Ravinia 2024 Issue 4

“ Along the way, we never compromised our values or our standards . ” of new songs by current pop stars (Dua Lipa, Lizzo, Billie Eilish, and more) was one nearly 35-year-old tune—a song that reflected the hero’s journey: “Closer to Fine.” “That was wild,” Ray says. “We’d been working on the other stuff—the docu- mentary, Glitter and Doom —for a few years. Barbie came out of the blue.” Of course, when the request came, no one had any idea what a Barbie movie could become. “I was like WHAT?!??!?!!—in capital letters and eight exclamation points and question marks,” Saliers recalls with a chuckle. “When we heard the word ‘Barbie,’ ” Ray recollects, “I think both of us were like, ‘Hmmm, maybe we should read the script and make sure this is okay. Depending on the angle, it could be problematic.’ But as soon as our man- ager asked who the director was and we heard, ‘Greta Gerwig,’ we said, ‘Yeah, sure. No problem!’ ” “That made it a no-brainer,” Saliers concurs. “Both Amy and I love Greta’s work.” But little did they know just how Gerwig intended to use the song, which the director described to the New York Times as “one of those songs that meets you where you are, wherever you are. It has spoken to me throughout my life, like a novel you revisit.” All the Indigo Girls knew was that the song was going to be used in the trailer, and they got no advance screen- ing of the film. They went to the movies like everyone else and experienced the big revelation. “The first time I saw it, I was with my wife in the Faroe Islands on vacation,” Saliers says. “But I was actually sitting by myself—my wife was across the theater because we could only get single seats. That’s when I found out the song was actually in the film, not just in the trail- er, and that it actually linked into the storyline, and it was thrilling. We had no idea that was going to happen.” “That was a pinch-me moment of my life, for real,” Ray recalls. “Sitting there, loving the movie, just being totally hon- ored to have that song included! Things like that don’t happen very often in some- one’s life, where it all comes back around, right when you need a shot of energy.” RAVINIAMAGAZINE • AUGUST 5 – AUGUST 18, 2024 10 JEREMYCOWART