Not every Barbie Girl, it turns out, lives in a Barbie World—but Aqua, the band behind the 1997 bubblegum pop anthem, is perfectly cool with that. In an interview with Variety ahead of the 25th anniversary of “Barbie Girl,” the band discussed the other very indie, very under-the-radar Barbie project in the works right now: the 2023 film from Greta Gerwig. Although many fans were crestfallen at the revelation that “Barbie Girl” wouldn’t be a part of the Barbie soundtrack, Aqua isn’t bothered in the slightest.
“I totally understand why they didn’t use it,” lead singer Lene Nystrøm shares, “but it’s going to bring us a lot of attention, no matter what.”
For her own part, Nystrøm thinks Gerwig passed on “Barbie Girl” for oversaturation reasons—using the track could’ve been too obvious, or as Nystrøm puts it, “cheese on cheese.” Søren Rasted sees the whole thing as more comical than anything, joking: “We should say we turned it down. Ryan Gosling is not good enough!”
If anything, Aqua’s members are proud of their track’s longevity in the cultural conscience, especially since they initially only sought to make a “fun song.” “We had the line, ‘C’mon Barbie, let’s go party,’ and thought it was great,” Rasted reveals. “[...]We didn’t put that much thought into it. The hook just worked really, really well.”
“A good melody never dies, it just keeps on giving,” Nystrøm agrees. “And ‘Barbie Girl’ is a perfect example of that.” Although “Barbie Girl” may not be a part of Gerwig’s film, it’s certainly easy to see how the song’s ceaseless camp and sugary sweetness influenced the general cultural perception of Barbie. If that iconically baritone “C’mon Barbie, let’s go party” hook doesn’t fit Ryan Gosling’s description of “Ken-ergy,” this writer doesn’t know what does.