I, Doris, the World’s First Middle-Aged Girl-Band, Sends Up the Spurious Notion of Middle Aged Female Anonymity With Its Cheeky New Single “Just Some Doris”

IDoris2_crop — I, Doris, “Just Some Doris” cover (cropped)

I, Doris claims to be “the world’s first middle-aged girl-band.” And so it seems. What makes this interesting beyond a mere gimmick is the fact that Western culture generally encourages everyone to “grow up” and give up doing anything creative or having a real identity or personality after 35, much less 40. And if you’re over 40 and not rich or famous there is no public place for you in society. Especially if you’re a woman. Which is what makes “Just Some Doris” a delightfully cheeky indie pop gem taking aim at the notion that all women over 40 are basically interchangeable. The refrain “Just some Doris, you can just ignore us, don’t need to know my name, girls are all the same, birds are all the same, chicks are all the same, Doris is our name,” spills such notions back out into the world to send it up as the absurd conceit it is. But instead of screaming these sentiments, I, Doris takes the sarcasm a step further by delivering the message in a pleasing, accessible form as a nice pop song. Is the subtext that just because someone is polite and pleasant doesn’t mean they’re not telling you arch truths you need to acknowledge? It’s a playful pop song with layers of meaning both overt and covert and the melody is too catchy to resist. Watch the video for “Just Some Doris” on YouTube and follow I, Doris at the links provided.