Indiana Wants Me

"Indiana Wants Me" is a song written, composed, and originally recorded by Canadian singer-songwriter R. Dean Taylor. It was released on the Rare Earth label, a subsidiary of Motown Records, in 1970, and was a top ten hit in both the US and UK. In Cash Box magazine, the single hit number 1.[1] The song spent two weeks at number 2 in Canada.[2]

"Indiana Wants Me"
Single by R. Dean Taylor
from the album I Think Therefore I Am
B-side	"Love's Your Name"
Released	August 1970
Recorded	1970
Length	3:01, 3:37
Label	Rare Earth 5013
Songwriter(s)	R. Dean Taylor
Producer(s)	R. Dean Taylor
R. Dean Taylor singles chronology
"Gotta See Jane" (1967) "Indiana Wants Me" (1970) "Ain't It A Sad Thing" (1971)
45 RPM red vinyl
Limited edition release

The song is written from the viewpoint of someone who has murdered a man who insulted his woman; he is missing his family and hiding from the police, who eventually catch up with him. Taylor wrote and composed the song after watching the movie Bonnie and Clyde.[3] In addition to writing, composing, and originally recording the selection, Taylor produced the record and arranged it in collaboration with David Van De Pitte. It was released on the Rare Earth label, formed by Motown in an attempt to establish itself in the rock music market. The police siren sounds at the start of the record were removed from some copies supplied to radio stations after complaints that drivers hearing the song on the radio had mistakenly pulled over, thinking that the sounds were real.[3]

The sirens are also heard during the instrumental section in the middle of the song. At the climax of the song, soon after the narrator has sung, "Red lights are flashin' around me,/ Yeah, love, it looks like they found me", and the chorus, the voice of a cop on the bullhorn is heard, commanding: "THIS IS THE POLICE. YOU ARE SURROUNDED. GIVE YOURSELF UP. THIS IS THE POLICE. GIVE YOURSELF UP. YOU ARE SURROUNDED." However, the narrator apparently ignores the command, and a gun battle ensues between the narrator of the song and the police as the song fades out. An alternate version of the song fades out at the end without the gunfire sound effects.

The record became Taylor's only hit as a performer in the US, where it rose to number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in late 1970.[4] Taylor appeared on the TV show American Bandstand to promote the record.[3] In the UK, where Taylor had had an earlier hit with "Gotta See Jane," it also became his biggest hit, reaching number 2 on the UK Singles Chart in May 1971.[5]