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Cover of Narrow Stairs by Death Cab for Cutie
Cover: Narrow Stairs

Song · Death Cab for Cutie

“I Will Possess Your Heart” by Death Cab for Cutie

From the album Narrow Stairs (2008)

“I Will Possess Your Heart” by Death Cab for Cutie appears on 43 radio countdowns from 28 stations between 2008 and 2025. It was first released in 2008 on the album Narrow Stairs. Its best result is #1 on the WBER Listener Countdown 2008, and it was voted number one on two countdowns in total. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #5 alternative song of 2008, #6,086 alternative song of all time and #153 of the '00s.

43countdowns
28stations
#1best position
2#1 finishes
13top 10 finishes
2008–2025years charted

Watch

I Will Possess Your Heart (Album Version video)

Video from YouTube (Death Cab for Cutie). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"I Will Possess Your Heart" was the lead single from Narrow Stairs, Death Cab for Cutie's sixth album, in 2008, and it's a dare aimed at radio: a bass riff circles for five minutes in hypnotic krautrock fashion, piano chords drip in, and only then does Ben Gibbard start to sing. What he sings is unsettling, a lover's pledge curdled into one-sided obsession, which is why Paste later counted it among the 25 creepiest love songs. Radio got a four-minute edit with most of the intro cut; the album keeps all eight.

Gibbard, Nick Harmer, Jason McGerr and Chris Walla share the writing credit, and Walla mixed it. The video follows a young woman traveling alone across four continents, cut against the band playing in an industrial freezer, and it won Best Editing at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards.

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

Year#StationCountdownof
2008 47 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 2008 106
2008 45 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 2008 91
2008 7 Live 105 San Francisco, CA Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 2008 105
2008 47 CFNY 102.1 The Edge Toronto, ON 102.1 The Edge's Top 102 Songs of 2008 102
2008 7 KWOD Sacramento, CA KWOD Top 106 Songs of 2008 106
2008 2 Lightning 100 Nashville, TN Lightning 100 Top 100 Songs of 2008 100
2008 27 KFMA Tucson, AZ KFMA Top 50 Songs of 2008 50
2008 66 105.7 The Point St. Louis, MO 105.7 The Point Top 106 Songs of 2008 105
2008 1 WBER Rochester, NY WBER Listener Countdown 2008 136
2008 5 103.1 The River Kalispell-Flathead Valley, MT 103.1 The River Top 103 of 2008 103
2008 5 107.1 The Peak Westchester County, NY WXPK Top 107 Songs of 2008 107
2008 3 88.3 The Sting Cleveland, OH 88.3 The Sting WBWC Top 88 Songs of 2008 88
2008 7 KSLG Eureka (Humboldt County), CA KSLG Top 94 of 2008 94
2008 1 WXPN Philadelphia, PA WXPN Year in Review: Top 100 Songs of 2008 100
2008 4 102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany) WEQX Top 102.7 of 2008 103
2008 7 88Nine Radio Milwaukee Milwaukee, WI 88Nine Radio Milwaukee Top 100 Songs of 2008 100
2008 17 99 Rock Lebanon-Hanover-White River Junction, NH-VT 99Rock WFRD Top 99 of 2008 99
2008 7 94.1 The Zone Rochester, NY 94.1 The Zone Most Played Songs of 2008 94
2008 8 ALT 104.5 Philadelphia, PA Radio 104.5 Top 50.5 Songs of 2008 51
2008 36 Triple J Australia (national) Triple J Hottest 100 of 2008 100
2009 34 WFNX Boston, MA WFNX Top 101 Songs of 2009 101
2009 90 CFNY 102.1 The Edge Toronto, ON 102.1 The Edge The Top 102 of 2009 102
2009 17 96X Norfolk-Virginia Beach-Newport News, VA 96X Top 30 of 2009 30
2009 23 FM 102/1 Milwaukee, WI FM 102/1 Top 50 of 2009 50

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
2009 80 WFNX WFNX Top 101 Songs of the Decade (December 2009) 101
2009 160 WYEP WYEP 913 Songs That Matter from the Last Decade 913
2009 350 Live 105 Live 105 Memorial 500 Song List (2009) 500
2009 36 WYEP WYEP 913 Essential Songs 913
2010 139 94.1 The Zone 94.1 The Zone 210 Most Played Songs of the Decade 210
2010 695 WXPN WXPN 885 Ultimate Road Trip Songs (2010) 885
2013 70 WXPN WXPN 885 Greatest Songs of the New Millennium (2013) 885
2018 84 WTMD WTMD Listeners' Top 897 Songs, 2003-2018 896
2019 256 WYEP WYEP Big Spring Countdown 2019 1017
2019 256 WYEP WYEP Labor Day Weekend Countdown 2019 1099
2019 250 KEXP KEXP Listeners' Favorite Songs of All Time 627
2022 633 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 2000s 907
2022 907 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Colorado Sound Songs of All Time 1055
2023 338 WYEP WYEP Countdown to Fall 2023 1229
2023 523 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of All Time 909
2024 337 WYEP WYEP Best Songs of the Past 50 Years 1049
2024 149 WXPN WXPN The 885 Greatest Songs of the 21st Century (2024) 885
2025 197 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 21st Century 909
2025 123 WYEP WYEP Best Songs of the 21st Century (So Far) 714

Also listed as: I Will Posess Your Heart.

Charting alongside it in 2008

Best songs of 2008 →
  1. 1Sex On FireKings of Leon
  2. 2Viva La VidaColdplay
  3. 4Pork And BeansWeezer
  4. 5Let It DieFoo Fighters
  5. 6HumanThe Killers
  6. 7BelieveThe Bravery

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