Supergirl was nothing if not divisive, and a surprising sticking point for fans and critics has been the final battle's needle drop. Relatively unknown singer Kelty Greye's cover of Jimmy Eat World's "The Middle" is used for the Woman of Tomorrow's battle with Krem's forces, but has been dismissed as an odd fit for the action-packed sequence.
Filmmaker Craig Gillespie has credited (blamed?) DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn for picking the song, which we've since learned wasn't the Supergirl helmer's choice in test screenings.
It's been an understandably hectic few weeks for Greye, who likely never imagined finding herself in the middle of such an online sh*tstorm when DC Studios emailed her two months before Supergirl's release on June 26. The unsigned artist recorded the cover three years before that message while studying commercial songwriting at Middle Tennessee State University.
"I recorded that in my bedroom between classes in a little booth I built out of packing blankets and PVC pipe," the singer tells The Hollywood Reporter of the recording that was in no way edited for Supergirl, according to the trade. "As an artist, all you want to do is make people feel something. So, what an honor to have created something that gives people a wide spectrum of feelings."
"Whether you loved it or hated it, if you walked out feeling something, that’s just cool: 'Wow — gave you an emotional response,'" Greye said of the discourse surrounding the song. "At first, it was a little surreal. I just was seeing my name pop up on things and was like, 'That’s wild.' But after the first 24 hours, I was like, 'You know what? That’s cool. I’m down. Any feelings you want, it’s cool.'"
It can't have been easy for the performer, who currently has a day job at a customer support call centre in Nashville, to see her song used as a rallying cry for Supergirl's detractors (before the movie reached U.S. theaters, a leaked clip went viral on social media and was used to highlight how wrong DC Studios had got the movie).
Supergirl has also been a box office flop, meaning this cover of "The Middle" likely isn't blowing up on music streaming platforms. Still, the DCU title has inspired Greye not to give up on her dreams.
"My favorite thing in the world is music in film, so this has always been my dream. I enjoyed the movie and just thought it was a really wonderful scene. Really cool to hear my song in it but thought it was powerful for the characters," she shared. "I was feeling a bit dejected. And now I’m always going to think of the lyrics to 'The Middle'" It just takes some time. You’re in the middle of the ride — you’ll get there."
Supergirl is now playing in theaters. You can listen to Greye's cover of Jimmy Eat World's "The Middle" in the player below.