MTV News said of the song, "there are moments on Stairs that stop you dead in your tracks, send shivers up your spine and make you go 'Whoa'... like the first four-and-a-half minutes of 'I Will Possess Your Heart,' a propulsive whirl of stalking bass line, spindly guitars and stabbing piano." Will Hermes noted in Rolling Stone that the sense of menace in the song was "playing against type for a guy with one of rock's purest voices—a vibrato-less, bell-clear high tenor whose choirboy quality only throws the darkness here into relief." Blender Jonah Weiner concurred, stating "it's a pleasant surprise to hear Gibbard inhabit such a self-consciously creepy role, rather than play the occasionally errant, essentially good-hearted boyfriend who soft-shoes through so many of his tales." In 2011, Tyler Kane of Paste included the song in a list of "the 25 creepiest songs about love". and was ranked #36 on the Triple J Hottest 100 of 2008 in Australia. The song was nominated for the 2009 Grammy Award for Best Rock Song, but lost to "Girls in Their Summer Clothes" by Bruce Springsteen. "I Will Possess Your Heart" was covered by Springfield, Massachusetts-based sludge metal band Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean, on their LP The Vestige, which was released in 2020. == Music video ==

, as she travels to various world locations while barely reacting to the sights around her. Synopsis The music video features scenes of a young woman traveling alone to various places around the world, interspersed with the band performing in an industrial freezer room. Throughout her journey, the woman keeps a neutral expression and barely reacts to the sights around her. The video was shot in New York City, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Hokkaido, Tunis, Carthage, Bangkok, Siem Reap, and Phnom Penh. Filming Aaron Stewart-Ahn was selected to direct the video based on his previous work directing the video for "Stable Song", as well as work documenting the band's live performances. Stewart-Ahn said that the theme of travel had been inspired by Death Cab for Cutie's earlier song "Transatlanticism", as well as his own extensive experience traveling solo, adding that "I’ve always felt that travel is a defining human experience that changes you forever, and hope that this depiction of wanderlust, obsessiveness, repetition, and loneliness conveys some of that.” On his directing, Stewart-Ahn said "The goal was absolute realism; nothing was staged." Much of the film was shot on camcorder, including a Panasonic AG-HVX200 and a consumer-grade Canon HV30, so as to blend in by looking like tourists. He noted that the trip to Hokkaido was taken on a whim, and during the trip the team realized that daylight would be gone by the time they would reach their intended destination, so they exited the train at Asari and took what would become the final shot of the video there. ==Track listing==

US CD: • "I Will Possess Your Heart" (7" edit) • "I Will Possess Your Heart" (10" edit) • "I Will Possess Your Heart" (album version) US 7" vinyl: • "I Will Possess Your Heart" (radio edit) • "The Ice Is Getting Thinner" (demo) ==Credits and personnel==

• Words by Benjamin Gibbard • Song by Benjamin Gibbard, Nicholas Harmer, Jason McGerr, and Christopher Walla • Produced by Christopher Walla • Recorded by Christopher Walla and Will Markwell at Two Sticks Audio, Seattle, Washington • Mixed by Christopher Walla at The Alberta Court, Portland, Oregon • Mastered by Roger Seibel at SAE Mastering, Phoenix, Arizona • Artwork and layout by EE Storey ==Charts==

Weekly charts Year-end charts ==Certifications==