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TL;DR:

  • An art piece made a songwriter think of two of the most famous lines of Aqua’s “Barbie Girl.”
  • The members of Aqua clashed over how the vocals of the song should sound.
  • Nicki Minaj’s take on “Barbie Girl” became a hit in its own right.

Even novelty music can have highbrow origins. For example, Aqua’s “Barbie Girl” was inspired by a work of art. The art in question was an unusual piece made from Barbies.

Aqua’s ‘Barbie Girl’ was inspired by a planet made out of Barbie dolls

Søren Rasted is a member of Aqua. During a 2022 interview with Rolling Stone, he discussed the origin of his band’s signature hit. “When we were writing songs for the first album, I went to an art exhibition at a store in Copenhagen,” he recalled. “They’d taken a bunch of Barbie dolls and made a planet out of them. It looked like a big, round ball. It made me think of, ‘Life in plastic, it’s fantastic.’ I thought that was a great line. Then I wrote, ‘Come on, Barbie, let’s go party.'”

Rasted discussed how fellow band member Claus Norreen changed “Barbie Girl.” “It was in major chords at first,” he remembered. “He really wanted to change it to minor chords. And so we started on a minor chord instead. I don’t mean to be too technical, but the change means a lot. And what I had was too wordy. I remember Claus taking out words that rhymed in the verses. We disagreed quite a lot.”

The members of Aqua didn’t agree on what the vocals of the song should sound like

Roasted clashed with bandmate Lene Nystrøm over the composition of the song. “There was a lot of back and forth when we recorded the vocals,” he remembered. “Lene wanted to take it down a notch. She thought it was too high.” Nystrøm thought it would be difficult to sing the song live with such a high pitch.

The other members of Aqua said she could change the song’s pitch when she sang it live. They wanted the vocals to sound high and “out of this world.” Nystrøm did what they wanted. Listeners believed she altered her voice with a computer, but her performance was completely organic.

How ‘Barbie Girl’ and Nicki Minaj’s version performed on the charts in the United States

“Barbie Girl” became a hit in the United States. It reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100, staying on the chart for 16 weeks. The tune appeared on Aqua’s album Aquarium. That record reached No. 7 on the Billboard 200 and stayed on the chart for 50 weeks.

Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice sampled “Barbie Girl” for their tune “Barbie World.” Aqua are credited as a featured artist on that song. So far, “Barbie World” reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed on the chart for three weeks. The tune appears on Barbie: The Album, the soundtrack for Greta Gerwig’s film Barbie. The movie is the first theatrical film about the famous doll.

“Barbie Girl” is a work of art that might not exist without another work of art.

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