Last Friday, two musicians by the names of Phoebe Bridgers and Maggie Rogers, posted that they had recorded and released a cover of the song “Iris” by the GooGoo Dolls. It started during the 2020 election season when, on November 3rd, Bridgers tweeted, “if trump loses I will cover iris by the goo goo dolls.” Rogers then commented saying that if Bridgers needed harmonies, she would gladly contribute. Luckily, not only did Trump lose the election, but we also got the beautiful gem that is this cover.
Maggie Rogers is a musician that has been releasing music since 2012, but her album Heard It in a Past Life, from 2019, is what gained her a lot of attention. In the same year, she was nominated for a Grammy for “Best New Artist”. She’s performed with Florence and the Machine and now collaborated with Phoebe Bridgers. Bridgers has released multiple albums, her most recent being Punisher from this year. She also participated in the trio Boy Genius, which was a collaboration of three musicians that performed on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert Series. I love both of their music, so to see a collaboration was definitely a dream come true.
The cover was released on Bandcamp for 24 hours last week, and the best part is that they also raised money for Fair Fight Action. Fair Fight Action is an organization that aims to make elections, especially in Georgia, fairer by changing voter laws so more people can vote. This is a huge deal, especially with the run-off elections happening this January. In order to download the song, you could pay any amount of money, all of which went to Fair Fight Action. According to Rogers, the campaign raised $173,703.95 in total, which is an amazing amount. Even though the song is no longer available on Band Camp, they still ask that you consider donating to Fair Fight Action.
One more bonus to come out of this beautiful cover is the friendship that they’ve shown us on Instagram. Both women have posted videos of them dancing around a garden together, celebrating their victory with raising this much money. It’s precious.
If you haven’t listened to the cover, I’m sure you can find it somewhere, but consider donating to Fair Fight Action to help out Georgia with the run-off election (and watch Maggie Rogers and Phoebe Bridgers dance around if you want to smile).