Closer i am to fine lyrics

Songfacts®:

• Amy Ray and Emily Saliers of the Indigo Girls write separately, and this song was written by Saliers, who told us it is based on real experiences. Said Saliers: "All of my songs, they're a combination of real experiences and what I observe through other people's behavior and experience. I was with my family in Vermont, and we were sitting in this rustic cabin, and I was sitting on a front porch and looking out into the trees, which, you know, whenever you're in such a bucolic setting, it can make you feel very philosophical. So that's how I was feeling. And that song is about not beating yourself up too hard to get your answer from one place. There's no panacea, that in order to be balanced or feel closer to fine it's okay to draw from this or to draw from that, to draw from a bunch of different sources. So it's about being confused but looking for the answers, and in the end knowing that you're going to be fine. No seeking just one definitive answer."

• Regarding the "Doctor of philosophy" in the lyrics, Saliers explains that it wasn't a real person: "It's sort of a stereotype. I remember in high school one of my teachers had a poster of Rasputin on his door, and his pictures just looked so bizarre to me, and always struck me. I sort of put those images together, and it was sort of a poke at academia and the way it can sometimes be removed from reality. So I was saying I don't think this professor has the right to judge me in terms of real life, when we're caught up in this insular, sort of strange academic world."

• This was the first hit song for The Indigo Girls, and the album was their major-label debut. They paid their dues playing small venues before they were signed to Epic Records, and this was reflected in the lyrics about a late night/early morning trip to a bar. Says Saliers: "Amy and I used to be a bar band, and we would play 'til 3 a.m. like every night, practically for 13 nights in a row, 3 sets, finishing at 3 a.m., so I had some early experiences at bars at 3 a.m., certainly." (Check out our interview with Emily Saliers. The official Indigo Girls website is indigogirls.com.)

• This won the 1989 Grammy award for Best Contemporary Folk Recording. The Indigo Girls were nominated for a Best New Artist Grammy, but lost to Milli Vanilli, who later lost the award when it was discovered they did not sing on their album. >>

  Suggestion credit:
  Bertrand - Paris, France

• In the season 3 "Diwali" episode of The Office, Jim and Andy sing this while drunk, much to Karen's annoyance.

  It was also used in these TV shows:

  Transparent ("Oscillate" - 2015)
  Happy Endings ("Pilot" - 2011)
  Cold Case ("Maternal Instincts" - 2004)

  And in these movies:

  The Hollars (2016)
  It Had To Be You (2015)
  Momma's Man (2008)
  Park (2006)

• This also peaked at #26 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart.

I'm trying to tell you somethin' about my life Maybe give

I pulled out with the mountain Laurel blooming On a dirt

Galileo's head was on the block The crime was looking up

I'm gonna clear my head I'm gonna drink that sun The saddest

There's a letter on the desktop that I dug out

Through the dustbowl, through the debt Grandma was a suffragette Blacklisted for

Pain from pearls, hey little girl How much have you grown? Pain

I sit two stories above the street It's awful quiet here

Jet fuel and traffic lines Pulling up to the delta signs Distant

Now the parking lot is empty Everyone's gone someplace I pick you

I had guards like watchdogs Dogs in a manger I could feel

My friends they wash the windows And they shine in the

Come to you with strange fire I make an offering of

Three hits to the heart son And it's poetry in motion One

The trouble came around here Here in the south we fix

Thought I knew my mind like the back of my

Leavin' ain't fair, you know Partin' ain't just, people got to

Indian legislation's on the desk of a do right Congressman And

Indian legislation's on the desk of a do right Congressman And

I am an only child Born of the wild Riddled to spend

We were down at Dead Man's Hill Smoking vines like cigarettes Looking

You followed me this far Did you find out what's inside? Can

You said "The world was magic" I was wide-eyed and laughing We

{Alright Dancin'} I left my anger in a river runnin' highway five New

You can go to the east to find your Your inner

I don't know if it was real or in a

During the time of which I speak It was hard to

L.A. proved too much for the man (Too much for the

(Handed down and made by hand) Each time you pull down

Well I woke up this mornin' Gray dawn With a prayer on

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770

I'm trying to tell you somethin' about my life
Maybe give me insight between black and white
And the best thing you've ever done for me
Is to help me take my life less seriously
It's only life after all, yea

Well darkness has a hunger that's insatiable
And lightness has a call that's hard to hear
And I wrap my fear around me like a blanket
I sailed my ship of safety till I sank it
I'm crawling on your shores

And 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
And the less I seek my source for some definitive
(The less I seek my source)

Closer I am to fine
(Fine, yea)
Closer I am to fine
(Fine, yea)

And I went to see the doctor of philosophy
With a poster of Rasputin and a beard down to his knee
He never did marry or see a B grade movie
He graded my performance, he said he could see through me
I spent four years prostrate to the higher mind
Got my paper and I was free

And I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains
(Ooh)
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
And the less I seek my source for some definitive
(The less I seek my source)

Closer I am to fine
(Fine, yea)
Closer I am to fine
(Fine, yea)

I stopped by the bar at three a.m.
To seek solace in a bottle or possibly a friend
And I woke up with a headache like my head against the board
Twice as cloudy as I'd been the night before
And I went in seeking clarity

I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains
I looked to the children, I drank from the fountains
And we go to the doctor, we go to the mountains
We look to the children, we drink from the fountains
Yea we go to the bible, we go through the workout
We read up on revival, we stand up for the lookout
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)

Closer I am to fine
(Fine)
Closer I am to fine
(Fine)
Closer I am to fine
(Fine, yea)

770

I'm trying to tell you somethin' about my life   Maybe give me insight between black and white   And the best thing you've ever done for me   Is to help me take my life less seriously   It's only life after all, yea      Well darkness has a hunger that's insatiable   And lightness has a call that's hard to hear   And I wrap my fear around me like a blanket   I sailed my ship of safety till I sank it   I'm crawling on your shores      And 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   And the less I seek my source for some definitive   (The less I seek my source)      Closer I am to fine   (Fine, yea)   Closer I am to fine   (Fine, yea)      And I went to see the doctor of philosophy   With a poster of Rasputin and a beard down to his knee   He never did marry or see a B grade movie   He graded my performance, he said he could see through me   I spent four years prostrate to the higher mind   Got my paper and I was free      And I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains   (Ooh)   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   And the less I seek my source for some definitive   (The less I seek my source)      Closer I am to fine   (Fine, yea)   Closer I am to fine   (Fine, yea)      I stopped by the bar at three a.m.   To seek solace in a bottle or possibly a friend   And I woke up with a headache like my head against the board   Twice as cloudy as I'd been the night before   And I went in seeking clarity      I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains   I looked to the children, I drank from the fountains   And we go to the doctor, we go to the mountains   We look to the children, we drink from the fountains   Yea we go to the bible, we go through the workout   We read up on revival, we stand up for the lookout   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)      Closer I am to fine   (Fine)   Closer I am to fine   (Fine)   Closer I am to fine   (Fine, yea)

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