I first heard Indiana Road through Christian’s post The Sunday Six in February 2025. It stopped me in my tracks. This is pure country-rock storytelling – long, slow-burning, and unapologetically rough around the edges.
The song tells the story of a Canadian farmer and his partner living through hard times. A government official turns up and tells them they must leave their land so it can be turned into a holiday park. The narrator pushes back, threatening to meet the man with a gun in his hand out on Indiana Road. But the confrontation never happens. The official backs away, saying he won’t sink that low. What’s left is the fallout: the farmer’s partner heads back to Calgary to be with her family, and in time she disappears from his life altogether. The narrator ends up alone, drifting into a kind of self-imposed exile.
Indiana Road reminds me of the long-form songs Neil Young would later return to – Ramada Inn and Clementine come to mind – especially in the vocal delivery, the story-telling and melody. What’s striking is that Eaglesmith did this years earlier. The music in Indiana Road is raw and biting and the instruments grind and scrape along with the story, matching the anger and frustration in the lyrics.
Eaglesmith is described as an alternative country songwriter, and that label fits here. Indiana Road, the title track of his third album, touches on many themes he returns to again and again: rural life, old vehicles, people on the fringe, love that slips away, and lives shaped by bad luck and hard choices. Eaglesmith, one of nine children, was raised by a farming family near Guelph in rural Southern Ontario. He began playing the guitar at age 12.
Well me and the girl we had a little farm south of the river road
A little single shack and some cattle in the barn and we grew our own food
Didn’t have any money, but it never crossed our minds
We grew to share and we were happy there just watching the years go by
Until one day I come home there was a big black car parked out by my backdoor
And a government man with a fat cigar said we couldn’t live there anymore
Said they’d pay us for the land but never for the work we did
And they were gonna turn it in to a holiday park and a drag-strip for the kids
I told him, I would meet him on the Indiana road with a gun in my hand but he never showed
Said he couldn’t bring himself to sink himself that low
I told him, I would meet him on the Indiana road with a gun in my hand but he never showed
He went back to Ottawa or Toronto or wherever it is they go
Well we wired ahead and the girl’s family said to come back to Calgary
We decided that she would go on back there without me
And I’ll never forget those tears in her eyes as I held her face in my hand
I turned around and I headed for town and I never looked back again
I told him, I would meet him on the Indiana road with a gun in my hand but he never showed
Said he couldn’t bring himself to sink himself that low
I told him, I would meet him on the Indiana road with a gun in my hand but he never showed
He went back to Ottawa or Toronto or wherever it is they go
Now I live in an old Ford van at the end of a dead end road
And the girl she stopped sending letters must be seven years or more
Me, I, spend a lot of time down on the Indiana ya know
And I draw a bead but there ain’t no need I don’t shoot anymore
I told him, I would meet him on the Indiana road with a gun in my hand but he never showed
Said he couldn’t bring himself to sink himself that low
I told him, I would meet him on the Indiana road with a gun in my hand but he never showed
He went back to Ottawa or Toronto or wherever it is they go
He went back to Ottawa or Toronto or wherever it is they go
He went back to Ottawa or Toronto or wherever it is they go
References:
1. Fred Eaglesmith – Wikipedia
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
Observation Blogger 
I just happened to see your post, Matt, and while I’m technically on blogging hiatus until the end of the year, this prompted me to react! 🙂
First of all, thanks for the shoutout! And for reminding me of Fred Eaglesmith, an artist Max from PowerPop had brought to my attention initially.
That’s a key reason why I love music blogging as much as I do. You, Max and others oftentimes introduce each other to music that’s new to us, which in turn ends up informing some of our own content! And broadening our musical horizons!
I think your comparison to Neil Young is great! Now that I’m listening to that track again, I’m also thinking John Mellencamp, though I’m not sure the man from Indiana has ever written a song as long as “Indiana Road.”
My question is – How did you find Indiana Road from Max’s post about a 1997 song from him? You must have done some serious digging, man!
This song is so dirt country – I love it. If I had to compare it visually with a movie it would be ‘Paris, Texas’.
Frankly, the details are nebulous at this time!🤣
What I oftentimes do after I’ve seen a band or artist I liked, who were covered by a fellow blogger, is to go on Spotify and check out some of their (other) songs tagged as “popular.” That might prompt a pick or lead me to an album, from which I end up selecting a track.
Alternatively, I might check what else is on the album that included the song highlighted by a fellow blogger. It’s possible this may have happened in particular case. 🙂
BTW, I highly recommend checking out the rest of the “Indiana Road” album. I just listened to most of it, and it’s excellent – very Mellencamp-esque!
The thing is I’m so un-Mellencamp. But I’ll listen to the rest from Indiana Road. Thanks.
I tried listening to those songs but I got onto ‘Dangerous’ and ‘Katie’ – they are great songs from 6 volts I believe
I love this guy…I did a post on him with a song called Pontiac…great song and artist…one that gets lost in the shuffle. CB turned me on to him….I remember Christian’s post…I loved seeing him on that.
I know you did Max since I read what Christian was referring to. You are often the source of such amazing music which then gets disseminated. You beast! rofl
CB recommended it for me…and I thought damn this is great…why isn’t it known?… Christian and you are open enough to actually listen to unknown artists as I am. Many of the readers just comment and go…you two actually listen.
It doesn’t surprise me CB recommended it to you. He’s right down on the gritty edge as far as dirty country rock is concerned.
Thanks man for the high praise. I’m just a receptor of you source-material guys.
Thanks Matt…I love finding music that hasn’t been played to death or known.
That’s why you are just about everyone’s go to. Not just that – but with musical background to boot – so there’s that.
Well I apprecaite it…I really do. I wish I could post things like you did a few months back…that live on a bus music….that was one of the coolest things I’ve seen.
Ah ok. If I was on the Transmilenio 24-7 here in Bogota – I would have another blog. They are purists total. I’m glad it made such an impact.
It did…you can tell they have a deep love for it…you can see that clearly. I have to give them credit…that cuts through styles of music…I don’t care if what kind it is…it’s great.
It’s musicality not often publicised. It cuts right through – that’s a great descriptor.
I would swear it was Neil Young. Nice post….
Yep, its sounds so much like him (they even look kinda alike), but this is probably more untethered and pure, wacky country story-telling lol
Crazy how close he resembles Young. Maybe because they are both Canadians?
I think it was CB that first told me about this song. When I read at the end that he was living out of his van I have to wonder if they took his land after all. It’s a tear jerker. Townes Van Zandt is another good one for these kinds of stories.
Thanks Lisa. CB certainly recommends good stuff.
You’re welcome, and yes, he does 🙂