| Galileo | |
| Cover: | Indigo Girls Galileo.jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Indigo Girls |
| Album: | Rites of Passage |
| Released: | 1992 |
| Recorded: | 1992, Bearsville Studios, Woodstock, New York |
| Genre: | Folk rock, world |
| Length: | 4:12 |
| Label: | Epic |
| Producer: | Peter Collins |
| Prev Title: | Hammer and Nail |
| Prev Year: | 1990 |
| Next Title: | Ghost |
| Next Year: | 1992 |
"Galileo" is a song written by Emily Saliers and recorded and performed by folk rock group the Indigo Girls. It was released in 1992 on their platinum-selling fourth studio album Rites of Passage. 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, partially through the lens of the story of Galileo Galilei, the 17th century physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who played a major role in the scientific revolution. The song's chorus invokes both existential angst 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 and his support of Copernicanism, 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.[1]
| Chart (1992) | Peak Position |
|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[2] | 130 |
| UK Singles Chart | 86 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 89 |
| U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks | 10 |