There are some songs that define an era. The ’70s had disco, the ’80s had glam metal, and for those of us born in the ’90s… we had the seminal masterpiece ‘Barbie Girl’ by Aqua.
When this quirky Europop group burst onto the scene, we had no idea just how much the world, and subsequently, we, would change as a result. From “life in plastic, it’s fantastic” to “come on Barbie, let’s go party”, the song became not only a musical sensation but also impacted the way we talked. The way we dressed. The way we lived!
So when Greta Gerwig‘s Barbie movie starring Margot Robbie was announced, we were so confident that this song would feature, we didn’t even stop to think about it. But soon, it came to light that the comedy movie would not include its namesake bop… And fans were pissed.
“The song will not be used in the movie,” Ulrich Møller-Jørgensen (the manager of Aqua lead singer Lene Nystrøm) initially said (via Variety) back in 2022. It was a shock for sure. If this wasn’t a sure thing, then what could ever be?
After all, the song in question saw an ascent that resembled superhuman abilities, selling over 1.4 million copies in the US and chilling out atop the UK singles charts for four weeks. To this day, it still remains the band’s biggest single.
But thankfully, it wasn’t just fans who were craving the most obvious pop culture collision — the Barbie cast was desperate for it, too. Robbie in particular was gunning to get the Aqua song in there. Thankfully, the conversation she had with Gerwig resulted in confirmation that, yes, the song would be included. Praise be!
“I was like, ‘Greta, how are we going to incorporate this song? We can’t do a Barbie movie and not have a nod to Aqua’s ‘Barbie Girl.’ It has to be in there.’ And [Greta] was like, ‘Don’t worry, we’re going to find a cool way to incorporate it,’ ” said Robbie (via Rolling Stone).
Without exaggerating, the inclusion of ‘Barbie Girl’ in the Margot Robbie movie is, as Matt Damon in the competing Oppenheimer says, the most important thing to ever happen in the history of the world. And this song, as well as various tracks from Dua Lipa, Nicki Minaj, and Ice Spice, sets the Barbie soundtrack up to be one of the best of the year.
Come on Barbie, let’s go party! Check out our features on why we need these iconic toys to get a film next, and why the Barbie movie’s body diversity couldn’t have come at a better time. Plus, see our guides on Dua Lipa and Michael Cera to find out how they fall into the Barbie universe.
Don’t forget to check out all the other new movies coming out this year, and take a look at our list of the best musicals and best movies of all time to prep for the new Mattel adventure.