People in Indigo Girls Lyrics Trivia Quiz

Answer: Galileo

Galileo, of course, was the astronomer whose wide-ranging discoveries were the foundations of much of today's science. His arguments that the sun, not the earth, was the center of the solar system, which contradicted Biblical teachings, led to his trial by the Inquisition in 1633.

He actually was not executed- a common misconception. Instead, he lived the next 8 years under house arrest, before dying at the age of 77. "Galileo" first appeared on the album "Rites of Passage."

Answer: Anna Mae Aquash

"My girlfriend Anna Mae
talked about uranium
her head was full of bullets
and her body dumped
the FBI cut off her hands
and told us she died of exposure"

The real story is extremely interesting. Anna Mae Aquash was one of the few female activists in AIM. She was present at the Feb. 1973 incident in Wounded Knee, South Dakota, where over 200 Native American activists attempted to take over the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, where they claimed the government was about to sell off the lands for uranium mining. AIM held the reservation for 71 days before surrendering.

In December of 1975, Anna Mae disappeared. A body was found two months later at the base of a cliff, and the coroner ruled that the person had died of exposure. However, the body was so decomposed that no positive ID could be made, thus the hands were removed and sent to an FBI lab for fingerprint analysis, which showed that they were the hands of Anna Mae. At this point, another autopsy was done, which revealed a bullet hole in the back of her skull.

For 27 years, her death remained a mystery. Despite the lyrics of this song, the primary theory about her death was that she was suspected of being an undercover agent for the FBI, and had been killed by AIM activists for this reason. Few actually thought that the FBI had killed her.

The engrossing story of the 27-year attempt to solve the murder can be found at http://dickshovel.com/annausnews.html. Eventually, two former AIM members were accused of the murder, and, as of 2005, one has been convicted.

"Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" is found in both live and studio versions on the album "1200 Curfews."

Answer: Meridel Le Sueur

Iowan Meridel Le Seur's parents were socialists in turn-of-the-century America. She wrote detailed accounts of injustices in the US- bread lines, unemployment, government indifference. She was blacklisted during the McCarthy era. She was also an author of historical books for children. She died in 1996 at the age of 96.

"Go" is on the album "Come On Now Social."
Her lyrics in the song are:
"The truth is I was afraid
I felt inferior
I felt I excelled in competing with others and I knew instantly that these people were not competing at all, that they were acting in a strange, powerful trance of movement together
and I was filled with longing to act with them and with the fear that I could not"

Answer: Frank Stanford

Stanford, born in Mississippi, was a fellow Southerner. The lyrics "one could send you down the river" refer to the fact that he was adopted. He wrote poetry filled with darkness and angst. In 1978, he committed suicide by shooting himself three times in the heart.

"Three Hits" is from the album "Rites of Passage."

Answer: Bob Sheldon

Bob Sheldon was the founder of Internationalist Books and an activist for peace. At the height of the Persian Gulf war, in 1991, as he was preparing protests and teach-ins, he was shot while working alone in his store. The murderer was never found.

The lyrics following those above refer to his Gulf War activities-

"In the war over land where the world began
Prophecies say it's where the world will end
But there's a tremor growing in our backyard
Fear in our heads, fear in our hearts "

"Jonas and Ezekial" is from the album "Rites of Passage."

Answer: Keeping her maiden name when she married

The title refers to Lucy Stone, a U. S. suffragette and women's-rights activist in the late 1800s, who was the first woman in the U. S. known to have kept her maiden name after marriage. She was also an abolitionist. Even today, the Lucy Stone League, http://www.lucystoneleague.org/, works for the rights of people to choose their own names when they marry.

Answer: The murder of Matthew Shepard

Matthew Shepard was a gay student who attended the University of Wyoming. On Oct. 7, 1998, he was attacked by two robbers in Laramie, Wyoming. He died five days later. The killers, Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson, were sentenced to life in prison. During the trial, they admitted to killing Shepard because he was gay.

Answer: Indigenous Women's Network

The Indigenous Women's Network works with tribal women across the world. Their mission statement is "For the past 12 years, IWN has advocated for Indigenous sovereignty and human rights by representing Indigenous women at United Nations events, addressing the environment, population, economic development, and human rights as they affect women." One of their projects is Honor the Earth, a coalition of native groups working for environmental preservation, and a frequent beneficiary of Indigo Girls fundraisers.

Marsha Gomez was murdered by her schizophrenic son, Mekaya Gomez, in 1998.

Ingrid Washinawatok was kidnapped and murdered by Colombian guerrillas while setting up schools for children for the U'wa tribe in Colombia.

"Nuevas Senoritas" is from the album "Become You."

Answer: Virginia Woolf

The song was "Virginia Woolf," on the album "Rites of Passage." Virginia Woolf was an English author in the early 1800s. She was a pioneer of many literary devices, including stream-of-consciousness writing. She also suffered from bipolar disorder, which led her to commit suicide by jumping into the River Ouse with pockets full of stones, an incident referred to in the song by:
"The moon had swallowed the sun and the light of the earth
and so it was for you
when the river eclipsed your life"

Answer: Rolling Stone

Jann Wenner was the publisher and first editor of "Rolling Stone," the influential rock magazine. Ray's song was a swipe at the sexism of the music industry, especially its icons like "Rolling Stone."