Trying to read the Greek upon the stars, the alphabet of feeling

November 7, 2019 11:10 PM

Indigo Girls meditate on death and loss and the strength of those still around on their fifth album from 1994 (25 years ago), Swamp Ophelia. Possibly one of their strongest releases (and the mirror bookend to Rites Of Passage [previously] in many ways), it's worth a relisten or a new listen if you don't know it. Side A: Fugitive, Least Complicated [video], Language Or The Kiss, Reunion, Power Of Two [video], Touch Me Fall [only video available, truncated version]

Side B: The Wood Song, Mystery, Dead Man's Hill, Fare Thee Well, This Train Revised

posted by hippybear (8 comments total)

This was the first Indigo Girls album I ever heard. My first-year college roommate introduced me to them, Michelle Shocked (Anchored Down in Anchorage), Sarah McLachlan (Ice Cream) and Edie Brickell (What I Am).

Pre-internet, the amount of American indie music readily available to hear in Pakistan was pretty much zilch. I fell in love with female singer-songwriters. They filled a vacuum in my listening that I hadn't even realized existed.
And to this day, when the wind starts feeling nippy, I find myself singing "I could go crazy on a night like tonight/ Summer's beginning to give up the fight..."
posted by bardophile at 12:52 AM on November 8, 2019 [9 favorites]

This is the one I sang with my roommate at summer stock that year walking down the streets of, of all places, Brunswick, Maine. I love it so much.

I still sing it in the shower, and my band covers Least Complicated, none of the other members having known it before I brought it to them.
posted by wellred at 4:58 AM on November 8, 2019 [2 favorites]

I just nerded out on Swamp Ophelia a couple of weeks ago. I must have played it five or six times in a row. I love that album.

Thanks hippybear!
posted by djeo at 5:56 AM on November 8, 2019 [1 favorite]

Probably my favorite IG album, with both of them at the height of their creative powers. Least Complicated is such a freaking great song.

1994 is also when they recorded Jesus Christ Superstar: A Resurrection with their fellow Atlanta musicians, which Amy as Jesus and Emily as Mary Magdalene. A playlist of the full live concert is available on YouTube. My 19-year-old self played the hell out of both of these albums.
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 6:31 AM on November 8, 2019 [6 favorites]

There must be a thousand things you would die for. I can hardly think of two.
posted by pjenks at 6:55 AM on November 8, 2019 [4 favorites]

I graduated from high school in 1995. Swamp Ophelia was the soundtrack to my senior year, so much so that as much as I adore it, it can be rough to listen to because of all the teen angst associated with it
posted by hydropsyche at 10:41 AM on November 8, 2019

My favorite of theirs, and the one I still listen to the most. Can't believe its been 25 years though....
posted by spilon at 11:58 AM on November 8, 2019

"Least Complicated" was one of the songs on my very first boyfriend's mix tape he made for me. I accidentally discovered that he passed away suddenly last year (...thanks, Facebook), so I'm taking a bittersweet moment in his memory listening to it again. Thanks for posting.
posted by mykescipark at 12:11 PM on November 8, 2019 [2 favorites]