Can I just say I am so excited the Indigo Girls are getting a bit of mainstream noise? It's so overdue. They've been long underappreciated, and under the radar. The duo should have been a commercial success the whole time, so I'm happy in this year 2024 they are still touring so they can enjoy a bit more visibility with the general public (us gays have always loved and honored them).
I have been a fan since I was seventeen, where the Indigo Girls was on rotation at my mentor’s place of business. She’s now known as MiNarc and we’ll talk about her and her former wife the 0.5 of it all later on. Anyway, when I was a lonely teenager still questioning, then an internally homophobic college student trying to wrap my head around my newly discovered identity the Indigo Girls were a constant presence. I didn’t really know any gay people, and I didn’t know ANY lesbians my age. But their music spoke to my heart and helped me work through the stages of grief. They were also there during my first breakup when I was closeted with zero queer community in my life. And they were there again when I met my mate, fell in love, and went on many happy dates, trips, and concerts. The Indigo Girls were there, speaking to me through their songs. I can’t put into words how much that means to me. So I’ll share some past posts and a playlist that you, too, might enjoy.
https://kit10phish.wordpress.com/2021/04/25/entire-indigo-girls-album-catalogue-ranked/
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1MRAwpFTifbGK66sXHAR0F?si=8d7b8c0992c44678
https://kit10phish.wordpress.com/2021/02/04/i-ranked-all-19-albums-in-the-indigo-girls-catalogue/
https://kit10phish.wordpress.com/2021/02/03/my-un-scientific-indigo-girls-albums-ranking/
Cool and I drove 82 miles to the nearest college town where the closest independent theater is located. We’re really in the Midwest now! Across farmland through rain we adventured to see another Indigo Girls event-our first film rather than concert experience for them. It felt weird heading in at 4PM rather than in the evening, and even weirder to sit and stay seated.
(I do think Amy and Emily should have been asked to sing their own song, since ya know, Emily wrote it and they arranged it, performed it, and are still alive and actively performing. Ummm, tell me why the Indigo Girls songs are most recognized by the general public/media when SOMEONE ELSE is performing them?! However much I love Brandi, and enjoy the musical's soundtrack 👀 And also I think the sloooooowed down version did the song a disservice, as it is supposed to foster almost a spiritual revival atmosphere. But I digress, I am glad it brought attention to Brandi, the song, and the gals.)
I remember reading about Glitter and Doom a looooong time ago!
The Indigo Girls Documentary/Rockumentary did well with audiences and critics at Sundance so I don't understand why it hasn't been picked up.
I'll try to remember everything I can about it in case it's a long time before you can watch. I might definitely have the order of the chapters off. This is why the doc needs to be picked up so I can BUY the DVD and rewatch it-anyone with studio connections, reading this????
It's Only Life, After All
(run time of 4:00-6:38 PM is when I noticed, might have been a little shorter)
Amy's memorabilia
Childhood/family
Did I know that Emily was born in CT? If I did, I had forgotten! She moved to GA at 10.
grade school and high school
Demo cassette clips of them as teens
Emily's songwriting talent
Amy's anger (about sexism)
And sound guys dismissing her legit knowledge for sexism and how Emily had zero tolerance for said anger. I personally, enjoyed the clip of Amy yelling at the sound guy for fucking it up, just because in recent times she seems sooooo calm and laid back. It was nice to see some spark. I'm glad she's no longer breaking her feet by kicking walls though-yikes.
college angst, transfers, magic
No wonder I was always confused about what college they went to! They did attend Emory together, but only after Amy went to
and Emily went to, Tulane University but transferred to Emory University, graduating in 1985 with a bachelor's degree in English.
and they just happened to transfer at the same time.
The wide sentiment that they have saved lives with their music. Both are humble and credit more the inclusiveness and experience and the musical moment more than any individual asset of theirs.
Amy looks up to Emily, sometimes struggles to write/sing in comparison
A lot of the time Amy is deferential to Emily's songwriting abilities. Even though, in my opinion, Amy's songwriting started very passionate. Has always been politically charged. And she really came into her own from Beauty Queen Sister on. You'll see that narrative of Emily being the more talented one being pushed throughout the documentary. So this post looks like I go hard in the other direction. The truth is I like both equally. Really! It just looks like I go hard for Emily and get defensive of Amy because I'm trying to counteract that very strong sentiment that the one is better in ways, which I don't think is true. They're just different.
A clip was shown of Amy trying to do the harmony in studio, and having to try over. And over. And frustratingly over. And just wanting them to have Emily sing the harmony to herself. But now--my most popular post, even over every single Taylor Swift post, is about what happened to Emily's voice.
https://kit10phish.wordpress.com/2021/04/27/elephant-in-the-room-emilys-voice/
So I think comparing the two Indigo Girls against each other is a fools errand. They have strengths and they have weaknesses. The point is those characteristics complement each other beautifully.
Amy hustling to promote the band
Russell Carter had been managing for free at first, and is their (paid) manager to this day.
Playing the Little Five Points Pub-they credit the owner, ___________, for jumpstarting their career.
https://saportareport.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Final-LGBTQ-Historic-Context-4_17_23-2.pdf
(Arrgh! I could not remember or find this. Amy said it's a gay man, who I think died of AIDS prior to their Grammy win. If anyone knows his name, this is a super important guy in their career. They credit him with giving them a chance, community-building, and showing them how to engage politically.)
Amy's parents gained a bit more acceptance than they had before via visits to that inclusive community meeting space.
"Discovered" and signed by Epic.
I think this is "the eccentric" they showed that discovered them
The Grammy
Milli Vanilli was NOT mentioned. But puh-leeze, amIright?!
Their constant underdog status in the industry
Amy and Emily in the makeup/hair chair separately giving a peek into rigid beauty standards being subverted by their very existence.
Amy branching out to collaborate and do solo albums
+ Amy's Gender Identity
When I met The Butchies, I didn’t have a good analysis of genderqueer type stuff. I didn’t know what my gender dysphoria meant. I was older and I had not even talked about it. They were in a different generation and it was like, “Oh my God, I feel so free now to be able to articulate this.”
JM: Articulate what specifically?
AR: I felt so not at home in my body. And I struggled so much when I was really young of wanting to be a boy. When I got to a certain point, I just honored the female part of me too. I started understanding that this thing that I have in me is not unique and that so many people feel at odds with their body. Now I understand that other people feel the same way and that it’s gender dysphoria. And that there are people that are trans and decide to transition and there are people that don’t. There are all these options. It was very liberating for me because I was like, “It’s okay for me to feel at odds with my body, but not necessarily feel so at odds that I need to transition and live in a different body and live as a man.” I can live as a lady-man or whatever. It’s like, I can live this life however I want to live it. And I made a decision that I felt equal parts enough to just stay who I am.
This is not at all surprising to me.
coming out (qualifiers: Together, formally, to the media) as a band
Honor the Earth
political activism at large
This was probably the most powerful part of the movie, so what I'm going to show you is just to give an idea of the topic-you really have to see it for yourself to fully appreciate it.
critics
Side-snark: What a dick, indeed!
Talk about Pretentious! Guess it takes one to know one?!
Taylor had it right when she clapped back at a particularly misogynistic music critic in her song, "Mean," stand-down, incels.
sexism in the industry
Mocking:
Honestly, if Amy Poehler doesn't put out some kind of apology not that this clip has resurfaced I'm going to be really disappointed in her, and be less of/not a fan. This was tacky and cringe as fuck. And I guess the fact Sheryl Crow dated diabolical Lance Armstong should have told us she's problematic, but she knows Amy and Emily so this is gross, behavior, certainly not punching up.
The doc also showed a clip of Ellen where the Indigo Girls guested on an episode. Ellen, Audrey, and Paige go to Women's (Womyn's? IDK) Fest where IG are performing. Ellen is 1 of the 2.5 lesbians that have disappointed me by being a terrible person. I'm not defending her. But I will say, context matters. I'm not denouncing the following clip, though it hurt the Indigo Girls feelings, that's obvious.
The three rush in toward the end of the set. Audrey, who is a suuuper-ally for that decade and now, says "We're like Thelma and Louise!" She laments that they almost missed it. Ellen, who's character is still coming to terms with her newly discovered sexuality and this new world exaggeratedly says "oh darrrn." Paige, is known to be a superficial character. She routinely uses her looks and body to get ahead, and is portrayed as sort of man-hungry. She's also Ellen's best friend, who has been kinda homophobic, and reluctant in her friend's new identity. She surveys the Women's Fest crowd and says, "I've never felt so pretty!" I laughed both at the real time airing of the episode, in re-runs, and in the theater during that clip. I saw it as Paige being superficial heteronormative, somewhat homophobic, Paige. But Amy and Emily, both looked pained watching it. It was not funny in the least bit to them, and you could tell both were triggered, and didn't see it as a joke.
Emily's alcoholism:
But then at the end, everybody knew I was just fucked up and dying and Amy was going to quit the band.
So that’s now. But to be sober, to wake up feeling good, to know that you’re not self-destructing, to know that you can be… Like now, I’m accountable to Amy, responsible to us, and to all the people and to my family. I never would’ve had my wife, she would’ve left me. She was going to, or my child and all the most beautiful things in life have come from sobriety.
Emily's supportive wife and how her negative feelings about queer motherhood were unfounded
I tried to find an interview, and one might be out there, but I couldn't readily find a good synopsis of her fears. I'll try to summarize from memory:
Tristan, her wife will have a connection being the birth mother.
Emily has to go adopt her daughter. Unlike her 3 sisters who got the big traditional weddings and had "natural" babies. It's set-apart.
The child won't consider Emily her "real" mom.
Things like that. Emily was reluctant. But when it happened she realized none of that came to fruition.
Emily and the Split-Attraction Model:
Emily talking about being physically and sexually attracted to men, but emotionally attraction to women. Ummm, wait, since when? Did she always feel this way and nobody clarified, or is this a new revelation? I guess at 60 she should know, but I sure as fuck didn't. Did we as media, society, or queers ever ask the gals what their specific sexualities were? Or have we just been assuming. This. Whole. Time? Or was it just me? And don't mind me, Amy and Emily can identify however they see fit, they can say one thing, do another, change their minds... It's not that--I'm just over here being disappointed that a full 50% of the lesbians I looked to in my own life have been cancelled (that's 2.5 people turning out to be terrible~ Ellen, my mentor, sometimes her ex-wife) and now I find out 40% of the lesbians (same group, 2 IRL) I looked to in my own coming out experience are not actually lesbians. It just changes MY worldview a bit. This is about me, not the Indigo Girls. Call me jarred.
reverence toward each other (tears came to my eyes so many, many times toward the end of the film)
You have to be there, I can't really do it justice, trying to reiterate it.
Amy's family & GA kids disallowed to play with their daughter bc lesbian moms
pandemic shows
more reverence toward each other
And of course many live clips of interviews, the bus, backstage, in their homes, and of shows.
It was weird being in a theater with a group of queers, hearing the Indigo Girls jams, but sitting quietly instead of singing and dancing. I think I'll like streaming better, when I don't have to be socially acceptable during the experience. Pick up this doc, Studios!
