Song · Death Cab for Cutie
“Cath” by Death Cab for Cutie
From the album Narrow Stairs (2008)
“Cath” by Death Cab for Cutie appears on 33 radio countdowns from 25 stations between 2008 and 2025. It was first released in 2008 on the album Narrow Stairs. Its best result is #20 on the 88Nine Radio Milwaukee Top 100 Songs of 2008. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #38 alternative song of 2008, #4,565 alternative song of all time and #478 of the '00s.
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Video from YouTube (Death Cab for Cutie). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube
"Cath" followed "I Will Possess Your Heart" as the second single from Narrow Stairs, Death Cab for Cutie's sixth album, in 2008, and Benjamin Gibbard packs a whole unhappy wedding into it: the title character heads down the aisle toward a decent, well-meaning man she doesn't love, while the one she still pines for looks on.
Chris Walla produced and mixed it, and the band plays it like a wedding march taken at a sprint, guitars chiming and the rhythm pushing hard under Gibbard's clear, aching voice. Autumn de Wilde directed the video, casting Beth Riesgraf as Cath and Lukas Haas as the old flame, and drew its heartache from Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights. The song reached 10 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 1849 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) | 2011 |
| 2011 | 1726 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) | 2011 |
| 2013 | 1540 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) | 2012 |
| 2013 | 105 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Greatest Songs of the New Millennium (2013) | 885 |
| 2014 | 1386 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) | 2013 |
| 2018 | 220 | WTMD | WTMD Listeners' Top 897 Songs, 2003-2018 | 896 |
| 2022 | 675 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 2000s | 907 |
| 2022 | 446 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Colorado Sound Songs of All Time | 1055 |
| 2024 | 456 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Songs of the 21st Century | 1055 |
| 2024 | 722 | WXPN | WXPN The 885 Greatest Songs of the 21st Century (2024) | 885 |
| 2025 | 357 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 21st Century | 909 |
Also listed as: Cath...; Cath….
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