lifeblood: songs: backgrounds: don't give that girl a gun

1997-05: jeff clark keeps 'em coming for amy ray, stomp and stammer:

the crumbled relationship you sing about in "don't give that girl a gun," is that based on something you recently went through?

"oh yeah. all my songs are based on fact. they're literal. that's my life, you know. it's real direct. i'm not quite sure everything i meant by it, but it's kind of a tortured love song. it's literal, and most people know what it's about i mean, don't print who it is. she knows it. but, i mean, you can say i'm gay 'til the cows come home...

so are you going to be on the cover of people magazine with a headline going 'yes, i'm gay!' next?

(laughs) "uhh nah but it's a breakup song, and it's also a love song. it's a 'don't let go' song, that's what i'd call it, and it's sad. but it wasn't supposed to be as sad as it is. it's kind of a drag."

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1997-05-18: indigo girls: 'it's not about us...', the knoxville news-sentinel:

they rarely discussed their sexual orientation then; however, the new cd contains much more frank lyrics by both - saliers discusses intolerance and being hated for being gay on "it's alright," and ray conveys the anguish of a real-life break-up with a woman on "don't give that girl a gun" and "cut it out."

ray also sings about never knowing what to say when the "beautiful ladies walk on by" on the song, "shame on you."

ray says the gay issue was always a non-issue with the two of them.

"in fact, people don't really care," she maintains. "well, i'm sure there are a lot of people out there that do. they think we're going to hell and stuff, but it doesn't really matter to us."

the strengths of the pair always have been their connection to fans of all stripes and their songwriting skills - with topics ranging from relationships to political protest.

saliers can evoke raw emotion with a song such as "ghost" from the "rites of passage" record in 1992. it tells of being haunted by a past love, of yearning for someone who still lives in your heart but you can no longer hold.

ray's lyrics are more political, even when the primary message is personal.

for example, here's her explanation of "don't give that girl a gun," a song about gun control and a break-up.

"i see everything politically, so even a relationship, a song about a break-up becomes a political song. nothing's ever about just one thing for me. ever."

the song, "cut it out," is about a political and social "activist trying to have a relationship with the world and with someone else at the same time," she says.

ray says she doesn't force the political and personal messages into one song. "they just come out that way because that's my personality, and that's the things i'm dealing with."

ray says both she and saliers have evolved as songwriters.

"i think the images are not as generalized as maybe they might have been when i was young," she says. "they're more specific and unique to myself. one of the most important things when you're writing a song, if you generalize the whole song, the song has no identity. if you're writing a love song, if you use all cliches . . . there's no substance.

"for me, i think the ability to write with substance and depth has evolved over time. i'm not where i want to be yet. you always should reach for something better."

she adds, "you try to make sure that you're diversifying a little bit more musically. i think we've done that. and i would say the same for emily. her images have gotten a lot tighter and more specific."

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1997-05-31: hey kind friend, creative loafing:

"i said [to emily], 'i'm going to ask you to play a certain way and do a certain thing," amy recalls. "like in 'don't give that girl a gun,' i wanted her to play electric guitar in a way she wouldn't normally do, and she really ended up being more herself. it's inside her, and she knows how to do it, and so we would do a song like 'scooter boys,' and she wasn't even in the right tuning, she was just hooked up and messing around. i started playing the song, we learned it in 10 minutes and then we recorded it. that was it. we kept that take."

amy's turn came on "caramia," the swooning, arching love song with the five violins, two violas and two cellos - in fact, a song whose harmonies were written by amy. but when they recorded it, emily asked amy to do "things i wouldn't even think of, that wouldn't occur to me to do," amy recalls. "she [said] to me, 'i think that note might not be right, can you do this instead.' or, 'i think that might be a little too harsh.' or, 'i didn't want your voice to stick out that much, can you try singing back a little bit.'" but don't mistake this for a compromise: "[emily] produces her own songs and i produce mine. we take direction from each other. and there's a lot of things she challenged me on this time." and vice-versa? "it's stuff that's inside us both but it's not what we would naturally do."

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1997-05-18: indigo girls let individual styles shine in 'sun', the new orleans times-picayune:

ray tends to write songs with an electric guitar, but usually ends up recording and playing them live with an acoustic. this time, her songs stayed electric. her compositions are often break-up songs, albeit break-up songs with a political slant.

ray said "don't give that girl a gun" is about the end of a relationship, but she also wanted to "tip my hat to all the gun control advocates that i support. my personal life and political life merge. everything i see, i see through a political lens. my relationships are the same way. i'm using the song to reflect both of those things."