Every part of that headline feels like a fever dream.
It all started, as many things in the Phoebe Bridgers-verse do, with a tweet.
Among the sea of “if Trump loses/if Georgia turns blue/if Texas flips I will [action]” promises, most of which were nudes, this one stood out as both remarkably pure and irresistibly enticing. As a Biden victory came onto the horizon around day 4 of Election Day with Georgia and Pennsylvania beginning to turn blue, Bridgers issued this follow-up:
…which led to the witchy feminist rock star herself getting involved…
…which ultimately brought us here:
If this whole series of events feels exceedingly niche, that’s because it is. As great of a song as “Iris” objectively is, promising a cover of it in response to a Biden victory feels deeply random.
The idea started from, unsurprisingly, another tweet—this one by my friend Austin, who’s a bit of a Twitter legend following his discovery of the Harry Styles Eroda campaign. Austin, a musician himself, posted a reimagining of the Goo Goo Dolls song as he imagined Bridgers would sing it on his Instagram story in October, as well as here on Twitter:
Bridgers, notoriously active on social media, saw his Instagram story and said she was “going to actually do this,” but none of us—Austin included—could have anticipated she’d actually go through with it, especially so soon and with another musical titan, no less.
Late on November 12, Bridgers and Rogers began teasing the cover on their socials, with Rogers revealing a release at midnight. When “Iris” popped up on Bandcamp as promised, the entirety of Twitter seemed to self-destruct.
The cover falls sonically in line with how Austin imagined “Iris”-by-way-of-Bridgers would, with the singer contributing her signature contemplative flair to the classic ballad. “Iris” also sees Rogers evoking her own folk roots in a way she often does at her live shows but hasn’t done on record since the acoustic version of “Alaska.”
Their collaboration, a Bandcamp exclusive, doubles as a fundraiser for Fair Fight, Stacey Abrams’ nonprofit advocating for free and fair elections in Georgia as well as federally. Efforts by organizations like Fair Fight to combat voter suppression in key states (including Georgia) were indispensable in delivering a Biden victory, so it’s only fitting that this cover, a victory lap of sorts, pays tribute to the people who made it possible. And when Georgia still has two crucial Senate runoffs ahead, this couldn’t be more timely.
The song is available today only. You can give up forever to stream or purchase it below.
