Lay My Head Down

Album: Despite Our Differences (2006)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Emily Saliers of the Indigo Girls wrote this song. She explains that it's not based on a specific event: "it's sort of a metaphor for what we can experience socially and how it can wear us down, and there's so much stimuli and we're so attached to our past or whatever it is that's holding us down. That song kind of has a world-weariness about it, definitely. More so than any song I've ever written. Sometimes if you go to a party and you look around and you see posing, or people professing this or that... if you take a look at the whole thing, it just can sort of be overwhelming, what human begins are going though. And there's always a party, it's like if people are drinking and there's like a buzz in the air, and things are heightened. It was just sort of a metaphor for how life can become like that, and become tiresome because of our patterns and our complexities - you want that one person that you trust implicitly that you can just put your head on his or her shoulder, and feel okay in all the madness." (Check out our interview with Emily Saliers. The official Indigo Girls website is indigogirls.com.)

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Charlotte Caffey of The Go-Go's

Charlotte Caffey of The Go-Go'sSongwriter Interviews

Charlotte was established in the LA punk scene when a freaky girl named Belinda approached her wearing a garbage bag.

Actors With Hit Songs

Actors With Hit SongsMusic Quiz

Many actors have attempted music, but only a few have managed a hit. Do you know which of these thespians charted?

Harry Wayne Casey of KC and The Sunshine Band

Harry Wayne Casey of KC and The Sunshine BandSongwriter Interviews

Harry Wayne Casey tells the stories behind KC and The Sunshine Band hits like "Get Down Tonight," "That's The Way (I Like It)," and "Give It Up."

Famous Singers' First Films

Famous Singers' First FilmsSong Writing

A look at the good (Diana Ross, Eminem), the bad (Madonna, Bob Dylan) and the peculiar (David Bowie, Michael Jackson) film debuts of superstar singers.

Benny Mardones

Benny MardonesSongwriter Interviews

His song "Into The Night" is one of the most-played of all time. For Benny, it took him to hell and back.

Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, Heaven And Hell

Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, Heaven And HellSongwriter Interviews

Guitarist Tony Iommi on the "Iron Man" riff, the definitive Black Sabbath song, and how Ozzy and Dio compared as songwriters.