Indigo Girls

Producer:Scott Litt
© 1989

  1. Closer to Fine
  2. Secure Yourself
  3. Kid Fears
  4. Prince of Darkness
  5. Blood and Fire
  6. Tried to be True
  7. Love's Recovery
  8. Land of Canaan
  9. Center Stage
  10. History of Us
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Closer to Fine
Words and Music: Emily Saliers

I'm trying to tell you something bout my life
Maybe give me insight between black and white
And the best thing you've ever done for me
Is to help me take my life less seriously
It's only life after all

Now darkness has a hunger that's insatiable
And lightness has a call that's hard to hear
I wrap my fear around me like a blanket
I sailed my ship of safety till I sank it
I'm crawling on your shores

I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains,
I looked to the children, I drank from the fountains
There's more than one answer to these questions pointing me in a crooked line
And the less I seek my source for some definitive
The closer I am to fine
The closer I am to fine

I went to see the doctor of philosophy
With a poster of Rasputin, and a beard down to his knee
He never did marry, or see a b-grade movie
He graded my performance, he said he could see through me
I spent four years prostrate to the higher mind
I got my paper and I was free

I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains,
I looked to the children, I drank from the fountains
There's more than one answer to these questions pointing me in a crooked line
And the less I seek my source for some definitive
The closer I am to fine
The closer I am to fine

*whistle*

I stopped by the bar at 3 am
To seek solace in a bottle, or possibly a friend
And I woke up with a headache like my head against a board
Twice as cloudy as I'd been the night before
I went in seeking clarity

I went to the doctor, I went to the mountain, I looked to the children, I drank from the fountain
We go to the doctor, we go to the mountains, we look to the children, we drink from the fountains
We go to the bible, we go through the workout, we read up on revival, we stand up for the lookout
There's more than one answer to these questions pointing me in a crooked line
The less I seek my source for some definitive
The closer I am to fine
The closer I am to fine
The closer I am to fine

Vocals: Saliers & Ray Acoustic guitars: Saliers & Ray
Mandolin: Peter O'Toole Bodhran: Liam Ó'Maonlai
Tin Whistle: Fiachna O'Braonàin Background vocals: O'Toole, O'Braonàin, Ó'Maonlai, Luka Bloom
Percussion: Paulinho DaCosta  

 

Secure Yourself
Words and Music: Amy Ray

Secure yourself to heaven hold on tight the night has come
Fasten up your earthly burdens, you have just begun

In the ink of the night I saw you bleed, through the thunder I could hear you scream
Solid to the air I breathe, open-eyed and fast asleep
Falling softly as the rain, no footsteps ringing in your ear
Ragged down worn to the skin, warrior raging have no fear

Secure yourself to heaven hold on tight the night has come
Fasten up your earthly burdens, you have just begun

I'm kneeling down with broken prayers hearts and bones from days of youth
Restless with an angel's wing I dig a grave to bury you
No feet to fall you need no ground, allowed to glide right through the sun
Released from circles guarded tight, now we all are chosen ones

Secure yourself to heaven hold on tight the night has come
Fasten up your earthly burdens, you have just begun

Secure yourself to heaven hold on tight the night has come
Fasten up your earthly burdens, you have just begun

In the ink of the night I saw you bleed through the thunder I could hear you scream
Solid to the air I breathe, open-eyed and fast asleep
Falling softly as the rain, no footsteps ringing in your ears
Ragged down worn to the skin, warrior raging have no fear

Secure yourself to heaven hold on tight the night has come
Fasten up your earthly burdens, you have just begun

Amy:

Secure yourself to heaven
Hold on tight the night has come
Fasten up your earthly burdens
You have just begun
Secure yourself to heaven
Hold on tight the night has come
Fasten up your earthly burdens
You have just begun
Now we all are chosen ones
Allowed to glide right through the sun
Released from circles guarded tight
Now we all are chosen ones

Emily:

In the ink of the night I saw you bleed
Through the thunder I could hear you scream
Solid to the air I breathe
Open-eyed and fast asleep
No feet to fall you need no ground
Allowed to glide right through the sun
Released from circles guarded tight
Now we all are chosen ones
Secure yourself to heaven
Hold on tight the night has come
Fasten up your earthy burdens
Now we all are chosen ones

Vocals: Ray & Saliers Acoustic guitars: Saliers & Ray
Mandolin: Peter O'Toole Bass: Dede Vogt
12-string electric: Saliers  

 

Kid Fears
Words and Music: Amy Ray

Pain from pearls, hey little girl
How much have you grown?
Pain from pearls, hey little girl
Flowers for the ones you've known

Are you on fire from the years
What would you give for your kid fears?

Secret staircase, running high
You had a hiding place
Secret staircase, running low
They all know now you're inside

Are you on fire from the years
What would you give for your kid fears?

Skipping stones, we know the price now
And any sin will do
How much further if you can spin
How much further if you are smooth?

Are you on fire (Are you on fire)
From the years (From the years)
What would you give for your kid fears

What would replace the rent with the stars above
Replace the need with the love
Replace the anger with the tide
Replace the ones the ones the ones that you love

Are you on fire from the years
What would you give for your kid fears
Hey kids
Hold on

Vocals: Ray & Saliers Acoustic guitars: Saliers & Ray
12-string electric: John Keane Bass: Dede Vogt
Drums: Jay Dee Daugherty Percussion: Paulinho DaCosta
Background vocals: Michael Stipe  

 

Prince of Darkness
Words and Music: Emily Saliers


My place is of the sun and this place is of the dark
I do not feel the romance, I do not catch the spark
My place is of the sun and this place is of the dark
I do not feel the romance, I do not catch the spark

I don't know when I noticed life was life at my expense
The words of my heart lined up like prisoners on a fence
The dreams came in like needy children, tugging at my sleeve
I said I have no way of feeding you, so leave
There was a time I asked my father for a dollar
And he gave me a ten dollar raise
I needed my mother and I called her
And she stayed with me for days

Now someone's on the telephone, desperate in his pain
Someone's on the bathroom floor, doing her cocaine
Someone's got his finger on the button in some room
No one can convince me we aren't gluttons for our doom
But I tried to make this place my place
I asked for Providence to smile upon me, with his sweet face
But I'll tell you

My place is of the sun and this place is of the dark
I do not feel the romance, I do not catch the spark
My place is of the sun and this place is of the dark (By grace my sight grows stronger)
And I will not be a pawn (I will not be) for the prince of darkness any longer

Maybe there's no haven in this world for tender age
My heart beat like the wings of wild birds in a cage
My greatest hope my greatest cause to grieve
And my heart flew from it's cage, and it bled upon my sleeve
The cries of passion were like wounds that needed heeling
I couldn't hear them for the thunder
I was half the naked distance between hell and heaven's ceiling
And it almost pulled me under

Now someone's on the telephone, desperate in his pain
Someone's on the bathroom floor, doing her cocaine
Someone's got his finger on the button in some room
No one can convince me, we aren't gluttons for our doom
But I tried to make this place my place
I ask for Providence to smile upon me, with his sweet face
But I tell you

My place is of the sun and this place is of the dark
I do not feel the romance, I do not catch the spark
My place is of the sun and this place is of the dark (By grace my sight grows stronger)
I do not feel the romance, I do not catch the spark (I can feel it growing stronger)
My place is of the sun and this place is of the dark (By grace my sight grows stronger)
And I will not be a pawn (I will not be) for the prince of darkness any longer

Vocals: Saliers & Ray Acoustic Guitars: Saliers & Ray
Bass: John Keane Drums: Jay Dee Daugherty
Percussion: Paulinho DaCosta  

 

Blood and Fire
Words and Music: Amy Ray

I have spent nights with matches and knives
Leaning over ledges only two flights up
Cutting my heart, burning my soul
Nothing left to hold
Nothing left but blood and fire

You have spent nights thinking of me
Missing my arms but you needed to leave
Leaving my cuts, leaving my burns
Hoping I'd learn

Blood and fire are too much for these restless arms to hold
And my nights of desire are calling me back to your fold
And I'm callin you, calling you, from 10,000 miles away
Won't you wet my fire with your love, babe?

I am looking for someone who can take as much as I give
Give back as much as I need and still have the will to live
I am intense, I am in need, I am in pain, I am in love
I feel forsaken, like the things I gave away

But blood and fire are too much for these restless arms to hold
And my nights of desire are calling me back to your fold
And I'm callin you, callin you, from 10,000 miles away
Won't you wet my fire with your love, babe?

I am intense, I am in need, I am in pain, I am in love
I am intense, I am in need, I am in pain, I am in love
I am intense, I am in need, I am in pain, I am in love

But blood and fire are too much for these restless arms to hold
And my nights of desire are calling me back to your fold
And I'm callin you, callin you, from 10,000 miles away
Won't you wet my fire with your love, babe?
Won't you wet my fire with your love, babe?
Wet my fire with your love...

Vocals and Acoustic Guitar: Ray

 

Tried to be True
Words and Music: Amy Ray

From baby to best, there's no second test
Little storms destroy you
Here is the fame they promised to give you
Taking the place of my hand now

Did you try to be true?
What separates me from you now?
What separates me from you?

Did you borrow the soul, the soul that you sell now
What does your conscience tell you?
Where are the demons of your desire
Why does my love destroy you?

I said I tried to be true
What separates me from you now?
I said I tried, I tried to be true
What separates me from you now?
What separates me from you?

Tell me
Where is the fame, where is the fortune
Where is the world that denies you?
Who is to blame when my heart finally forfeits
To a world that could only misguide you

Did we try to be true?
What separates me from you now?
Did we try, try to be true
What separates me from you now
What separates me from you?

I bought my love a hunger, more precious than a stone
All the fame and flowers, did I misguide you?

Vocals: Ray & Saliers Acoustic guitars: Saliers & Ray
Drums: Bill Berry Electric guitar: Peter Buck
Bass: Mike Mills Shaker: John Keane
Lead Electric Guitar: Saliers  

 

Love's Recovery
Words and Music: Emily Saliers

During the time of which I speak it was hard to turn the other cheek
To the blows of insecurity
Feeding the cancer of my intellect the blood of the love soon neglected
Lay dying in the strength of its impurity

And all the friends I thought were so together
They've all gone and left each other in search of fairer weather
I sit here in this storm and drink a toast
To the slim chance of love's recovery

There I am in younger days stargazing painting picture-perfect maps
Of how my life and love would be
Not counting the unmarked paths of misdirection my compass, faith in love's perfection
I missed ten million miles of road I should have seen

And all our friends we thought were so together
Left each other one by one on the road to fairer weather
And we sit here in our storm and drink a toast
To the slim chance of love's recovery

Rain-soaked and boys choked
Like silent screaming in a dream
I searched for an absolute distinction
Not content to bow and bend
To the winds of culture that swoop like vultures
Eating us away...eating us away...eating us away to our extinction

Oh how I wish I were a trinity so that if I lost a part of me
I'd still have two of the same to live
But nobody gets a lifetime rehearsal as specks of dust, we're universal
So let this love survive and be the greatest gift that we could give

Tell all the friends who think they're so together
That these are ghost and mirages all these thoughts of fairer weather
Though it's storming now, I feel safe within the arms
Of love's discovery

Vocals: Saliers & Ray Acoustic Guitars: Saliers & Ray
Piano: Jai Winding Bass: Dede Vogt

 

Land of Canaan
Words and Music: Amy Ray

You can go to the East to find your inner hemisphere
You say we're under the same sky baby you're bound to realize, honey it's not that clear
I'm not your promised land, I'm not your promised one
I'm not the land of Canaan, sweetheart, waiting for you under the sun

I'm lonely tonight, I'm missing you now
I'm wanting your love and you're giving it out
I'm lonely tonight, I'm lonely tonight, I'm lonely tonight

Well the meaning has changed for what it's worth it's just a senseless game
I should think of love, but it's fear, every time I hear, honey, your heartbeat strain
It's not the fallen man, it's not the call of time
It's just the London skyline, sweetheart, telling me you're not mine

I'm lonely tonight, I'm missing you now
I'm wanting your love and you're giving it out
I'm lonely tonight, I'm lonely tonight, I'm lonely tonight

My blood is running dry my skin is growing thin
Every time you find yourself you lose a little bit of me and, honey, it's from within
It's just a raging cycle, I'd like to bring it all to the end of the line
From inside this existence (I'm lonely tonight), sweetheart, time is not on my side

I'm lonely tonight, I'm missing you now
I'm wanting your love and you're giving it out
I'm lonely tonight, I'm lonely tonight, I'm lonely tonight

I'm not your promised land, I'm not your promised one (I'm lonely tonight)
I'm not your promised land, I'm not your promised one (Honey, I'm trying to tell you I'm lonely tonight)
I'm not the land of Canaan, sweetheart (I'm lonely tonight)
I'm not your land of Canaan, sweetheart (I'm lonely tonight)
I'm not the land of Canaan, sweetheart, waiting for you under the sun
I'm lonely tonight

Vocals: Ray & Saliers Acoustic Guitars: Saliers & Ray
Drums: Jay Dee Daugherty Bass: Kasim Sultan
Slide Guitar: John Keane Percussion: Paulinho DaCosta

 

Center Stage
Words and Music: Amy Ray

Laughing in a crowd of jewels
Numbness from a sceptors wound
Toss and turn, I spin and learn
"Catch yourself before you burn"
A joker's dance before the king
Jangling beads, a silver ring
Close your eyes and bare the sound
Jumping up--falling down

Falling, falling, falling, falling down
Look yourself in the eye before you drown

Royal rebels discover you
Trust? You turn there is no truth
And circle, circle, why are you scared?
Why a smile instead of tears?
I'm gulping smoke to fade away
Figures floating down to lay
Meet the joker and the thief
King and queen--but no relief

Amy:

Falling, falling, falling, falling down
Look yourself in the eye before you drown
Falling, falling, falling, falling down
Look yourself in the eye before you drown

Emily:

"The king is in his counting house, counting all his money
The queen is in her parlor, eating bread and honey
The king is in his counting house, counting all his money
The queen is in the parlor, eating bread and honey."

--Mary had a little lamb--

I cross myself before I die
The leaping man he asks me "why?"
"Well your rhythm is off" I reply
"Now you must dance the dance that you imply"
"Your actions will follow you full circle round
Your actions will follow you full circle round
Your actions will follow you full circle round
Your actions will follow you full circle round
Your actions will follow you full circle round
The higher the leap," I said,
"The harder the ground!"

Vocals: Ray & Saliers Acoustic Guitars: Saliers & Ray
Slide Guitar: John Keane Bass Drum: Keane

 

History of Us
Words and Music: Emily Saliers

I went all the way to Paris to forget your face
Captured in stain glass, young lives long since passed
Statues of lovers every place
I went all across the continent to relieve this restless love
I walked through the ruins, icons of glory
Smashed by the bombs from above

So we must love while these moments are still called today
Take part in the pain of this passion play
Stretching our youth as we must, until we are ashes to dust
Until time makes history of us

Jeu de Paume's full of faces knowing peace, knowing strife
Leisure and toil, still it's canvas and oil
There's just no medium for life
In the midst of the rubble I felt a sense of rebirth
In a dusty cathedral the living God called
And I prayed for my life here on Earth

So we must love while these moments are still called today
Take part in the pain of this passion play
Stretching our youth as we must, until we are ashes to dust
Until time makes history of us

There are mountains in Switzerland, brilliant cold as they stand
From my hotel room, watching the half-moon
Bleeding its light like a lamb
And the town is illuminated, its tiny figures are fast asleep
And it dawns on me, the time is upon me
To return to the flock I must keep

So we must love while these moments are still called today
Take part in the pain of this passion play
Stretching our youth as we must, until we are ashes to dust
Until time makes history of us

Vocals: Saliers Acoustic Guitar: Saliers
Keyboards: John Van Tongeren Bass: Dede Vogt