Taking Sides: Indigo Girls "Closer to Fine" vs Edie Brickells "What I Am"

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I can't hear "Closer To Fine" without thinking of this:

http://www.brunching.com/yourroommate.html

― Tantrum The Cat (Tantrum The Cat), Friday, 17 September 2004 15:53 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm not surprised Nick like Edie. That guitar solo is pure ween.

― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 17 September 2004 15:54 (twenty-one years ago)

Matt Chamberlain - drummer, he of New Bohemians - is one of my favorite drummers on Earth at the moment. He's all over the place these days. If you've heard a Fiona Apple song, you've heard a Matt Chamberlain drum track.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 17 September 2004 15:55 (twenty-one years ago)

Really? I didn't know that about Chamberlain. He is indeed a damn fine drummer. Did he play in Apple's touring band? My best friend's sister is Apple's roommate. She's so cute, a little person with big eyes and greasy hair. Grrrr...

― shookout (shookout), Friday, 17 September 2004 16:00 (twenty-one years ago)

I actually saw 10,000 Maniacs perform on their In My Tribe tour at the Newport in Columbus, Ohio. She scolded the audience and told us that Columbus was one of the filthiest cities she'd ever seen. When everyone laughed, she stamped her little foot and said, "I'm not kidding, you should be ashamed!" Rock'n'roll, eh?

when i lived in chicago, my wife worked for Anderson Consluting and they gave us a free concert at where ever the Bulls play. it was Natalie Merchant. we went and laughed at all fucking, yuppie consulting fuckwads. Merchant opened the show by saying, "chicago, you guys sure do like your BEEEEEEEEEEEEER!" and just kept saying "BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER" really long and drawn out like that. of course she was making fun of the audience, but they really did like their beer, so they cheered along.

― JaXoN (JasonD), Friday, 17 September 2004 16:01 (twenty-one years ago)

Edie +... Redeemed by "Smile of a Dog" line.
Indigo Girls .. Affected harmonies. May as well be the Eagles.

Alex, the Newport is a real shithole though, you gotta admit.

― dave225 (Dave225), Friday, 17 September 2004 16:03 (twenty-one years ago)

NM is from Jamestown, not Rochester. My one drive through Jamestown didn't really inspire me to go back. Spent a lot of time in Columbus; it's no cleaner/dirtier than other cities its size.

I don't have any Paul Simon jokes, but my reaction to the 'four years prostrate' line has always been 'in your case, it was probably at least six'.

― Jeff Wright (JeffW1858), Friday, 17 September 2004 16:08 (twenty-one years ago)

i spent a night at the jamestown holiday inn when my rental truck broke down. jamestown = depressing

― amateur!!st, Friday, 17 September 2004 16:10 (twenty-one years ago)

Columbus isn't dirty. OSU is dirty.

― dave225 (Dave225), Friday, 17 September 2004 16:10 (twenty-one years ago)

Shookout - when I saw her, she had some older dude who was definitely NOT Chamberlain playing. She was drunk as piss and apparently not too happy with the dudes who made up her band at the moment. I think she would've liked him there instead.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 17 September 2004 16:12 (twenty-one years ago)

I have however seen him perform with Tori Amos (who he has also done many, many recordings with), and it was quite honestly a really kick-ass show. Tori shows WITH band >>>>>> Tori shows without.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 17 September 2004 16:13 (twenty-one years ago)

nick, you fascinate me

― amateur!!st, Friday, 17 September 2004 16:15 (twenty-one years ago)

ok, we get it - you all hate earnest young women of moderate intelligence with unshiny hair
Don't be making rude and baseless assumptions, gabbneb. I have no malice towards any of the acts I brought up in this thread. I actually like the Indigo Girls (and 10,000 Maniacs) music. Don't assume I'm some kind of troglodyte just because (I came to the conclusion) the lyrics to 'What I Am' are broken.

come back when you can spell 'portentous'
actually, I was almost going to write 'pretentious', but that would be mean-spirited and unfair as well as being a cliché

― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Friday, 17 September 2004 16:21 (twenty-one years ago)

I love threads like this, because they always lead down some alley like finding out about this guy Matt Chamberlain, beat-maker to the stars. Earning your living playing drums behind Edie Brickell, Fiona Apple and Tori Amos woulds be an interesting life.

― briania (briania), Friday, 17 September 2004 16:23 (twenty-one years ago)

i've always wondered about those studio hacks that get trussed up all alterna-style to go out and play with shania twain during her "rock" phase or something.

― amateur!!st, Friday, 17 September 2004 16:24 (twenty-one years ago)

Indigo Girls have no sense of humor

well, as long as you also dislike fugazi

my reaction to the 'four years prostrate' line has always been 'in your case, it was probably at least six'.

it is a terrible line, but they went to Emory. where did you go?

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Friday, 17 September 2004 16:25 (twenty-one years ago)

i mean, i'm being rude, but i think everyone else is being so too. i don't like prejudice against music/artists that are earnest and/or explicitly political, even if the music isn't good.

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Friday, 17 September 2004 16:27 (twenty-one years ago)

I love the notion of being oppressed by getting an expensive education.

― shookout (shookout), Friday, 17 September 2004 16:31 (twenty-one years ago)

i mean, im gonna go ahead and say that im prejudiced against bad music.

― peter smith (plsmith), Friday, 17 September 2004 16:35 (twenty-one years ago)

i mean, i'm being rude, but i think everyone else is being so too.
(long sigh)
Okay, I know you were merely stating your opinion, but the tenor of your previous post, almost sounded like a personal dig. Like you were implying I'm a sexist pig of something.
Or am I just being too touchy?

i don't like prejudice against music/artists that are earnest and/or explicitly political, even if the music isn't good.
Okay, it's official, if gabbneb ever disses U2, Bruce Springsteen or the Clash, we have to remind him of this post.

― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Friday, 17 September 2004 16:38 (twenty-one years ago)

I love the two latter artists, and earnestness isn't what I dislike about the former, who I'm mostly indifferent to.

Like you were implying I'm a sexist pig of something.

I'm talking about everyone here, and saying that I think there's a gender dimension, because these artists are being criticized for qualities that male artists are less criticized for.

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Friday, 17 September 2004 16:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh, Okay.

― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Friday, 17 September 2004 16:47 (twenty-one years ago)

gabbneb have you ever read a billy bragg thread on ilm???

― amateur!!st, Friday, 17 September 2004 16:48 (twenty-one years ago)

no, he doesn't interest me much. is he criticized for his earnestness or the particulars of his politics?

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Friday, 17 September 2004 16:59 (twenty-one years ago)

oh my , yes

― amateur!!st, Friday, 17 September 2004 17:00 (twenty-one years ago)

Has there ever been a more boringly literal-minded songwriter than Billy Bragg?

― amateur!!ST, Friday, 17 September 2004 17:00 (twenty-one years ago)

on quick look, that looks like particulars and literalism (Indigo Girls are being criticized for being vague), excepting John D's interpretation

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Friday, 17 September 2004 17:05 (twenty-one years ago)

Natalie Merchant is a steamy cunt.

― Dan Perry '08 (Dan Perry), Friday, 17 September 2004 17:09 (twenty-one years ago)

Is that a compliment or an insult?
Also, why does she sing with an accent, but doesn't seem to talk with one?

― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Friday, 17 September 2004 17:12 (twenty-one years ago)

is he criticized for his earnestness or the particulars of his politics?

ok, poorly worded - this was supposed to be an opposition

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Friday, 17 September 2004 17:17 (twenty-one years ago)

I can't listen to Natalie Merchant at all. "Carnival" gives me kidney stones.

Wasn't there a rather cool early-90s hip-hop song that sampled "What I Am"?

― Tantrum The Cat (Tantrum The Cat), Friday, 17 September 2004 17:22 (twenty-one years ago)

it's probably something by digable development or arrested planets or something, right?

― amateur!!st, Friday, 17 September 2004 17:22 (twenty-one years ago)

it's probably something by digable development or arrested planets or something, right?

No, that'd be that obvious answer, but it wasn't either of them.

― Tantrum The Cat (Tantrum The Cat), Friday, 17 September 2004 17:34 (twenty-one years ago)

Don't know (or care) what the lyrics are, but I'm ridiculously tolerant of tuneful folk-rock strummin' wimmin' who can harmonize; and it takes two to harmonize, so the Indigos take it. "What I Am" never did much for me either way, but I remain baffled by all the many reviewers who absolutely reviled it, 'specially considering that Rickie Lee Jones usually got good reviews (as far as I can remember.) And of course, none of 'em were as good as Tracy Chapman or Michelle Shocked or Joni Mitchell.

And as for Natalie Merchant, I fucking HATE her, not only for her insipid music but also for her idiotic remarks back in '86, when she expressed genuine dread that R.E.M., because they were working with Don Gehman, J.C. Mellencamp's producer, were making a "heavy metal album!" Like, huh?!?! What an idiot - she's exactly the kind of person who woulda burst into heartbroken tears at the sight of Bob Dylan's Stratocaster at Newport in '65! 10000 Maniacs and one lunatic.

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Friday, 17 September 2004 17:39 (twenty-one years ago)

Brand Nubian sampled 'What I Am' on 'Slow Down'

― JaXoN (JasonD), Friday, 17 September 2004 17:54 (twenty-one years ago)

I really wish that Edie and the Indigos would team up and build a gigantic rocket that would then be used to shoot Natalie Merchant into the sun.

― Dan Perry '08 (Dan Perry), Friday, 17 September 2004 17:55 (twenty-one years ago)

waiting in line at the coffee shop vs waiting in line at the art supply store

― kephm, Friday, 17 September 2004 17:57 (twenty-one years ago)

Indigo Girls can write the shit out of a song. If we're going to go the peace-love-hippie route, give me them over Simon and Garfunkle any damn day. And when did the fact that an artist is "humorless" become a reason for not giving them props? You people baffle me.

― Je4nne ƒury (Jeanne Fury), Friday, 17 September 2004 18:23 (twenty-one years ago)

Jeanne, how do you feel re: Natalie Merchant and possibly introducing her to a celestial hydrogen furnace?

― Dan Perry '08 (Dan Perry), Friday, 17 September 2004 18:26 (twenty-one years ago)

how do you feel re: Natalie Merchant

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Friday, 17 September 2004 18:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Was that a reference to The Evil One? I thought it was more Indoge Girls defence.

― Dan Perry '08 (Dan Perry), Friday, 17 September 2004 18:28 (twenty-one years ago)

Natalie Merchant had her moments. I think there were three in total.

― Je4nne ƒury (Jeanne Fury), Friday, 17 September 2004 18:30 (twenty-one years ago)

Was that a reference to The Evil One?

It was a Dan Perry kind of post

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Friday, 17 September 2004 18:31 (twenty-one years ago)

Haha, so yes then!

― The Evil One (Dan Perry), Friday, 17 September 2004 18:32 (twenty-one years ago)

(I know what you meant, I am recontextualizing for fun and profit)

― Dan Perry '08 (Dan Perry), Friday, 17 September 2004 18:33 (twenty-one years ago)

Brand Nubian sampled 'What I Am' on 'Slow Down'

That's the one - thank you!

― Tantrum The Cat (Tantrum The Cat), Friday, 17 September 2004 18:35 (twenty-one years ago)

aww man - simon and garfunkel kick the shit out of all three of the others. paul simon wrote better songs in his sleep than anything by 10K maniacs, IG, or edie brickell. not a gender thing, either - i put joni mitchell and sandy denny and linda thompson above s&g...

― peter smith (plsmith), Friday, 17 September 2004 18:37 (twenty-one years ago)

I remember having to work the Indigo Girls show at Marquette my sophomore year. That "I spent four years prostrate to the higher mind / got my paper and I was FREE" mentioned above got this HUGE resounding ROAR and I was like, this sucks.

― frankE (frankE), Friday, 17 September 2004 18:54 (twenty-one years ago)

I saw Natalie Merchant sing in NYC at St. John the Divine Cathedral at a memorial service for Allen Ginsberg and it was lovely. So there.

― shookout (shookout), Friday, 17 September 2004 18:56 (twenty-one years ago)

ok, this makes me hate them

― amateur!!st, Friday, 17 September 2004 18:57 (twenty-one years ago)

Skipping 47 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

Was hanging out with some people who were playing the first two Indigo Girls albums all evening, and remembered how "Closer to Fine" was my freshman year of college and was so much a song about education and liberal arts. And sounded so different from anything on radio, being almost entirely just voices and acoustic guitars (+ a little tambourine and pennywhistle).

Anyway, I heard "Closer to Fine" and thought: wow, what a solid song. And heard "Kid Fears" and thought: wait, is this the best R.E.M. song? And remembered riding around in cars listening to that first album with the rest of the otherwise all-women literary-magazine staff.

― who even are those other cats (Eazy), Thursday, 13 April 2017 14:36 (nine years ago)

I absolutely love their first album. The third one is great too.

― droit au butt (Euler), Thursday, 13 April 2017 14:36 (nine years ago)

I get how people can find "Closer to Fine" cheesy but are there really people who don't see it as a sterling instance of the kind of song it is?

― Guayaquil (eephus!), Thursday, 13 April 2017 14:41 (nine years ago)

Great Natalie Merchant:
Trouble Me
Candy Everybody Wants
These Are Days

Ok Natalie Merchant:
Kind & Generous
Carnival

I Hate it Never Want to Hear Again:
Wonder

Open to liking it, haven't found the melody after 25 years:
Photograph w/REM

― LimbsKing, Thursday, 13 April 2017 14:42 (nine years ago)

1-2-3 is my Indigo Girls jam btw

― Guayaquil (eephus!), Thursday, 13 April 2017 14:46 (nine years ago)

I meant the s/t btw not Strange Fire

though that's good too

I ride for them through Rites of Passage. "Virginia Wolff"!

― droit au butt (Euler), Thursday, 13 April 2017 20:42 (nine years ago)

Listening more to s/t, realized that the first songs have few/no drums in a way that keep it from sounding dated.

― who even are those other cats (Eazy), Thursday, 13 April 2017 21:24 (nine years ago)

three years pass...

a little tambourine and pennywhistle

Which I found out recently is by Irish band Hothouse Flowers!

Old-Skool ILM very much living up to the "bag of dicks" stereotype on this thread.

― Andrew Farrell, Wednesday, 3 February 2021 17:41 (five years ago)

seven months pass...

Is this truly the closest thing to a general Indigo Girls thread on ILM(??)

I'm realizing, very belatedly, how great they are... but intimidated at the idea of getting a grasp on an act with 15 studio albums (not to mention solo / side projects). Beyond the S/T (which I revisited for the first time since, probably, high school – it made me laugh at how good it is, on a song-by-song basis), and the Best-Of / Essential playlists, any tips on how to "get into them"?

― juristic person (morrisp), Tuesday, 28 September 2021 17:27 (four years ago)

Light some incense

― calstars, Tuesday, 28 September 2021 17:44 (four years ago)

Goddamn, for decades now I assumed they were saying "The closer I am to find," which I always assumed was an awkward but deliberate grammatical mistake.

― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Tuesday, 28 September 2021 17:54 (four years ago)

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