The Meaning Behind “Indians” by Anthrax and Why It Helped Give the Thrash Scene More Credibility

Back in the mid- to late-1980s, there was a musical schism between the glam and thrash metal scenes of the day. On one hand there were the peroxide rockers who teased out their hair and generally waxed decadent about debauchery, hot babes, and living the high life. On the flip side, there was a less glamorous but heavier, grittier sound in thrash metal bands like Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax. They often tackled serious social issues of the day, like homelessness, nuclear war, suicide, and the general malaise felt by working-class rockers who felt disenfranchised by mainstream society.

Socially Aware Headbanging

One of the most memorable tunes of that era was “Indians” by Anthrax which had extra meaning because frontman Joey Belladonna was part Iroquois on his Canadian mother’s side. While the New York headbangers certainly traded in a lot of the apocalyptic and horror imagery of their genre from the time, they also started to mature lyrically.

Such was the case with their third album, the 1987 Gold-certified Among The Living. Two of the songs (the title track and “A Skeleton in the Closet”) were inspired by Stephen King stories. “I Am the Law” was inspired by the dystopian sci-fi comic book character Judge Dredd. “One World” called for peace amid the imminent threat of nuclear holocaust. “Imitation of Life” derided the phonies in the music industry and the glam bands that dressed like women. (That particular stanza didn’t age well.)

“Indians” was the most serious track among them, directly addressing the plight of the Native American population that had been displaced by the European settlers who conquered this country. Back then, the term Native American, which reportedly started being used in the 1960s, had not yet superseded Indian in widespread use. Instead, people were called Indians or American Indians. 

A Personal Connection

On November 26, 1988, Belladonna spoke to Thomas Huff and Joe Carrigan for MetalWorx Radio while Anthrax was on tour promoting their fourth album State Of Euphoria. The singer recalled to them: “When I first got in the band, [drummer] Charlie [Benante] used to call me Indian Joe. He was just f–kin’ around with me, ya know. And then [lead guitarist] Scott [Ian] figured we should write a song about it. It’s something to bring attention too, and it’d be cool to write about, plus it would give us something to wear on stage.”

In Belladonna’s case, he introduced a long-feathered headdress that extended down the length of his body in the second half of their performance video for “Indians.” In a 2012 interview with PT Sport, Belladonna said, “My mother is Iroquois. I don’t really follow anything, but I am very sentimental about it. I am always very happy to see someone showing interest in this important part of my life.”

The lyrics did not mince words in taking on the subject.

Respect is something that you earn
Our Indian brothers’ getting burned
Original American
Turned into a second class citizen

Forced out, brave and mighty
Stolen land, they can’t fight it
Hold on to pride and tradition
Even though they know
How much their lives are really missing
We’re dissing them
On reservations
A hopeless situation

Caught in a War Mosh

“Indians” opens up with dramatic guitar harmonies underscored by pounding tom-tom work on the drums. The song switches tempo and rhythm at least three times, and the grinding, mid-tempo break, known as the “war dance” section, got people going in the pit. The music certainly took people on a sonic journey over its five-minute running time.

Ian told Jackson Guitars in 2022: “Trying to explain where the riff for the war dance part of ‘Indians’ came from and how it came to be … if I really knew the answer to that, I take that secret and I’d give it to everybody. But really, for me [with] this riff we were looking for what we used to call the mosh part of the song. Now people call it the breakdown but really it’s a bridge. We were looking for a really heavy, heavy part for this song. I just had this part I had been playing that I really liked how symmetrical it looked on the neck. I think we achieved our goal by coming up with a really, really heavy rap for that part in ‘Indians.’ Still to this day, the kids go nuts when we play that part.”

An Eternal Album

Besides being one of Anthrax’s most well-known songs, “Indians” was one of the songs that helped give the thrash scene more credibility by showing the music was just not purely about volume and aggression, but there were serious emotions and ideas fueling the songs. It still ranks as one of the band’s most popular numbers—with 26 million plays, it is their fifth-most played song on Spotify—and for good reason. The song is a launching point for rock and metal fans to delve deeper into the plight and displacement of Native Americans.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Photo by Alexandre Schneider/Getty Images