"Galileo" is a song written by

Emily Saliers Emily Ann Saliers (born July 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and member of the musical duo Indigo Girls. Saliers sings soprano and plays lead guitar as well as banjo, piano, mandolin, ukulele, bouzouki and many other instruments. Ear ...

and recorded and performed by

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers s ...

group the Indigo Girls. It was released in 1992 on their platinum-selling fourth studio album ''

Rites of Passage A rite of passage is a ceremony or ritual of the passage which occurs when an individual leaves one group to enter another. It involves a significant change of status in society. In cultural anthropology the term is the Anglicisation of ''rite ...

''. It reached #10 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, the first song by the Indigo Girls to break the top ten on any chart. The song is about

reincarnation Reincarnation, also known as rebirth or transmigration, is the philosophical or religious concept that the non-physical essence of a living being begins a new life in a different physical form or body after biological death. Resurrection is ...

, partially through the lens of the story of

Galileo Galilei Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Commonly referred to as Galileo, his name was pronounced (, ). He wa ...

, the 17th century physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who played a major role in the

scientific revolution The Scientific Revolution was a series of events that marked the emergence of modern science during the early modern period, when developments in mathematics, physics, astronomy, biology (including human anatomy) and chemistry transfo ...

. The song's chorus invokes both

existential angst Existentialism ( ) is a form of philosophical inquiry that explores the problem of human existence and centers on human thinking, feeling, and acting. Existentialist thinkers frequently explore issues related to the meaning, purpose, and valu ...

and Galileo's genius with "How long till my soul gets it right/Can any human being ever reach the highest light/I call on the resting soul of Galileo/King of night vision, king of insight", referencing both the clarity of physical vision made possible through his modernizations of the

telescope A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, absorption, or reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally meaning only an optical instrument using lenses, curved mirrors, or a combination of both to observ ...

and his support of

Copernicanism Copernican heliocentrism is the astronomical model developed by Nicolaus Copernicus and published in 1543. This model positioned the Sun at the center of the Universe, motionless, with Earth and the other planets orbiting around it in circular p ...

, which stated that the Sun, rather than the Earth, was the center of the universe. The song has frequently closed concerts since its premiere in 1992.

Chart positions

References

External links

Music video for "Galileo"
{{authority control 1992 singles Indigo Girls songs Female vocal duets 1992 songs Songs about scientists Epic Records singles Song recordings produced by Peter Collins (record producer)