Discovering the Indigo Girls by way of Galileo

I was home alone late one night nearly 20 years ago, killing time with MTV on in the background when this video from the Indigo Girls began playing.   I had never heard of the duo, and had no idea who they were, but I loved the concept of the video, and the message of the song.

Titled “Galileo,” the song references the circle of reincarnation, making light of the possibility that our day-to-day circumstances could somehow be linked to our previous lives… a fear of flying caused by a previous life’s plane crash, or making compensation in this life to right wrongs we committed in the past, basically “serving time for mistakes made by another in another lifetime.”

I went on a quest to find out more about the band and discovered the Indigo Girls,  an American folk rock duo consisting of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. Since then I’ve become a lifetime fan of their music and thoughtful lyrics that tell moving and important stories. When I need to find consolation, I listen to their songs to help me identify what’s in my heart.

Beyond the themes of their music, they are also very politically active. According to their page at Wikipedia,  they have championed the causes of the environment, gay rights, the rights of Native Americans, and the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. For many years they incorporated a recycling and public outreach program into their road tours by including Greenpeace representative Stephanie Fairbanks in their road crew. They helped Winona LaDuke establish Honor the Earth, an organization dedicated to creating support and education for native environmental issues. Amy and Emily have also appeared at the annual SOA Watch rallies, the March for Women’s Lives, and several other rallies and protests.

They’ve just recently released a new album, titled “Poseidon and the Bitter Bug” and are touring this summer across the United States and Europe in support of it. As part of their tour, the Indigo Girls have partnered with Rock for a Remedy and are collecting food for people and pets at each venue; these donations then make their way to neighboring families who are struggling keep food on the table.

I hope you will enjoy their music as much as I have. Normally, I embed the music video player directly into our Friday posts, but embedding has been disabled on all the Indigo Girls music videos I can find at YouTube.com. Please click to watch the Indigo Girls perform Galileo and maybe discover other Indigo Girls music as well. You can also find them on Facebook.

Have a great weekend,
Brandy

Tags: Celebrities, EcoFriendly Alternatives, Sustainability and Responsible Use, Video, Web Music, YouTube