R. Dean Taylor: Indiana Wants Me
Go ahead and have a listen.It is 1970. The extended hangover from the Sixties has settled in. Vietnam swims in blood. The National Guard kills 4 at Kent State. Decades of environmental destruction take their toll. Racial tensions are extreme--the Manson Family is sentenced for a series of grisly murders by which they hoped to incite an all-out race war in the wake of city riots. A haze of drugs, youthful passion and naivete, and violence pollutes the credibility of justifiable grievances of the political left. A sense of modern civil war pervades, laying the foundation for Watergate. Jobs have begun leaving en masse. A great nation crumbles.
Into this chaos arrives "Indiana Wants Me."
Mmm mm-mmmm-mm
Mmm mm-mmmm-mm
Indiana wants me
Lord, I can't go back there
Indiana wants me
Lord, I can't go back there
I wish I had you to talk to
So far so good. Understated lyrics and folk-rock reveal a growing desperation, foreshadowing some personal tragedy of enormous gravity, befitting the times.
If a man ever needed dyin', he did
Uh-oh. Suddenly the wheels are onto the rumble-strip. Sure, we're getting into something serious now, but:
- "Needed dyin'?" Some city fella's trying too hard.
- "Needed dyin'?" Where did you learn English? We should all be thankful Indiana doesn't want 'myself'.
- "Needed dyin'?" (He didn't mean 'dyeing', did he?)
No one had the right to say what he said about you
Clearly not. Dyin's too good for him. Wait. What? "Said?!" What the Hell did he say? Oh well, bag the first amendment and don't settle for slander damages, just kill the S.O.B.
And it's so cold and lonely here without you
Out there the law's a-comin'
I'm scared and so tired of runnin'
Indiana wants me
Lord, I can't go back there
Indiana wants me
Lord, I can't go back there
I wish I had you to talk to
Right, right, we get it. You killed him, they're after you, and it sucks. But what did he say? It's starting to become the briefcase in Pulp Fiction. Except given that it was only talk, I think we need to know what was so freakin' bad about it that you had to go kill him and all.
It hurts to see the man that I've become
And to know I'll never see the morning sun shine on the land
I'll never see your smilin' face or touch your hand
If just once more I could see
You, our home, and our little baby
You've got a kid? And now you've gone and wrecked his life too, because of what some idiot said? Probably in a bar after a stupid debate over astroturf? What did he say about her? That she's ugly? She's a bitch? Those pants make her look fat? She always takes up two parking places? Lighten up, Francis.
Indiana wants me
Lord, I can't go back there
Indiana wants me
Lord, I can't go back there {police sirens}
I wish I had you to talk to
Okay, your self-inflicted plight is starting to get funny now you moron. And if you had her to talk to, it seems you'd eventually find a reason to kill her too.
I hope this letter finds its way to you
Forgive me, Love, for the shame I put you through and all the tears
Hang on, Love, to the memories of those happy years
Red lights are flashin' around me
Yeah, Love, it looks like they found me
Stop, stop. License revoked. "This letter?" Let me look at the video again. Drop the pen and back away from the stationery. Real slow like. Honestly, I find it hard to get motivated to send my Christmas cards out and you were writing a letter when you got caught?! You do know they have all those wanted posters down at the Post Office, right?
Now let's all sit back and enjoy the great climax of the chase together.
Indiana wants me
Lord, I can't go back there
Indiana wants me
Lord, I can't go back there
I wish I had you to talk to
Indiana wants me (this is the police, you are surrounded)
Lord, I can't go back there (give yourself up)
Indiana wants me (this is the police, give yourself up)
Lord, I can't go back there (you are surrounded)
For crying out loud, give the bag to Bozo while they shoot you for being the stupidest man on earth.
{shoot-out sound effects}
Thank you.
1 comment:
Some reactions:
1) Now I know why I've studiously avoided this video for years. You just had to rip the scab off the wound, didn't you?
2) How did they get one of the Bee Gees to 'act' in the video?
3) I think the video could have been called 'Running Man'
4) The mercifully brief POV shot of the fugitive looking down at his legs trudging through the Midwestern mud reminds me of many mad dashes I have made to...never mind.
5) Don't you just expect Buford T. Justice to jump out and say "You sum bitch. You did that on purpose. You're going away 'til you're gray. I got the evidence."
6) That is the laziest harmony possible on the chorus. "Why yes, Dean, I can save you money by limiting my harmony to just two notes." "Great! You can be on my record. It's going to be a classic!"
7) If this was the hit, I wonder how bad the B side was.
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