Strange Fire

I come to you with strange fire
I make an offering of love

I can remember when I first heard about the Indigo Girls. I was in college starting my theater career. My buddy Andy Ordover was raving about them and we got the usual gang of suspects to go to a local bar called the Dugout where they were playing that night. Two women two guitars and beautiful music. They were not perfect. They had a rough sound that filled the bar. Sometimes strings would break leading to some impromptu stand up as it was changed. I found out later that I knew both women but hadn’t seen them in years. Emily’s father was the head of religious music at Emory University and I had known him and his family since I was rather young.

I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains
I looked to the children, I drank from the fountains
There’s more than one answer to these questions
Pointing me in a crooked line
The less I seek my source for some definitive
(The less I seek my source)
The closer I am to fine
The closer I am to fine

The Indigo Girls became the Emory Theater Band. Anytime we were done with a show we would go to whatever bar they were playing and listen. I bought their first single and their first album from them at the Purple Parrot. I did Godspell with Amy. Emily’s father played the organ at my wedding. I run into them on occasion when we are all in Atlanta. They made it big and I am so very happy for them. They can share their gift with the world.

Yesterday I am in my local grocery store picking up a few items we need for the weekend and I realize I am humming along to “Galileo” by the Indigo Girls, which is being played over the music system. In my mind I briefly went back to the Dugout with the dark corners and the greasy food that college kids crave. And the music of two women with a dream that now they share with the world.

I am grateful I knew the Indigo Girls when I did.

All Song lyrics are copyright the Indigo Girls