"Shame on You" is a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from the

Indigo Girls Indigo Girls are an American folk rock music duo from Atlanta, Georgia, United States, consisting of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. The two met in elementary school and began performing together as high school students in Decatur, Georgia, part o ...

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

Shaming of the Sun ''Shaming of the Sun'', sometimes mislabeled as ''Shaming the Sun'', is the sixth studio album by the Indigo Girls, released in 1997. It was the duo's highest-charting album in the U.S., peaking at number 7 on the ''Billboard'' 200. Track listin ...

'' released in

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

. The song's lyrics celebrate

Chicano Chicano or Chicana is a chosen identity for many Mexican Americans in the United States. The label ''Chicano'' is sometimes used interchangeably with ''Mexican American'', although the terms have different meanings. While Mexican-American ident ...

culture ("I go down to Chicano city park/cause it makes me feel so fine") and strongly criticize efforts against

illegal immigration Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of the immigration laws of that country or the continued residence without the legal right to live in that country. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upwar ...

as being

racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

("The white folks like to pretend it's not/but their music's in the air") and

hypocritical Hypocrisy is the practice of engaging in the same behavior or activity for which one criticizes another or the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform. In moral psychology, it is th ...

("They say we be looking for illegal immigrants/can we check your car/I say you know it's funny I think we were on the same boat/back in 1694").

Steve Earle Stephen Fain Earle (; born January 17, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, author, and actor. Earle began his career as a songwriter in Nashville and released his first EP in 1982. Initially working in the country music g ...

sings backup and plays harmonica on the song. The song was inspired by filmmaker David Zeiger's documentary ''Displaced in the New South''.PBS
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References

External links

at Indigo Girls' website 1997 singles Indigo Girls songs 1997 songs Songs written by Amy Ray Songs against racism and xenophobia Epic Records singles {{folk-song-stub