Thursday, February 11, 2010

Negotiations & Love Songs #7, #8: the Indigo Girls

"Virginia Woolf" is a love song in that I LOVE it, and it shares the love the Indigo Girls have for Virginia Woolf, and the love of each of us for each other, our human family members. Not really a Valentine's Day song, but truly, one of my favorites. I worked hard to learn that little guitar riff in college, and I managed to get the notes. I spent quite a little chunk of time one semester thinking about and hearing that song, and it touches me.

Oh, poor Virginia Woolf.  These artists and their tortured souls. My senior seminar covered the short fiction of Virginia Woolf, and my senior seminar paper analyzed her party fiction. I can't remember much, except for the pain experienced by characters (including Clarissa Dalloway) during the transitions between being alone and being with others. Life was not easy for them, or for her.

NOTE: this video clip is taken from "The Hours" and it shows Virginia Woolf's walk into the river and Julianne Moore's goodbye. Don't watch if you're not ready for that. Makes me weep.

The second song - "Ghost" - is simply one of the best love songs I've ever heard. Yearning and hurting expressed through the brilliant lyrics that all Indigo Girls fans enjoy on a regular basis. These two, oh these two, with their beautiful guitar work and sweet, pure harmonies. I love that "Ghost" alludes to Lake Itasca and the start of the Mississippi River. That's smart pop music. I go to the lake in my mind, cross the pebbly walkway, and enjoy a good cry.

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