Omg, Robyn. I have that exact Indigo Girls songbook. Back in college, I used it to learn their songs (esp. Closer to Fine). I hadn't seen the songbook since the 1990s, but my mom came for Thanksgiving this weekend, and she BROUGHT IT WITH HER! So now I have just been reunited and find myself wanting to play again! I am like you: I can't really play. I find their chords both difficult and hauntingly beautiful. I have no ambitions to play anywhere other than my home. But I'm filled with this desire to play, and I can't believe you just wrote about this!
You should! Do you still have a guitar? My friend and I went to see Indigo Girls + Melissa Etheridge in Indianapolis this summer and it was awesome. I forgot how those women were the soundtrack to so many of the lives of Gen X women. The same friend bought me this songbook (along with Joni Mitchell, whose songs I have no chance in hell of playing with all her open tunings).
Anyway, it’s been such a joy to slowly work my way through “Ghost,” which was one of the angsty anthems of my adolescence. I play “Closer to Fine” with the simplified chords, because, really, who cares? Everyone just wants to sing along to that song.
Robyn, can't tell you how much I like this. First, I'm appalled by that statistic. I live in a townhouse community, for crying out loud, and yet I certainly know both of my neighbors (pretty well) and I can say I probably know at least 2/3s of the residents (we have about 60 houses total). So yes, that's a sad note. But then the guitar break comes in and we're all uplifted again. I agree that the D/F# can be a bugger to play, but sometimes it is just the right chord. (I just tuned up my office guitar and played it so I can write truthfully about the sound.) I don't know much of the Indigo Girls songbook, but if you don't have to strum that chord, you can find a fingering that's easier to play without using the thumb. Thanks for helping me smile today. DJB
I did a deeper dive into the statistics about knowing your neighbors—I might have to write more about it later—and not surprisingly, it correlates with age. The older you are, the more likely you are to know your neighbors’ names. I don’t know if that’s an age effect or a generational effect. I think older people are more dependent on their neighbors, so they might be more likely to know them out of necessity. I also think that younger generations are losing the skills of social connection.
Playing the D/F# using my thumb on the E string is actually much more doable than I thought it would be. I do love that there seem to be almost infinite ways to play any given chord.
Very uplifting post. Thanks.
Thanks for reading, as always, Louisa!
Omg, Robyn. I have that exact Indigo Girls songbook. Back in college, I used it to learn their songs (esp. Closer to Fine). I hadn't seen the songbook since the 1990s, but my mom came for Thanksgiving this weekend, and she BROUGHT IT WITH HER! So now I have just been reunited and find myself wanting to play again! I am like you: I can't really play. I find their chords both difficult and hauntingly beautiful. I have no ambitions to play anywhere other than my home. But I'm filled with this desire to play, and I can't believe you just wrote about this!
You should! Do you still have a guitar? My friend and I went to see Indigo Girls + Melissa Etheridge in Indianapolis this summer and it was awesome. I forgot how those women were the soundtrack to so many of the lives of Gen X women. The same friend bought me this songbook (along with Joni Mitchell, whose songs I have no chance in hell of playing with all her open tunings).
Anyway, it’s been such a joy to slowly work my way through “Ghost,” which was one of the angsty anthems of my adolescence. I play “Closer to Fine” with the simplified chords, because, really, who cares? Everyone just wants to sing along to that song.
Robyn, can't tell you how much I like this. First, I'm appalled by that statistic. I live in a townhouse community, for crying out loud, and yet I certainly know both of my neighbors (pretty well) and I can say I probably know at least 2/3s of the residents (we have about 60 houses total). So yes, that's a sad note. But then the guitar break comes in and we're all uplifted again. I agree that the D/F# can be a bugger to play, but sometimes it is just the right chord. (I just tuned up my office guitar and played it so I can write truthfully about the sound.) I don't know much of the Indigo Girls songbook, but if you don't have to strum that chord, you can find a fingering that's easier to play without using the thumb. Thanks for helping me smile today. DJB
I did a deeper dive into the statistics about knowing your neighbors—I might have to write more about it later—and not surprisingly, it correlates with age. The older you are, the more likely you are to know your neighbors’ names. I don’t know if that’s an age effect or a generational effect. I think older people are more dependent on their neighbors, so they might be more likely to know them out of necessity. I also think that younger generations are losing the skills of social connection.
Playing the D/F# using my thumb on the E string is actually much more doable than I thought it would be. I do love that there seem to be almost infinite ways to play any given chord.
Another goodie. I truly love having nothing I have to do.
A day full of nothing is a good day.