It's too late
This model's out of date
Got every spare part
But there ain't much heart inside here
Not like the start
I was good at the art of survival
I've always tried
To keep my troubles deep inside
Where I can hide them
now I'm open wide

When it ends
Again I'll see my friends
They'll give me a lift
I've been running adrift, so easy
Shifting the gear
I got nothing to fear from the showdown
I'll go down quiet
And kids downstairs making a hell of a din
I'm all alone
Getting a quote for the wages of sin

Beyond the indigo, indigo
Where the chilly winds, winds will blow
My time is running low
Going to cross the dark dark river
Going to see my good life-giver
Better cover my yellow liver

Alright,
I'm giving up the fight
I didn't know when
I'd be a stranger again
In my own land
The days are O.K.
But oh how I hate those long nights
You understand
Darling please, just hold my hand
You feel so warm
In the eye of the storm
I'm going away, I'm going away, I'm going away
See you again someday
Darling, I'm going away
Feel like I'm going away, this time I'm going away


Lyrics submitted by Golgotha

Indigo Lyrics as written by Peter Gabriel

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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Indigo song meanings
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7 Comments

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  • +1
    General CommentFantastic song and about dying of old age as I read it. Not by accident, murder or being stolen away at an earlier-than-expected age. Just good, old-fashioned snuffing it. Talks about giving up the fight against the illness, or just the body packing up, and hoping to go into a Hereafter to meet his friends.

    Terrific song and one I'd love to have at my own casket-to-cooker bash :-)
    TonyM101on February 01, 2014   Link
  • 0
    General CommentOne of my favourites
    nic-ckon March 03, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General CommentIt sounds to me like someone comtemplating suicide, or simply dying of natural causes. Definitely a song about death. And not a very contented death. The ending lyrics are so sad, despairing...

    "But oh how I hate those long nights
    You understand
    Darling please, just hold my hand
    You feel so warm
    In the eye of the storm
    I'm going away, I'm going away, I'm going away
    See you again someday
    Darling, I'm going away
    Feel like I'm going away, this time I'm going away."
    EnduringChillon April 30, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General CommentOne other thing- these lines are a kind of genius.

    "This model's out of date
    Got every spare part
    But there ain't much heart inside here."

    It's comparing the human body to a car. When cars fail they get their parts replaced. When a human's body fails them, they sometimes get organ transplants. I see the line "There ain't much heart inside here" as having a double meaning. "Heart" can mean spirit or the will to live, but it could also mean the literal body part- the patient's heart is failing.
    EnduringChillon June 23, 2012   Link
  • 0
    My InterpretationLove this track. One of my favourite's from PG2. I've alway thought the lines"

    "I was good at the art of survival
    I've always tried
    To keep my troubles deep inside
    Where I can hide them
    now I'm open wide"

    are about PG's transition from band member to solo artist...Especially the "now I'm open wide"...Just my thoughts anyway!
    slowburn83on March 01, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General CommentIt definitely sounds like a song about some sort of death to me, but I don't think it's from old age as someone earlier suggested. Specifically, the line "the kids downstairs making a hell of a din" doesn't support that. Someone dying of old age wouldn't have "kids" anymore.

    To me it sounds more like someone dying from a disease (the line about "yellow liver" sounds a lot like cirrhosis).

    Alternatively, it could be a metaphor for the death of a dream (of a fulfilled life perhaps), as it seems to suggest kind of a mid-life crisis in ways: "Not like the start, I was good at the art of survival."

    I don't know, but those are my thoughts. Beautiful, haunting tune for sure.
    famousbeagleon April 12, 2017   Link
  • 0
    General CommentWhat amazes me is how Mr. Gabriel writes lyrics to match a melody. He did the same thing with Genesis. As a song writer of far less talent, I have always written the tune to match the lyrics. Doing it the other way just seems incredibly difficult. I have a recording of him humming this song before he came up with the lyrics.

    I love this song and play on the piano often, though it always saddens me.
    EgbertWikitikion December 22, 2019   Link

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