lifeblood: songs: backgrounds: hey kind friend

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

why did choose to use smoke as you backing band on "hey kind friend"?

"i love smoke! it's like love walking into the room. i wrote that song after traveling around a little bit. these last couple years i'm kind of a recluse but i went on the road for this song, to run away a little bit from things. and it's just a journey song. and i felt very hobo-like when i was going through these experiences, and kind of like a vagabond without a home. so, smoke was my ideal band."

i kind of expected it to sound more like smoke than it does.

"yeah, i did, too. but it's funny, 'cause to me, it sounds like smoke, 'cause i know what it sounded like before, before we did it with them. i think the thing that people don't understand is what great musicians those guys are. it's not like they had to make it their song, you know. like, some bands we play with, they can't adapt ­ it's gotta be their way, or it can't happen. but with them, it's not like that. they were really gracious and wanted to do the song in the way that the song was, even though i didn't care one way or the other. but in the end i was really glad. i wanted a little more benjamin in it, but that was a particular day, and it's hit or miss."

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

the title shaming of the sun comes from a tunica indian legend, one of many native american - and south american - creation myths that focus on the sun, its powers and its life-giving properties. on the record, the indigo girls have used the symbol over and over: it's the light that shines on the windows in "shame on you," it's the drink of life in "get out the map," its absence defines "leeds," it dies in olympia in "hey kind friend."

in most legends, the power of the sun always wins the day - or at least part of it. the sun is the bully and the lover at the same time. you could say the same of music, the "languageless connection" emily urges us to hold fast to in "everything in its own time." it may be one of the few mythological elements we have left today, that larger-than-life force that has the power to push back the darkness. and the indigo girls, like a couple of coyotes, have tricked it into doing exactly that.

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1997-12: indigo girls - amy ray, curve:

sl - i heard a rumor that you wrote "hey kind friend" for ani difranco.

ar - [laughs heartily] i don't know if i should say that. ani would probably kill me... yeah, its a friendship song. it's not just to her, though. i hooked up with her for a few day because our bassist sara lee was playing with them. i got to know ani better through that experience. it was a hard time in my life and i went out with them for about a week. they kind of saved me, that whole group. and i didn't know them well. sometimes what you need is the company of strangers. so that song was written in reflection of that time...ani, she's a good girl.

sl - have you ever thought about collaborating with her?

ar - oh, i'd love to collaborate! but i think she's a lone horse. she and andrew, her boyfriend, locked in that little studio like mad scientists with all their clothes off or something...like they've gotten down to the most primal aspect of their being and they're creating art. that's what i picture. i don't know how i could fit into that, you know? [laughs] her self-determination is very inspiring though. it was an inspiration to watch her work in the studio. technically i saw her do some cool things - different tricks with sending your vocals through the speaker and singing again, having a weird background going and using loops in general, vocal and drum. what happens is you hang around with some artists and you trade ideas and thoughts without even knowing it. you inspire each other to go forward with what you're doing.

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200x-xx-xx: the meaning of some indigo girls lyrics:

the tune playing in "hey kind friend" is a cornet solo. it's the hymn "this is my father's world" (also known as "this is our father's house"). the tune is also picked up by the dulcimer near the end of the song.