- Song
“Indiana” by Starflyer 59
Jason Martin has always been a mopey soul, and as a result, Starflyer 59’s best moments are those that are drenched in heartache and unrequited longing, not to mention a ton or two of distortion and reverb. “Indiana” is one such highlight, a four-and-a-half minute dirge that finds Martin throwing out searing riffs even as he bemoans “Stay these days and you will find/All the hurting here will die/Be better when you’re mine.”
Although Martin has since clarified that “Indiana,” like most of Gold, was about long-absent friends and not girls, it’s impossible for me to divorce the song from unrequited crushes. Let me put it this way: If I ever made a mixtape for a crush at some point in the mid-to-late ’90s, then chances are, “Indiana” was somewhere on the track list. Martin’s distorted riffs said all of the things I couldn’t.