Aqua: Barbie Girl

Barbie Girl was a song by a Danish band called Aqua in the 90s that many children may remember as being "that annoying song about girls playing with their barbie dolls" but actually no, it's a song that really wasn't for kids if you were to listen closely to the lyrics. Knowing the meaning of the song being one we thought was a kids' tune is definitely weird, but nowadays it's actually pretty catchy and upbeat. My only complaint is the fact the singers don't really look like Barbie and Ken since they don't have the best job done on their make up. But other than that it's a catchy song even if the lyrics are just realized to be weird.

The music video is tacky, just like the decade it comes from. It must be understood that one has to look at this through the eyes of an elder to understand what happened to music at a certain point to become bad. I, who am accustomed to listening to forgotten classics from the pre-Beatles era when classical orchestra instruments were played for many songs or more modern ones in bands that still maintained a more traditional sound, can only imagine what my grandparents must have thought when the world turned towards the sound of Barbie Girl, when music had previously laid its foundations with examples of great gems like Jimmy Fontana's "Il Mondo". My grandparents have witnessed so many changes... But this song is good because despite destroying all those delicate music foundations, not just this song itself but also the pioneers who started making this type of music, together they achieve a very pleasant, intoxicating, and superior sound within its genre. The musical arrangement and the girl's voice are especially well done, which is the best part.

At its time, I saw it as a very useful social critic. Fair irony, a lot of kitsch, good slices of cliches, very easy lyrics and the not bad portrait of people becoming tools of others. After decades, its realism seems eat the humor. So, just a portrait of easy way to a sort of happiness.