Barbie and the Indigo Girls: A Surprising Collaboration

Introduction

If you came into the “Barbie” film cold, expecting that if any song was going to get the most play, it might be Aqua’s “Barbie World,” you had a surprise coming. Turns out Barbie is a huge Indigo Girls fan — or, at least like a million women and some men before her, she likes to belt along with the 1989 folk-rock smash “Closer to Fine” in the car.

An Unexpected Resurgence

The song pops up three times over the course of the blockbuster film, guaranteeing that there is going to be a huge resurgence in the real world of people singing about going “to see the doctor of philosophy,” even if they’re actually on their way to the beach. Emily Saliers, who is half of Indigo Girls along with Amy Ray (and who wrote “Closer to Fine”), got on the phone with Haber Tusba from her vacation spot to talk about a licensing sync of anyone’s dreams.

Surprise and Excitement

“You’re on vacation. Have you even had a chance to see the movie?” Saliers was asked. She replied, “I just saw the movie. I just turned 60 two days ago, and we took a vacation and so we were in the Faroe Islands and we snagged three individual tickets that weren’t even seated together. There were Dutch subtitles. It was surreal. I loved the movie. I can just tell you it was a cultural trip to be watching it premiere in that movie theater, and I haven’t saved a movie ticket stub since I was maybe 6 years old, but I’m saving this one.”

A Licensing Request

When a licensing request like that comes in, do you ask a lot of questions before signing off? Saliers was asked. She responded, “We always ask questions, and when this first came down the pipeline for us and it was “Barbie,” I said, what? I never had a Barbie, so I don’t know — what’s this all about? My first thought was, oh, gotta make sure this is kosher, and then we found out it was a Greta Gerwig film, so that immediately put us at ease about that knowing it would be subversive in many ways, and also really well handled. And when the trailer came out, our listening audience lost their minds.”

Multiple Appearances in the Film

Did you know it would be in the movie three times? Saliers was asked. She replied, “No. Even if it had just been the trailer, it would’ve been thrilling. Then to watch and love the movie, and to have it featured so prominently as if it were part of what the movie was exploring, was just the biggest honor, but I didn’t know it until I saw it.”

A Tremendous Gift

Saliers continued, “They must have asked quite a while ago, because the characters are singing along with it in the movie, so it’s not something that was just dropped in after filming, or could have been replaced. They asked a while ago, but it wasn’t last year or anything; it was the past few months. So I don’t know whether maybe they just assumed, “Yeah, this is gonna be a no-brainer for them. They’re gonna really wanna do this.” And of course we did. And then when we found out that Greta hand-picked the song herself, everything was just like, oh, this is a tremendous gift to us. It just feels good to be part of this whole thing, and to be part of a choice that Greta would make purposefully is very validating and exciting and honoring.”

A Song that Asks Questions

Barbie gets more enlightened over the course of the movie, but it was interesting that even before becoming that enlightened, “Closer to Fine” has somehow penetrated Barbieland from the real world, breaking the metaphysical barrier between worlds. If you choose to think about it that much. Saliers responded, “If Greta felt like this is a song that could have been in the reality of the Barbie world before it hit the real world, then that’s a lot. And then of course, Barbie and Ken and all of them are questioning: Who am I? What is my place in life? All the questions, and of course that song is all about asking questions.”

Reflecting the Movie’s Themes

Saliers continued, “It’s wonderful that it, it had its place throughout the movie in the different contexts, like the real world Barbie land and, and it actually fit into what some of the movie was trying to explore.”

A Song of Existential Quest

“You’ve said that the song is not about beating yourself up about not knowing the answers, or not feeling the need to quest for a single answer. This is a movie about an existential quest, and even though she’s singing it kind of in a carefree way at the beginning, it reflects the concept of the movie as a sort of coming of age story, or coming of mindfulness story. There’s the quest that begins with “does anybody think about dying,” and it sets that up to have a deep song popping up so early in the movie and then recurring,” Saliers was told. She agreed, stating, “Sounds like you’ve given a lot of thought, as have I, but that’s exactly right. If it has just been used as a singalong, I know it is a road-trip singalong song to people, at least of our era, who take it along with them, just because of what they tell me and tell Amy. But the fact that it was used as more than just the singalong song and that it does really touch on all the existential stuff that’s going on with Barbie and Ken and the whole reality — I don’t even know how to describe how that makes me feel for us to be part of that, in the deft hands of a director like Greta Gerwig.”

A Beautiful Rendition

Saliers was asked about the Brandi Carlile and Catherine Carlile cover version on the deluxe digital soundtrack. She replied, “Well, that was really came out of nowhere too. At first, you’re gonna either assume or ask, is this song gonna be on the soundtrack? And by all accounts it wasn’t gonna be on the soundtrack. Just a very short time ago, like in the past two weeks, Brandi reached out to us and said that they’d asked her to do a cover of it. It’s a beautiful rendition. I love that she did it with her wife, Catherine. And, you know, we’ve been on the path with Brandi for many years now, and she’s very gracious with the way that she says our music has inspired her. So it’s kind of like coming full circle.”

Conclusion

The song “Closer to Fine” by Indigo Girls has found new life in the “Barbie” film, surprising both fans of the band and those who grew up with the iconic doll. With its recurring appearances in the movie, the song reflects the themes of existential questioning and coming of age. The collaboration between Indigo Girls and the film’s director, Greta Gerwig, has been a tremendous honor for the band. Additionally, a cover version by Brandi Carlile and Catherine Carlile on the soundtrack adds another layer to the song’s newfound popularity.