Barbie Girl

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"Barbie Girl"
Single by Aqua
from the album Aquarium
Released	June 1997 (1997-06) (See release history)
Format	12" vinyl, CD single, Cassette
Recorded	1997
Genre	Bubblegum dance
Length	3:16
Label	MCA
Writer(s)	Claus Norreen, Søren Nystrøm Rasted
Aqua singles chronology
"My Oh My" (1997) "Barbie Girl" (1997) "Didn't I" (1997)

"Barbie Girl" is a song in the bubblegum pop genre by the Danish-Norwegian dance-pop group Aqua, who released it in 1997 as their third single overall, and the first United Kingdom release. The song is included on the album Aquarium and was written by Claus Norreen and Søren Nystrøm Rasted after the group saw an exhibit on kitsch culture. The song topped the charts worldwide, particularly in European countries such as the UK, where it was a number-one hit for three weeks; it was also on top of the charts in Australia for the same length of time, and debuted and peaked at #7 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 on September 6, 1997.

Contents 1 Aqua's Version 1.1 History 1.2 Music video 1.3 Mattel's lawsuit 1.4 Releases 2 Release history 3 Charts 3.1 End Of Year Charts 3.2 Succession 4 Kelly Key version 4.1 Track listing 5 Samanda version 6 Others cover versions and parodies 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Aqua's Version

[edit] History

The lyrics of the song are about Barbie and Ken, the dolls made by Mattel. Both the song and its music video feature Lene Nystrøm Rasted as Barbie and René Dif as Ken. As such, the lyrics drew the ire of Barbie's corporate owners.

The song was voted the fourth "Best Number One of All Time" in a VH1 poll, and was featured in spot #32 on VH1's "Most Awesomely Bad Songs... Ever" countdown. In an unrelated VH1 countdown, VH1's 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders, it was featured at #88. In 2007, Rolling Stone named "Barbie Girl" as one of the 20 Most Annoying Songs.^[1] Also in 2007, MuchMoreMusic featured the song at #27 on the list of the 50 Guilty Pleasures. In 2008, it was featured as "one of the worst songs ever played" on The Morning Wrap, the premiere talk show of the Florida Panhandle. In 2009, Same Difference voted it #2 in their Ultimate Cheese-Fest Top 20 on 4Music. Blender magazine also voted it at #33, as one of the 50 Worst Songs Ever.^[2] Despite the criticism, "Barbie Girl" has sold more than 8 million copies worldwide.

"Barbie Girl" was sampled for Lady Gaga's 2009 smash hit "Poker Face" without credit.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Music video

The music video played repeatedly on MTV and helped launch the career of Danish director Peder Pedersen, who designed its cartoon-inspired visuals.

As of July 2009, the video has over 28,700,000 views on YouTube, being one of the most viewed in the history of the website.

[edit] Mattel's lawsuit

Mattel sued the band, saying they violated the Barbie trademark and turned Barbie into a sex object, referring to her as a "Blonde Bimbo."^[3] They alleged the song had violated their copyrights and trademarks of Barbie, and that its lyrics had tarnished the reputation of their trademark and impinged on their marketing plan. Aqua claimed that Mattel injected their own meanings into the song's lyrics and MCA Records was not about to let their hit single be suppressed without a fight. They contested Mattel's claims and countersued for defamation after Mattel had likened MCA to a bank robber.^[4]

The lawsuit filed by Mattel was dismissed by the lower courts, and this dismissal was upheld, though Mattel took their case up to the Supreme Court of the United States (Mattel's appeal was later rejected). In 2002, Judge Alex Kozinski ruled the song was protected as a parody under the trademark doctrine of nominative use and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. He also threw out the defamation lawsuit that Aqua's record company filed against Mattel. Kozinski concluded his ruling by saying, "The parties are advised to chill."^[5] The case was dismissed, and in the process, it garnered lots of media attention for the song and the band.

This controversy was used by journalist Naomi Klein to make a political point in her book No Logo, where she stated that the monopolies created by copyrights and trademarks are unfairly and differently enforced based on the legal budgets of the conflicting parties and their ability to defend their expressions by hiring lawyers.

[edit] Releases

United Kingdom/Germany

CD1

1. "Barbie Girl" (radio edit) 3:22
2. "Barbie Girl" (extended version) 5:12
3. "Barbie Girl" (Perky Park Club mix) 6:23
4. "Barbie Girl" (Spikes Anatomically Correct Dub) 7:55

CD2

1. "Barbie Girl" (CD-ROM Video)
2. "Barbie Girl" (Radio Edit)
3. "Barbie Girl" (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels 12" G-String Mix)
4. "Barbie Girl" (Dirty Rotten Peroxide Radio Mix)

France

1. "Barbie Girl" (Radio Edit)
2. "Barbie Girl" (Extended Version)

Australia and Canada

1. "Barbie Girl" (Radio Edit)
2. "Barbie Girl" (Spike's Plastic Mix)
3. "Barbie Girl" (Spike's Anatomically Correct Dub)
4. "Barbie Girl" (Extended Version)

[edit] Release history

Country	Release Date
Europe	June 1997 (1997-06)
United Kingdom	September 1997 (1997-09)
United States

[edit] Charts

Chart	Peak Position	Certification	Sales
UK Singles Chart	1	2xPlatinum	1,200,000+
Australian Singles Chart	1	3xPlatinum	210,000+
Billboard Hot 100	7
New Zealand Singles Chart	1
Norwegian Singles Chart	1	2xPlatinum
Finland Singles Chart	3
Sweden Singles Chart	1
Belgium Singles Chart	1
Netherlands Singles Chart	2	Platinum
French Singles Chart	1	Diamond
Austrian Singles Chart	2	Platinum
Switzerland Singles Chart	1	Platinum

[edit] End Of Year Charts

Year	Country	Chart	Ranking
1997	Australia	ARIA	2[6]

[edit] Succession

Preceded by "When Susannah Cries" by Espen Lind	Norwegian Singles Chart number-one single 30 May 1997 - 6 June 1997	Succeeded by "Bailando" by Paradisio
Preceded by "I'll Be Missing You" by Puff Daddy featuring Faith Evans and 112	Swedish Singles Chart number-one single 5 September 1997 - 19 September 1997	Succeeded by "Candle in the Wind 1997" by Elton John
Preceded by "Leven na de dood" by Freek de Jonge and Robert Jan Stips	Dutch Top 40 number-one single 20 September
Preceded by "Men in Black" by Will Smith	New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart number-one single 14 September 1997 - 21 September 1997	Succeeded by "Tubthumping" by Chumbawamba
Preceded by "I'll Be Missing You" by Puff Daddy featuring Faith Evans and 112	Italian Singles Chart number-one single 11 October 1997 - 15 November 1997	Succeeded by "Breathe" by Midge Ure
Preceded by "Spice up Your Life" by Spice Girls	UK Singles Chart number-one single 26 October 1997 - 17 November 1997	Succeeded by "Perfect Day" by Various Artists
Preceded by "Savoir aimer" by Florent Pagny	French Singles Chart number-one single 1 November , 1997	Succeeded by "Savoir aimer" by Florent Pagny
Preceded by "Candle in the Wind 1997" by Elton John	Irish Singles Chart number-one single 25 October 1997 - 15 November 1997	Succeeded by "Good Lookin' Woman" by Dustin and Joe Dolan
	Belgian Singles Chart number-one single 8 November 1997 - 10 January 1998	Succeeded by "Torn" by Natalie Imbruglia
	German Singles Chart number-one single 10 November 1997 - 15 December 1997	Succeeded by "It's Like That" by Run DMC vs. Jason Nevins
	Euro Hot 100 number-one single 16 November 1997 - 25 January 1998	Succeeded by "Together Again" by Janet Jackson
	Australia ARIA Singles Chart number-one single 16 November 1997 - 7 December 1997	Succeeded by "Tubthumping" by Chumbawamba
	Swiss Singles Chart number-one single 30 November 1997 - 10 January 1998	Succeeded by "Candle in the Wind 1997" by Elton John

[edit] Kelly Key version

"Sou a Barbie Girl"
Single by Kelly Key
from the album Kelly Key
Released	15 April 2005
Format	CD, digital download
Recorded	2005
Genre	Pop, Dance-pop
Length	3:19
Label	Warner Music
Producer	Claus Norreen, Søren Nystrøm Rasted
Certification	Platinum
Kelly Key singles chronology
"Escuta Aqui Rapaz" (2005) "Barbie Girl" (2005) "Papinho" (2006)
Kelly Key track listing
"Bad Boy" (2) "Barbie Girl" (3) "Escuta Aqui Rapaz" (4)

Brazilian singer Kelly Key released a Portuguese cover version of the song, titled "Sou a Barbie Girl" ("I'm the Barbie Girl"), as her tenth single on April 15, 2005.

[edit] Track listing

1. "Barbie Girl" (radio edit)
2. "Barbie Girl" (extended version)
3. "Barbie Girl" (DJ Malboro mix)
4. "Barbie Girl" (club remix)

[edit] Samanda version

"Barbie Girl"
Single by Samanda
Released	September 11, 2007 (UK)
Format	CD single, Digital download
Genre	Pop, Dance-pop, Eurodance
Samanda singles chronology
"Barbie Girl" (2007) "Honey Love" (2008)

Samanda released a cover version of the song in 2007. The version peaked at #26 in the UK singles Chart.

[edit] Others cover versions and parodies

• The "gay" version of "The Barbie Song" (performed by The Dog House) features Garrett and Raoul who insult Barbie behind her back with gratuitous words because they pine for Ken, however the conclusion of the song sees Barbie approach the pair who proceed to assault her and run off. This song is featured on their 2000 album, How Many People Must Get Dissed?

• Covers have been performed by bands Home Grown, MxPx, Zebrahead, Simple Plan, My Favorite Band (MFB) and Tsunami Bomb.

• The German duo Lynne & Tessa produced a lip-synched internet video of the song, which has consistently been ranked high in the top-100 list on Google Video since it was released in May 2006.

• The British Indian comedy sketch show Goodness Gracious Me parodied the song as "Punjabi Girl" both in the radio series and later on television.

• The band Jack Off Jill wrote a parody called, "Ugly Girl."^{[citation needed]} The The Aquabats and "Weird Al" Yankovic are often mistakenly credited for it. In 2000, Ben Apgar created a flash animation video for the parody on the now defunct 512Productions.com, though the song went credited to "Composer: unknown".

• The song is parodied in the Dutch song "Neem Een Ander in de Maling (Barbie Girl)" by Ome Henk (Note : this parody has sometimes been mistaken for being sung in German by Rammstein).

• WPLJ has also done a parody "Jersey Girl" using stereotypes of Jersey girls as the basis for the whole song.

• Rob Mayth covered the song as Single in 2006^[7].

• "I'm a Ken Doll" has been rightly or wrongly^{[citation needed]} attributed to Eddie & Jobo.

• The us Electric Duo Velva Blu covered the song few months after the original version^[8].

• In the Family Guy episode, Bill and Peter's Bogus Journey, president Bill Clinton is seen singing and dancing to Barbie Girl while playing Dance Dance Revolution.

• The band Electric Chairs recorded a melancholy, down-tempo rendition of Barbie Girl in 2001.

• The German Euro house project Bangbros played the Remix of the Rob Mayth version live in an DJ set in summer 2006.

• Andrea feat. Sergio created a Eurobeat cover of the song for Super Eurobeat Vol. 199 ~Collaboration of Eurobeat~.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Text of Mattel, Inc. v. MCA Records, Inc., the verdict that favored MCA (PDF file)

v • d • e Aqua Lene Nystrøm Rasted · René Dif · Søren Nystrøm Rasted · Claus Norreen Albums Aquarium · Aquarius Compilation albums Cartoon Heroes: The Best of Aqua · Greatest Hits Singles "Itzy Bitsy Spider" · "Roses are Red" · "My Oh My" · "Barbie Girl" · "Didn't I" · "Doctor Jones" · "Lollipop (Candyman)" · "Turn Back Time" · "Good Morning Sunshine" · "Cartoon Heroes" "Around the World" · "Bumble Bee" · "We Belong to the Sea" · "Back to the 80's" Related articles Discography · Lazyboy · Michael Brinkenstjärna · Eurovision Song Contest 2001