Death Cab began as a solo project of Ben Gibbard, now the band's vocalist and guitarist. Gibbard took the band name from the satirical song Death Cab for Cutie, performed by The Bonzo Dog Band in The Beatles' 1967 experimental film Magical Mystery Tour. As Death Cab for Cutie, Gibbard released a cassette titled You Can Play These Songs with Chords; the release was surprisingly successful, and Gibbard decided to expand the band into a complete project. He recruited Chris Walla (who had also worked on the cassette) as an electric guitarist, Nick Harmer as bass guitarist, and Nathan Good to play drums.
The four released the LP Something About Airplanes on August 18th 1998. The album was favorably reviewed in the independent music scene, and in 2000 the band released We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes. Nathan Good left the band at some point during this album's production. His playing on “The Employment Pages” and “Company Calls Epilogue” were kept, but Gibbard played drums on all other songs.
Michael Schorr would first appear on The Forbidden Love E.P., released on October 24, 2000. In 2001, another LP was released, entitled The Photo Album. Limited editions of this album contained three bonus tracks, which were later released separately as The Stability EP.
In 2003, there was another change of drummer, with Jason McGerr of Eureka Farm replacing Schorr. McGerr would play drums on the next release, Transatlanticism.
Transatlanticism was released in October of 2003. It received critical praise and also became the band's top-selling album, with 225,000 copies sold during its first year out.
In spring of 2004, the band recorded a live E.P. titled The John Byrd E.P., named for their sound engineer. The E.P. was released on Barsuk Records in March 2004.
In November of 2004, Death Cab for Cutie signed a “long-term worldwide deal” with Atlantic Records, leaving their long-time label Barsuk Records. Gibbard stated on the official website www.deathcabforcutie.com that nothing would change except that “Next to the picture of Barsuk holding a 7", there will be the letter "A" on both the spine and back of our upcoming albums.” This was a marked change from Gibbard's earlier views on major-label relations, which he said “are set up to fuck you and take all your money.”. After signing to Atlantic, the band was still nervous about corporate economics, and encouraged fans to download its songs from the Internet.
The first and second singles off the band's Atlantic Record release Plans were “Soul Meets Body” and “Crooked Teeth”, respectively. The full album was released in August of 2005. Plans was somewhat well-acclaimed by critics and fans, and received a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Album of 2005. It achieved Gold Status in 2006 after charting on Billboard for 47 consecutive weeks.
The band released a touring DVD titled Drive Well, Sleep Carefully in 2005. Known for their contributions to animal rights, the band is supporting the activist group PETA in giving away copies of the DVD to promote animal rights.
In early 2006, the band announced the upcoming release of Directions, eleven short films inspired by songs from the Plans album, each directed by a different person. The videos were posted one at a time at the band's website and the DVD went on sale April 11, 2006.
On May 12, 2008 their album, Narrow Stairs, was released and was well received by both critics and fans. It was their first album to reach #1 on the Billboard 200. The album contains the singles "I Will Possess Your Heart", "Cath..." and "Grapevine Fires".
The band's latest released The Open Door EP, which was released on March 31, 2009. Their main styles consist of slow progressive rock with dark lyrics.
The band's seventh album, Codes and Keys, was released on May 31, 2011. The album's first single was "You Are A Tourist".
On October 11, 2013, the band reportedly began working on their eighth studio album. This was then confirmed by the group's official Instagram profile in which an image was uploaded with the caption "DCFC LP8 begins". The new album will be produced by Rich Costey and is expected to be released in early 2015. In an interview with Stereogum, Gibbard said of the new album, "I do think from start to finish it's a much better record than Codes And Keys. If that record turned anybody off, I feel pretty strongly that this one could win them back. There are threads in this one that connect back to our earliest stuff that people love." On October 29, 2013, the band released a remastered tenth-anniversary version of their 2003 album Transatlanticism. The new album included a vinyl LP and MP3 download, with demos for all the songs from the album.
As part of the 2014 Record Store Day, the band released its first live album, a vinyl-only double LP recorded during various 2012 tour dates with Magik*Magik Orchestra. Included within the packaging was a code for a digital download of the recording.
On August 13, 2014, after 17 years as a member of Death Cab for Cutie, guitarist and songwriter Chris Walla decided to part ways with the band, with his last performance occurring on September 13, 2014 at the Rifflandia Music Festival in Victoria, British Columbia. Walla states that he plans to "...continue making music, producing records, and erring on the side of benevolence and beauty whenever possible." When asked in an interview about Walla's involvement in the eighth album, McGerr confirmed that Walla "played on everything and has been involved all the way through, even in the mixing. Even though he's played his last show with us, he's still been involved in everything involving this record."
Your Heart Is Like An Empty Room
Death Cab for Cutie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And start new when your heart is an empty room
With walls of the deepest blue
Home's face: how it ages when you're away
Spring blooms and you find the love that's true
But you don't know what now to do
Cause the chase is all you know
And all you see is where else you could be
When you're at home
Out on the street are so many possibilities
To not be alone
The flames and smoke climbed out of every window
And disappeared with everything that you held dear
And you shed not a single tear for the things that you didn't need
Cause you knew you were finally free
Cause all you see is where else you could be
When you're at home out on the street
Are so many possibilities to not be alone
And all you see is where else you could be
When you're at home there on the street
Are so many possibilities to not be alone
The song "Your Heart is an Empty Room" by Death Cab for Cutie, is a powerful and emotional song that speaks about letting go of the past and starting anew when your heart is empty. The opening line of the song, "Burn it down, till the embers smoke on the ground," suggests burning everything down until there is nothing left but the ashes, allowing one to start fresh. The lyrics are powerful and emotive, using strong imagery of a home and the different seasons to illustrate the changing moods and emotions of the song's protagonist.
The song suggests that in life, we often mistake the chase for the actual goal, and when we finally catch up to it, we find that it was the wrong thing all along. The song speaks of the emptiness that comes when one realizes that there is nothing left to chase, and they are left alone with their thoughts. This can be a powerful realization, and the song speaks to how one can embrace it and use it as a way to start anew.
The song also speaks about the power of possibility, suggesting that there are endless opportunities open to us if we can just let go of the past and embrace the future. It is an uplifting message that suggests that even when we feel alone and lost, there is always a way forward, and that we should always be looking for new possibilities in life.
Line by Line Meaning
Burn it down, till the embers smoke on the ground
Destroy everything until only ashes remain on the floor.
And start new when your heart is an empty room
Rebuild your life when you have let go of all emotional attachments.
With walls of the deepest blue
Creating a new foundation for yourself, but not completely erasing everything from the past.
Home's face: how it ages when you're away
The place where your heart belongs changes over time if you are gone from it for too long.
Spring blooms and you find the love that's true
New love can grow in unexpected ways, like how nature blooms in the springtime.
But you don't know what now to do
Even when good things happen, sometimes it's hard to know how to move forward.
Cause the chase is all you know
You're so used to chasing something that you're not sure what to do when you catch it.
And she stopped running months ago
You may still be chasing someone or something that has already moved on from you.
And all you see is where else you could be
You can't stop thinking about all the other possibilities and situations you could be experiencing.
When you're at home out on the street
Even when you're in your usual surroundings, there are still endless opportunities and adventures outside.
The flames and smoke climbed out of every window
Everything you held dear has crumbled and disappeared.
And disappeared with everything that you held dear
All the things you used to cherish are now gone forever.
And you shed not a single tear for the things that you didn't need
You don't miss the things that didn't add value to your life because you knew they were unnecessary.
Cause you knew you were finally free
You feel liberated now that you have let go of all the baggage from the past.
When you're at home there on the street
Even when you're physically present, your mind is always searching for something more.
Are so many possibilities to not be alone
There are endless opportunities to connect with others and create meaningful relationships.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: BENJAMIN GIBBARD
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@abhishekdixit3083
Burn it down, till the embers smoke on the ground
And start new when your heart is an empty room
With walls of the deepest blue
Home's face: how it ages when you're away
Spring blooms and you find the love that's true
But you don't know what now to do
Cause the chase is all you know
And she stopped running months ago
And all you see is where else you could be
When you're at home
Out on the street are so many possibilities
To not be alone
The flames and smoke climbed out of every window
And disappeared with everything that you held dear
And you shed not a single tear for the things that you didn't need
Cause you knew you were finally free
Cause all you see is where else you could be
When you're at home out on the street
Are so many possibilities to not be alone
And all you see is where else you could be
When you're at home there on the street
Are so many possibilities to not be alone
@ericfoster8411
Ben Gibbard deserves everything good in life for the amount of songs he wrote that are just sooo good
@chadelliot2021
This album heals like no other. Love how it’s called “Plans”, but constantly sings about events that no one can control, and how to use those events to make yourself stronger. Thanks Death Cab, for me top 5 in the last 25 years. ❤️
@audreyirving6084
Plans has been my comfort album since I was 10. Thank you🤍
@brianvelasquez3934
Facts
@jonnyogy2872
The message I get is we need to be satisfied and content with who and what's around us. It's important to strive for more as well, but also do not let your heart be an empty room that can never be filled.
Also, it's a brilliant and beautiful song in and of itself as well!
@Thekijuju
Love it. Been trying to find meaning to this since high school. Used to think it was about person A chasing after person B who's already for person A and its just person A not knowing where to go next so they stop chasing after person B for other people repeating the same crap.
@chadelliot2021
Couldn’t agree more. The fact that the album is called “plans” just shows that you can’t control anything. Better to lean into adversity, embrace it, and learn from it.
@high54me
This album helped me through A LOT. Thank you 💘
@abhishekdixit3083
Burn it down, till the embers smoke on the ground
And start new when your heart is an empty room
With walls of the deepest blue
Home's face: how it ages when you're away
Spring blooms and you find the love that's true
But you don't know what now to do
Cause the chase is all you know
And she stopped running months ago
And all you see is where else you could be
When you're at home
Out on the street are so many possibilities
To not be alone
The flames and smoke climbed out of every window
And disappeared with everything that you held dear
And you shed not a single tear for the things that you didn't need
Cause you knew you were finally free
Cause all you see is where else you could be
When you're at home out on the street
Are so many possibilities to not be alone
And all you see is where else you could be
When you're at home there on the street
Are so many possibilities to not be alone
@autumnreeves9740
Thank you for the lyrics :)