Beyond the 35-year-old Pacific Northwest native’s dayjob as frontman of the highly successful indie rock outfit Death Cab For Cutie, Gibbard also caught a lot of notoriety as the voice of The Postal Service (remember “Such Great Heights?”), released several solo albums under the moniker of ¡All-Time Quarterback!, played a small role in the John Krasinski film Brief Interviews with Hideous Men and recorded a solo album with Son Volt vocalist Jay Farrar back in 2009. He was also married to actress Zooey Deschanel from 2009 to 2011, forming the most powerful hipster couple ever to share a Pabst Blue Ribbon.
And “I Will Follow You Into the Dark” is an excellent, excellent song.
However, Gibbard is, above all else, clearly loyal to the Pacific Northwest, being born in Bremerton, Washington (which, ironically, is always more closely associated with the pop punk group MxPx), and having released most of his musical output on Sub Pop Records and Barsuk Records, both of which are based in Seattle. The singer and guitarist is also, apparently, a Mariners fan.
After learning of the trade that sent Ichiro Suzuki and cash to the New York Yankees for prospects, Gibbard posted a song to Soudcloud.com which he had written years prior, just another b-side collecting dust and otherwise likely never to never see the light of day. The song is an ode to the former Mariners outfielder, recounting his exploits (such as “throwing out runners on a frozen rope”) and featuring a chorus of “Ichiro, Ichiro, you’re unbelievable.”
The Soundcloud post included a simple message from Gibbard, “I wrote this a few years ago. Today seems like the best day to let you all hear it. Thank you, Ichiro.” So, if you’re a fan of indie rock and baseball, you can listen to the song below.
Photo via Facebook/Benjamin Gibbard
