 1. Indigo Girls, Swamp Ophelia (1994)
My favorite album. This was the first
Indigo Girls album I ever bought, and I discovered right away that it wasn't their most
accessible. But as time went by, it seemed to unfold itself for me bit by bit, and
five years later I'm still discovering new things about it.
This collection of eleven songs includes a few
standouts ("Power of Two," "Least Complicated") but it's mostly
standard Indigo Girls fare -- thoughtful and introspective personal pieces, poignant
musical memoirs, stark criticism of social injustice. There's the usual split
between Emily's folky songs and Amy's rock songs (and if you listen to the Indigo Girls
you'll know what I mean). But this album, more than any other, speaks to my heart in
the strangest ways.
When I first got this CD, I didn't like it much
-- I found it hard to listen to, even used to program Amy's songs out sometimes. But
after awhile I discovered that each of the songs had some significance for me. The
first one I recognized was "Power of Two," which seems to express so much of
what I feel about my relationship with Marty. Then, a year or so later, I
re-discovered "Mystery," and found myself living the relationship it describes.
During the darkest days of graduate school there was "The Wood Song":
What it takes to cross the great divide
Seems more than all the courage I can muster up inside
But we get to have some answers when we reach the other side
The prize is always worth the rocky ride.
Every once in awhile something happens in my
life that brings another of these songs into sudden focus. Early last year it was
"Language or the Kiss," a song about making decisions and being part of life;
later that year, "Reunion," which I must have played six times a day for awhile.
(Finally, a song by Amy!)
For me, this album is like a string of loosely
matched glass beads. Lovely as a whole, but even better when I examine each
intricate bead -- or song -- individually. And every time I do, there's something
new and wonderful to see. I can't ask for much more than that. |
