Indigo Girls Stay Resilient Through Covid-19 on New Song ‘Long Ride’

Indigo Girls have premiered a new song, “Long Ride,” that offers their take on the Covid-19 era.

The uplifting heartland rock track, which the pair debuted on NPR’s Morning Edition, features allusions to the pandemic in its lyrics, encouraging listeners to keep their heads up: “I know you wanna let go of the reins, yeah/But it’s gonna be a long ride/Hang on, my friend, I know, I get it/It’s gonna be a long ride.”

Indigo Girls member Amy Ray admits that she and her bandmate Emily Saliers had reservations about addressing Covid-19 in their music. “I love the project idea, but I was worried about trying to write about these times because of how complex it is — because there are so many layers,” she told NPR. “I almost feel like without some distance on it, and some perspective, it’s hard to write a song.”

She was eventually swayed after talking with her mom and her friends; all of them wanted to go out to eat or party with their loved ones, which forced her to be “the voice of reason” and encourage them to stay home.

“I was personally thrilled that she had come up with the idea,” Saliers said. “On the one hand, it meant that I didn’t have to come up with the idea — and I really loved it. I was also excited about the fact that we hadn’t written a song together in 30 years.”

Indigo Girls last shared the song “Change My Heart” this past July.