Critical Reaction
Critical response to "I Will Follow You into the Dark" was generally positive. In their reviews for the album Plans, Robert Christgau selected the song as his "choice cut", Pitchfork Media called it the album's "quiet centerpiece" and praised its "unexpected turns of phrase", PopMatters called it "one of the best written pop songs of the year – if not of the past five years", and Tiny Mix Tapes stated that it was "one of the band’s best songs to date." Rolling Stone however, said that the song "demonstrates how wise Gibbard is to let the band mess with his pristine melodies, which would sound wispy and ignorable on their own."
The song was nominated for the 2007 Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, but lost to "My Humps" by The Black Eyed Peas. By being nominated in this category, instead of for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, it credited the entire band for Gibbard's solo performance.
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