Meaning of “Closer to Fine” by Indigo Girls
Indigo Girls is a folk duo from Atlanta, consisting of Emily Saliers and Amy Ray, that has been around since the mid-1980s. They released 15 studio albums between 1987 and 2020, with the second of the lot being a self-titled project that came out through Epic Records on 28 February 1989.
That LP, “Indigo Girls”, stands as the pair’s biggest success, in that it has been certified double-platinum by the RIAA and also earned them a Grammy Award (in 1990 in the category of Best Contemporary Folk Album).
It is from that project that we get “Closer to Fine”, its opening track, which is a song that was written by Emily Saliers and produced by Scott Litt. Also to note, this tune was released as the lead single from “Indigo Girls” and marks the most notable hit in their discography, as it for instance represents their best showing on the Billboard Hot 100, where the song peaked at number 52.
More recently, in mid-2023, “Closer to Fine” generated headlines for being featured prominently in Barbie. Said movie was one of the biggest releases of the summer of 2023, and Indigo Girls’ song actually appears three times within the film.
To note, their rendition of this song is not featured on “Barbie: The Album”, i.e. the soundtrack to the film, which is composed entirely of new recordings. Instead, a cover of “Closer to Fine” appears on the “Best Weekend Ever Edition” (i.e. deluxe edition) of the LP, as rendered by Brandi Carlile and Catherine Carlile.
Lyrics of “Closer to Fine”
As far as the title of this track goes, what it alludes to is the vocalist’s self-development. The philosophy behind the song is basically such that instead of trying to instantly reach the end goal in that regard, Emily and Amy have adopted a more progressive approach, gradually moving “closer to fine” in the process. And doing so entails a couple of different practices or outlooks.
For instance, as explained as Saliers, she’s not looking for one specific answer for all of life’s questions. Instead, as she goes on her way, she’s extracting “knowledge and wisdom from different sources”, a little bit at a time.
And secondly, as revealed in the final chorus, this is sort of an anti-religion song. That is to say that many people’s ideologies of what it means to be a perfect person are found in books like the Bible (which is mentioned in the final chorus).
But as the singer puts forth in the choruses, “there are more than one answer to these questions”. Indeed, the less she has adhered to a specific line of ideologies, the more edified or “closer to fine” she feels.
“And I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains
I looked to the children, I drank from the fountains
There’s more than one answer to these questions
Pointing me in a crooked line
And the less I seek my source for some definitive
(The less I seek my source)
Closer I am to fine, yeah
Closer I am to fine, yeah”
This song has sort of an anti-establishment feel to it overall. For example, there’s the third verse, which revolves around the vocalist’s interactions with “the doctor of philosophy”, i.e. one of her professors.
Saliers has revealed that said individual isn’t an actual person but more along the line of a personification of high school and college teachers. And the point of this reference, in her own words, is to “poke at academia and the way it can sometimes be removed from reality”.
So just as Emily doesn’t perceive religious doctrine as something to base her life on, she holds a similar disposition when it comes to science, if you will.
But all of that said, it isn’t as if this song is raging against the machine. What the vocalist is relaying is that based on her own personal experience, she has achieved internal gratification by taking things slowly, deriving lessons from here and there.
Or put otherwise, she’s more of a mental wanderer than someone who adheres to a specific belief or way of thinking. Therefore, Emily and Amy’s understanding of life is derived from a combination of many different sources.
