The Neon has hosted several one-time screenings of music-related docs this year — from Liza Minelli to Janis Ian to Luther Vandross. Josh Egeland and Skeleton Dust Records helped make this screening of “Goodbye Horses” possible.
Luke Tandy, owner of Skeleton Dust Records, will DJ on the patio of the Neon an hour before the screening.
While on shift driving in New York City in the mid-’80s, Q’s cab was hailed by film director Jonathan Demme. After hearing her sing behind the wheel, Demme handed her his card. Q’s song “Candle Goes Away” was subsequently featured in Demme’s 1986 movie, “Something Wild.”
The following year, “Goodbye Horses” was included in Demme’s film, “Married to the Mob,” but only became the cult classic that it is when it was recycled for Demme’s 1991 film, “Silence of the Lambs.” The song soundtracked the film’s infamous dance scene, forever coupling the androgynous vocals of “Goodbye Horses” with the androgyny of serial killer Buffalo Bill into the public consciousness.
“Goodbye Horses” has since been covered by Bloc Party’s Kele Okereke, Deftones’ Chino Moreno, and MGMT, among others. The song was rereleased with “White Lines” as the B-side. But despite the song’s popularity, there were never any follow-up singles or albums.
Q believed the Demme connection would land her a recording contract. But, as filmmaker Eva Aridjis Fuentes told The Guardian, “the record labels told her they couldn’t market a black woman singing rock.”
By all reports, Q was told her music wouldn’t be met with success, that she could only make it as an R&B artist. The entire genre of rock can be traced back to black musicians, yet the industry was ostensibly not prepared to take a chance.
When Q vanished in 1996, even her closest friends and collaborators believed she was dead. Then, in 2019, Aridjis Fuentes took a ride in Q’s taxi. They soon began working on a documentary about Q. A return to form was in the works.
“Goodbye Horses: The Many Lives of Q Lazzarus” reveals the reason behind the singer’s mysterious 25-year long disappearance and paves the way towards her reemergence, with stories sad, funny, tragic, moving, and bittersweet.
For Josh Egeland, a Dayton musician who helped bring the documentary to the Neon, “Goodbye Horses” was formative in helping craft the sound for his band, Dirty/Clean.
“I just want this movie to be seen,” he said. “I also feel like it’s a story that needs to be told and heard, and so it just seemed like something I could help make happen.”
The film slowly unravels the mysteries of Q Lazzarus’ life — from kismet taxi moments to her descent into obscurity. But much like her name biblically suggests, Q Lazzarus has had moments of resurrection and triumph throughout her life, with the song “Goodbye Horses” being the beacon.
The plan was to get her band back together for the final act of the documentary, to emerge from the depths of the fringe, to come full circle. But Q broke her leg in 2022, and died of sepsis while in the hospital.
Q’s passing changed the tone of Aridjis Fuentes’ film.
“I had been playing with the whole ‘Lazarus’ thing,” Aridjis Fuentes said, “chronicling her rise, fall, and her resurrection, this happy ending where she’s back from the dead.”
Though Q wasn’t around to see through to the completion of the film, she was able to come to terms with her past, and continued to chase her dream up until the end.
In conjunction with the documentary’s release, independent record label Sacred Bones is releasing a collection of songs that spans the entirety of Q’s career, showcasing the various eras of her work, and the full breadth of her personality. Released in collaboration with Q’s family, “Goodbye Horses: The Many Lives of Q Lazzarus (Music From The Motion Picture)” holds the distinction of being her first and only full-length release.
“The thought of releasing the album, playing the concert, finally getting her music heard, rejuvenated her,” her son, James Luckey, said. “It was a true Lazarus effect. She was ahead of her time, and I’m just glad people will now be able to truly hear her music.”
Brandon Berry writes about the Dayton and Southwest Ohio music and art scene. Have a story idea for him? Email branberry100@gmail.com.
HOW TO GO
What: Screening of “Goodbye Horses: The Many Lives of Q Lazzarus”
When: 7:30 p.m. May 28
Where: The Neon, 130 E. 5th St., Dayton
Cost: $12.50
Tickets: neonmovies.com/movie/goodbye-horses
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