beauty queen sister (2011) Song Ranking

(7.7% awesome, 38.5% good, 23.1% OK, 15.4% meh, 15.4% skip out of 13)

1 awesome

yoke

5 good

beauty queen sister

gone

mariner moonlighting

making promises

damo

3 ok/neutral

we get to feel it all

share the moon

war rugs

2 meh

john

able to sing

In the past, I thought Emily was the better writer, and more professional(?) singer. And Amy was the cooler, more rock & roll, edgy one. But this album, I could tell Emily was settled and happy, which is really good for her! I’m glad she’s more stable and loving her life. But it did not make for very compelling songwriting. So I had an unusually high meh and skip count because of that.

2 skip

birthday song

feed and water the horses

Holly Happy Days (2010) Song Ranking

23.1% awesome; 38.5% good; 15.4% 23.1% OK; meh; skip out of 13

3 awesome
I Feel the Christmas Spirit
The Wonder Song
Happy Joyous Hanukkah

I’m not really a fan of Christmas music. Only because I’ve been oversaturated with it. The songs are nice, but then there are 800 remakes of the same 10 songs. So you hear them over, and over, and over. That is why this album is in my top 3 for Christmas all time (after TSO & Michael Buble’). The Indigo Girls made an all-inclusive, unique album, and I love that.

5 good
I’ll be Home for Christmas
It Really Is (A Wonderful Life)
Angels We Have Heard On High
Your Holiday Song
O Holy Night

2 ok
I’ll Be Home for Christmas
In the Bleak Midwinter

3 meh
Mistletoe
Peace Child
There’s Still My Joy

Skip

Staring Down the Brilliant Dream [Lives] (2010) Song Ranking

48.4% awesome; 38.7% good; 12.9% ok; meh; skip out of 31

15 Awesome

Heartache for Everyone

Devotion

Go

Cold Beer & Remote Control

Moment of Forgiveness

Fill It Up Again

Sugar Tongue

Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright

Kid fears

Shame on You

Get out the map

Salty South

Rock & Roll Heaven’s Gate

Second Time Around

Become You

This album is so me! I am very into the realistic, cynical viewpoint that comes through each song. The lyrics and singing style see truth as it is–not sugar-coated, nor with rose-colored glasses. And I think that’s how life is, especially right now. But there’s also a sense of hope and trying in the songs.

Good

Closer to Fine

Fly Away

Ozilline

WAtershed

The Wood Song

Three County Highway

Digging for Your Dream

Love of OUr Lives

Believe in Love

Fugitive

Tether

Wild Horses

OK

Come On Home

Cordova

What Are You Like

Prince of Darkness

Meh

Skip

Poisidan and the Bitter Bug + Acoustic (2009) Song Ranking

 poisidan and the bitter bug Acoustic (2009)

(9.1% awesome, 63.6% good, 27.3% OK, meh, skip out of 11)

1 Awesome

*SECOND TIME AROUND-ACOUSTIC

I like the broken-hearted vibe of this album, both for romantic love and social causes. When you listen, it’s kind of bleak, but also realistic for the time period. This is during the Great Recession, which at the time was not acknowledged as such, but everyone was struggling more. I had graduated from college in 2007, which was terrible timing, and because of the economy, was lost. This album personifies that feeling.

7 Good

LOVE OF OUR LIVES-ACOUSTIC

i’LL CHANGE-ACOUSTIC

GHOST OF THE GANG-ACOUSTIC

SALTY SOUTH-ACOUSTIC

WHAT ARE YOU LIKE-ACOUSTIC

TRUE ROMANTIC-ACOUSTIC

fleet of hope-acoustic

3 OK

SUGAR TONGUE-ACOUSTIC

DRIVER EDUCATION-ACOUSTIC

DIGGING FOR YOUR DREAM-ACOUSTIC

Meh

Skip

poisidan and the bitter bug Deluxe [acoustic versions] (2009)

(40% awesome, 40% good, 20% OK, meh, skip out of 10)

4 AWESOME

love of our lives

driver education

I’ll change

second time around

4 GOOD

what are you like

DIGGING FOR YOUR DREAM

sugar tongue

TRUE ROMANTIC

2 OK/NEUTRAL

FLEET OF HOPE

GHOST OF THE GANG

MEH

SKIP

Despite Our Differences (2006) Song Ranking

(46.2% awesome, 46.2% good, 23.1% OK, meh, skip out of 13 and 19 counting deluxe)

6 awesome

little perennials

I believe in love

run

MONEY MADE YOU MEAN

all the way

LAST TEARS

I liked all the love and love lost songs on this album. I am not sure why they released the double album, but it really threw a wrench in my rankings. At first, I wasn’t going to include any repeat songs, live albums, or acoustic. But this was a whole album! I felt weird skipping it. So I made a rule, if it’s just a 1-off, it wouldn’t go into the album ranking. But if it’s a whole album, I would rank it. So that made me have to include their Christmas album and I included Staring Down the Brilliant Dream live double album. And as I’m writing this I am realizing I should include 1200 Curfews also…

6 good

pendulum swinger

run

ROCK & ROLLS HEAVEN’S GATE

LAY MY HEAD DOWN

dirt & dead ends

they won’t have me

3 ok/neutral

three county highway

FLY AWAY

DIRT AND DEAD ENDS (GOOD, BUT BLEAK)

meh

Skip

Despite Our Differences Acoustic (2006)

(16.7% awesome, 50% good, 33.3% OK, meh, skip out of 6 deluxe)

Indigo Girls

1 Awesome

Money Made You Mean (live)

3 Good

Last Tears (acoustic)

THREE COUNTY HIGHWAY (LIVE)

little perennials (same exept for plosives)

2 Ok

FLY AWAY (ACOUSTIC)

PENDULUM SWINGER (LIVE) (NEEDS MORE BEAT)

Meh

Skip

ALL THAT WE LET IN (2004) Song Ranking

(27.3% awesome, 36.4% good, 18.2% OK, 18.2% meh, skip out of 11)

3 awesome

FILL IT UP AGAIN

heartache for everyone

DAIRY QUEEN

I went to a few concerts during this album cycle. And I remember W. was in office at the time, and I thought that was so embarrassing for America. I thought that was the lowest we could go as a country. And each concert was also a political rally trying to get people engaged. The Indigo Girls have always been ahead of their time–and this track list is a wonderful example of that.

4 good

free in you

perfect world

tether

something real

2 ok/neutral

Rise Up

all that we let in

2 meh

COME ON HOME

cordova

skip

Become You (2002) Song Ranking

(41.7% awesome, 33.4% good, 16.7% OK, 8.3% meh, skip out of 12)

5 Awesome

moment of forgiveness

deconstruction

become you

yield

hope alone

This is the album that probably resonated with me most–even to today (I think). I just felt every song was personal to me, and lyrically explicit. At the time it was released, I was a lonely teenager in a rural town, and this set of songs hit home.

4 good

you’ve got to show

collecting you

our deliverance

starkville

2 ok/neutral

bitterroot river

she’s saving me

1 meh

neuvas senoritas

skip

come on now social (1999) Song Ranking

(28.6% awesome, 50% good, 21.4% OK, 7.1% meh, 7.1% skip out of 12 and 14 w/hidden tracks that count)

4 awesome

go

COLD BEER & REMOTE CONTROL

FAYE TUCKER

PHILOSOPHY OF LOSS

This album is both down to Earth and rabble rousing. It seems like the kind of album you’d want during a protest or sit-in.

7 good

gone again

trouble

PEACE TONIGHT

OZILLINE

WE ARE TOGETHER

faye tucker

PHILOSPHY OF LOSS (SECRET SONG)

3 ok/neutral

soon to be nothing

SISTER

COMPROMISE

1 meh

ANDY

I’m gonna need these 3 songs in an individual format, because 2 of my faves are secret tracks, and this skip has a lot of potential.

1 skip

SISTER (REPRISE) (TOO SHORT/QUIET)

Shaming of the Sun (1997) Song Ranking

(33% awesome, 33% good, 33% OK, meh, skip out of 12)

4 AWESOME

SHAME ON YOU

GET OUT THE MAP

IT’S ALRIGHT

scooter boys

All really good political songs. And I kept that in mind when ranking each album. I think it’s important to speak out if you have a platform. The Indigo Girls have ALWAYS spoken up for political issues! It’s one of their biggest strengths.

4 GOOD

shed your skin

burn all the letters

cut it out

leeds

4 OK/NEUTRAL

caramia

don’t give that girl a gun

everything in its own time

hey kind friend

MEH

SKIP

1200 Curfews (1995) Song Ranking

48.1% Awesome; 25.9% Good; 11.1% OK; 14.8% Meh; Skip out of 27

13 Awesome

Joking

Least Complicated

Pushing the Needle Too Far

Tangled Up in Blue

World Falls

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (live at Atwood)

Galilio

Land of Cannan

This Train Revised

Chickenman

Closer to Fine

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

Go Go Go

I thought I liked live albums less, than studio b/c I like the way I know the song. And when they deviate from that I thought I liked it a little less. But when I listened to this album it was very sentimental both in remembering the time period I first listened to it a lot (my first year at college, living in the dorm) and also for concerts I’d been to over the years. So even though there are many slow songs on here, there are enough amped up songs to keep it exciting.

7 Good

I Don’t Wanna Know

Thin Line

Love’s Recovery (too much brass)

Jonas Ezekial

Down By the River (instrumentals!)

Back Together Again

Midnight Train to Georgia

3 OK

Language or the Kiss (bike bell)

Virginia Woolfe

Ghost

4 Meh

Strange Fire

Power of Two

Dead Man’s Hill

Mystery

Skip