"Meet Me on the Equinox" is a song by American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band

Death Cab for Cutie Death Cab for Cutie is an American rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington, in 1997. The band is currently composed of Ben Gibbard (vocals, guitar, piano), Nick Harmer (bass), Dave Depper (guitar, keyboards, backing vocals), Zac Rae (keyboar ...

that was released as the first single from the soundtrack to the 2009 film '' The Twilight Saga: New Moon''. The song debuted on September 13 during the

2009 MTV Video Music Awards The 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, honoring the best music videos from the previous year between June 2008 to June 2009, were presented on September 13, 2009, at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City, and televised by MTV. The ceremony was ho ...

. The music video, directed by the

Walter Robot Walter Robot is a creative studio founded by artist Bill Barminski and director Christopher Louie. They work in multiple mediums including film, television, art and sculpture. Their film work has screened at several film festivals, including the ...

team, premiered in October.

Background and lyrics

Alexandra Patsavas Alexandra Patsavas (born 1968) is Grammy and Emmy nominated American music supervisor, producer, & executive who has worked on over 100 films and television series, most notably '' The Twilight Saga'', ''The O.C.'', ''Grey's Anatomy'', ''Gossip G ...

music supervisor A music supervisor is a person who combines music and visual media. According to The Guild of Music Supervisors, a music supervisor is “a qualified professional who oversees all music related aspects of film, television, advertising, video games ...

on ''New Moon'', provided scenes from the film to some of the artists featured on the soundtrack as a guide. Death Cab for Cutie guitarist

Chris Walla Christopher Ryan Walla (born November 2, 1975) is an American musician, record producer, and film music composer, best known for being a former guitarist and songwriter for the band Death Cab for Cutie. Musical career Early bands While at Bot ...

said he had read two of the books in the ''

Twilight Twilight is light produced by sunlight scattering in the upper atmosphere, when the Sun is below the horizon, which illuminates the lower atmosphere and the Earth's surface. The word twilight can also refer to the periods of time when this il ...

'' series at the time of the song's recording and noted that the lyrics are more suggestive than literal. Singer

Ben Gibbard Benjamin Gibbard (born August 11, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the indie rock band Death Cab for Cutie, with whom he has recorded ten studio albums, and as a membe ...

admitted that he hadn't read all of the books in the ''Twilight'' series and said that the song is more about his personal life than

Stephenie Meyer Stephenie Meyer (; née Morgan; born December 24, 1973) is an American novelist and film producer. She is best known for writing the vampire literature, vampire romance series ''Twilight (novel series), Twilight'', which has sold over 100 mill ...

's fictional world. Gibbard said of the song's meaning, "The song at its core is just about meeting another halfway, because life is very short, because there's only a brief period of time to really connect with people, and that it's important to recognize that." Gibbard added, "I just wanted something that kind of tonally matched the story and the scenes within the film, so they could kind of be put alongside but not be telling a narrative you're watching on the screen."

Reception

Evan C. Jones of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' praised the song's guitars and melodies and said its lyrics "convey an eerie sensuality appropriate for a teen-vampire love story." Peter Gason of ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

'' described the song as Death Cab for Cutie's "most unabashed stab at pop crossover yet."

Chart performance

In September 2009, the song entered the US ''

Alternative Songs Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...

chart, where it has peaked at number eight. The song has peaked at number 30 in Australia, number 34 in New Zealand, and number 86 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control 2009 singles Death Cab for Cutie songs Songs from The Twilight Saga (film series)