Indiana Wants Me by lazarus57

lazarus57 - Indiana Wants Me

lazarus57

Jul 28, 2025 09:25am

THE DIAMOND CLUB - JULY '25 EDITION<img src="https://singsnap-cdn.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/message-board/threads/3ADH/2d79ac9961_ZH0N_media.gif"><img src="https://singsnap-cdn.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/message-board/threads/L6SM/f27fe44337_CY4X_media.jpg"><img src="https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Music114/v4/2d/5c/50/2d5c5049-8c5f-1385-1746-7db5396ebedc/mzi.xltwwyck.jpg/1200x1200bf-60.jpg" alt="‎Indiana Wants Me - Album by R. Dean Taylor - Apple Music"> "Indiana Wants Me" is a song written, composed, and originally recorded by Canadian singer-songwriter <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._Dean_Taylor" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">R. Dean Taylor</a>. It was released on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rare_Earth_Records" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Rare Earth</a> label, a subsidiary of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motown" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Motown</a> Records, in 1970, and was a top ten hit in both the US and UK. In <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cashbox_(magazine)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Cashbox</a> magazine, the single hit #1.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_Wants_Me#cite_note-tropicalglen1-1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">[1]</a> The song spent two weeks at #2 in Canada.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_Wants_Me#cite_note-bac-lac1-2" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">[2]</a>The song is written from the viewpoint of someone who has killed a man out of defending his wife's honor; he is missing his family and hiding from the police, who eventually catch up with him. Taylor wrote and composed the song after watching the movie <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonnie_and_Clyde_(film)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Bonnie and Clyde</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_Wants_Me#cite_note-taylor-3" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">[3]</a> In addition to writing, composing, and originally recording the selection, Taylor produced the record and arranged it in collaboration with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Van_De_Pitte" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">David Van De Pitte</a>. It was released on the Rare Earth label, formed by Motown in an attempt to establish itself in the rock music market. The police siren sounds at the start of the record were removed from some copies supplied to radio stations after complaints that drivers hearing the song on the radio had mistakenly pulled over, thinking that the sounds were real.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_Wants_Me#cite_note-taylor-3" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">[3]</a>The sirens are also heard during the instrumental section in the middle of the song. At the climax of the song, soon after the narrator has sung, "Red lights are flashin' around me,/ Yeah, love, it looks like they found me," and the chorus, a voice on a bullhorn is heard, commanding: "This is the police. Give yourself up. You are surrounded." The sound of gunfire ensues, implying the narrator declines to surrender and instead perishes in a shootout with the police. An alternate version of the song fades out at the end without the gunfire.The record became Taylor's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-hit_wonder" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">only hit</a> as a performer in the US, where it rose to #5 on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_(magazine)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Billboard</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_100" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Hot 100</a> and to #1 on Cashbox in late 1970.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_Wants_Me#cite_note-billboardpop-4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">[4]</a> Taylor appeared on the TV show <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Bandstand" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">American Bandstand</a> to promote the record.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_Wants_Me#cite_note-taylor-3" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">[3]</a> In the UK, where Taylor had had an earlier hit with "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gotta_See_Jane" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Gotta See Jane</a>", it also became his biggest hit, reaching #2 in May 1971.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_Wants_Me#cite_note-betts-5" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">[5]</a>