Indigo Girls - Live Foxboro, MA 1991
Indigo Girls - Live Mountain View, CA 1994
Indigo Girls became the preeminent group to come out of the neo folk movement of the late 1980’s and became staples on college radio while also becoming critical darlings and having a degree of mainstream commercial success. The years 1987-1993 are the peak years for the Indigo Girls commercial success, especially with the mainstream. These years are also when the Indigo Girls stuck closest to the traditional folk rock framework they were so obviously inspired by, although they increasingly grew experimental within those confines even during these early years. Another note about the list is that Indigo Girls has a pretty devoted fan base and often the “fan favorites” are not the same as the official singles released by the group, so for the purpose of this list I have chosen to exclude the official singles and use some of those fan favorites and deeper album tracks. So, if the Indigo Girls you know best from 1987-1993 are songs like “Closer To Fine”, “Tried To Be True”, “Galileo” and “Ghost”, here are ten to hear again:
1. “Welcome Me” – From the album Nomads Indians Saints
“Welcome Me” takes the traditional folk, alt rock flourishes and beautiful vocal harmonies of their hit eponymous album and infuses it with a sense of dusty, lonely desert nights. You can almost see the blazing stars spinning overhead as the days and years come and go as the song’s protagonist deals with the trials of life. Whether the hardships are that of a young Native man on a rite of passage to be accepted into adulthood or a pioneer woman at the end of her life waiting for the embrace of death to ease to her burdens or some other story altogether is up to the listener, but regardless the song has a stark beauty and emotional power.
2. “Jonas & Ezekiel” – From the album Rites of Passage
“Jonas & Ezekiel” is a punky folk rocker that draws from both Biblical imagery and Native American lore to raise the question of how to right past wrongs and addresses how the ghosts of the past can inhabit the problems of the present. The way the Indigo Girls weave together various musical and narrative influences into a unique and seamless work makes “Jonas & Ezekiel” an underrated classic.
3. “Prince of Darkness” – From the album Indigo Girls
A plea to a higher power for strength to rise above the darkness and evil of this world and a defiant declaration to be a light to others and an agent for change. Few pop/rock groups so directly address such a positive religious sentiment. Indigo Girls not only address it, but they seem sincere in their intentions and lack the preachiness and self-righteousness that often accompanies such attempts. “Prince of Darkness” is a statement to the titular character that his reign over their life is over; that they will be a force for good in the world but it plays like an excellent addition to the folk rock canon.
4. “You and Me of the 10,000 Wars” – From the album Nomads Indians Saints
Gentle and intimate, Emily Saliers’ “You and Me of the 10,000 Wars” is a reflection back on all of the good and bad times experienced in a committed relationship. The genius of the song is that it could be the relationship between lovers, a parent and child, old friends or a person and their God (which the Biblical allusions within the song seem to hint at). However, in the end it doesn’t matter who the song is about because the message of reconciliation and commitment comes through regardless.
5. “Chickenman” – From the album Rites of Passage
If there is such a thing as folk/punk then the Amy Ray written “Chickenman” is a prime example of it. Full of the bluster, roar and energy of her beloved Husker Dü, while having the busk and scratch of a classic barnyard stomp “Chickenman” is both unusual and great.
6. “Southland In The Springtime” – From the album Nomads Indians Saints
Hailing from Athens, Georgia, Indigo Girls have always have always had an open love affair with the beauty, culture and conflicted history of the American south and “Southland In The Springtime” is their love letter to their home. Warm, pastoral and nostalgic, “Southland In The Springtime” is a minor gem. I’ve always loved the line: “When God made me born a Yankee he was teasing/There’s no place like home and none more pleasing/Than the southland in the springtime”.
7. “Nashville” – From the album Rites of Passage
“Nashville” has long been a crossroad between the north and south, the east and the west; a key point for the railroads, the armies of the Civil War, and modern country music. “Nashville” is a place where dreams are born and die, where hopes rise and fall, and the Indigo Girls capture the emotional push and pull of the city well on this warm, but slightly sad, ode to the city.
8. “I Don’t Wanna Know” – From the album Strange Fire
Indigo Girls’ Strange Fire is their actual debut album but was not given a full American release until after the success of their eponymous second album. “I Don’t Wanna Know” is one of the standout tracks from it, written by Amy Ray with local folk and blues musician Michelle Malone; one of very few Indigo Girls songs that are not covers that have an outside songwriting credit. “I Don’t Wanna Know” is an interesting song in that it doesn’t sound all that different from a lot of songs that Amy Ray would write for Indigo Girls on later albums, but it does have more grit and blues influence than almost anything else that is written by Amy Ray on Strange Fire. Whether that is a coincidence or it is because of the influence of Malone is up for debate, but either way “I Don’t Wanna Know” is an early gem and a blueprint for the direction Ray would often take her songs.
9. “Secure Yourself” – From the album Indigo Girls
In a real sense Indigo Girls have spent much of their career serving as a spiritual and religious center for the liberal left, championing a love of God through a love of others that is inclusive and is shown through action. However, this quest for improvement and rightness with a Higher Power is a real thing for them and begins within themselves. Thus, a beautiful, searching song like “Secure Yourself” is about getting yourself right with God first. It’s because of this understanding that changes in the world have to start within one’s self that makes the message of much of the Indigo Girls music so honest, powerful and heartfelt. A message made more divine because of the perfect, near angelic harmonies between Ray and Saliers on this song.
10. “Kid Fears” – From the album Indigo Girls
“Kid Fears” is a brooding and meditative number about growing up and the loss of innocence. It begins somber and understated, allowing room for the excellent interplay between the voices of Ray and Saliers. As the song builds the tension increases, until “Kid Fears” reaches it cathartic climax when the Indigo Girls are joined by Michael Stipe of R.E.M., who provides an excellent counterpoint vocal that serves to help cut the tension and find release. It is a subtly powerful song that shows that Indigo Girls were superb singer and songwriters almost from the beginning.
From: https://alternativealbumsblog.wordpress.com/2018/01/24/ten-to-hear-again-indigo-girls-1987-1993/
1. “Welcome Me” – From the album Nomads Indians Saints
“Welcome Me” takes the traditional folk, alt rock flourishes and beautiful vocal harmonies of their hit eponymous album and infuses it with a sense of dusty, lonely desert nights. You can almost see the blazing stars spinning overhead as the days and years come and go as the song’s protagonist deals with the trials of life. Whether the hardships are that of a young Native man on a rite of passage to be accepted into adulthood or a pioneer woman at the end of her life waiting for the embrace of death to ease to her burdens or some other story altogether is up to the listener, but regardless the song has a stark beauty and emotional power.
2. “Jonas & Ezekiel” – From the album Rites of Passage
“Jonas & Ezekiel” is a punky folk rocker that draws from both Biblical imagery and Native American lore to raise the question of how to right past wrongs and addresses how the ghosts of the past can inhabit the problems of the present. The way the Indigo Girls weave together various musical and narrative influences into a unique and seamless work makes “Jonas & Ezekiel” an underrated classic.
3. “Prince of Darkness” – From the album Indigo Girls
A plea to a higher power for strength to rise above the darkness and evil of this world and a defiant declaration to be a light to others and an agent for change. Few pop/rock groups so directly address such a positive religious sentiment. Indigo Girls not only address it, but they seem sincere in their intentions and lack the preachiness and self-righteousness that often accompanies such attempts. “Prince of Darkness” is a statement to the titular character that his reign over their life is over; that they will be a force for good in the world but it plays like an excellent addition to the folk rock canon.
4. “You and Me of the 10,000 Wars” – From the album Nomads Indians Saints
Gentle and intimate, Emily Saliers’ “You and Me of the 10,000 Wars” is a reflection back on all of the good and bad times experienced in a committed relationship. The genius of the song is that it could be the relationship between lovers, a parent and child, old friends or a person and their God (which the Biblical allusions within the song seem to hint at). However, in the end it doesn’t matter who the song is about because the message of reconciliation and commitment comes through regardless.
5. “Chickenman” – From the album Rites of Passage
If there is such a thing as folk/punk then the Amy Ray written “Chickenman” is a prime example of it. Full of the bluster, roar and energy of her beloved Husker Dü, while having the busk and scratch of a classic barnyard stomp “Chickenman” is both unusual and great.
6. “Southland In The Springtime” – From the album Nomads Indians Saints
Hailing from Athens, Georgia, Indigo Girls have always have always had an open love affair with the beauty, culture and conflicted history of the American south and “Southland In The Springtime” is their love letter to their home. Warm, pastoral and nostalgic, “Southland In The Springtime” is a minor gem. I’ve always loved the line: “When God made me born a Yankee he was teasing/There’s no place like home and none more pleasing/Than the southland in the springtime”.
7. “Nashville” – From the album Rites of Passage
“Nashville” has long been a crossroad between the north and south, the east and the west; a key point for the railroads, the armies of the Civil War, and modern country music. “Nashville” is a place where dreams are born and die, where hopes rise and fall, and the Indigo Girls capture the emotional push and pull of the city well on this warm, but slightly sad, ode to the city.
8. “I Don’t Wanna Know” – From the album Strange Fire
Indigo Girls’ Strange Fire is their actual debut album but was not given a full American release until after the success of their eponymous second album. “I Don’t Wanna Know” is one of the standout tracks from it, written by Amy Ray with local folk and blues musician Michelle Malone; one of very few Indigo Girls songs that are not covers that have an outside songwriting credit. “I Don’t Wanna Know” is an interesting song in that it doesn’t sound all that different from a lot of songs that Amy Ray would write for Indigo Girls on later albums, but it does have more grit and blues influence than almost anything else that is written by Amy Ray on Strange Fire. Whether that is a coincidence or it is because of the influence of Malone is up for debate, but either way “I Don’t Wanna Know” is an early gem and a blueprint for the direction Ray would often take her songs.
9. “Secure Yourself” – From the album Indigo Girls
In a real sense Indigo Girls have spent much of their career serving as a spiritual and religious center for the liberal left, championing a love of God through a love of others that is inclusive and is shown through action. However, this quest for improvement and rightness with a Higher Power is a real thing for them and begins within themselves. Thus, a beautiful, searching song like “Secure Yourself” is about getting yourself right with God first. It’s because of this understanding that changes in the world have to start within one’s self that makes the message of much of the Indigo Girls music so honest, powerful and heartfelt. A message made more divine because of the perfect, near angelic harmonies between Ray and Saliers on this song.
10. “Kid Fears” – From the album Indigo Girls
“Kid Fears” is a brooding and meditative number about growing up and the loss of innocence. It begins somber and understated, allowing room for the excellent interplay between the voices of Ray and Saliers. As the song builds the tension increases, until “Kid Fears” reaches it cathartic climax when the Indigo Girls are joined by Michael Stipe of R.E.M., who provides an excellent counterpoint vocal that serves to help cut the tension and find release. It is a subtly powerful song that shows that Indigo Girls were superb singer and songwriters almost from the beginning.
From: https://alternativealbumsblog.wordpress.com/2018/01/24/ten-to-hear-again-indigo-girls-1987-1993/
