My drill instructor would wake us up every morning with a portion of this song. When the music would stop he would exclaim in his best drill instructor tone “COME ON BARBIES LETS GO PARTY”
@@tonyrobertson1085 No, this was done for a bet. See if they can get to #1 with a shitty, bubblegum pop hit, and they nailed it, easily. This wasn't the only one. Skilled musicians, fickle public that buy records.
@@tonyrobertson1085 It's deliberately "shit" and yet incredibly well done at the same time. The fact that you're on RU-vid bitching about it on a reaction video kinda supports that. Not all songs are Dream Theatre or Nightwish with exacting production standards.
I think it starts with "undress me anywhere" and it gets worse from there. It's like those adult jokes in animated movies that fly over kids' heads. :P
My generation grew up enjoying parody and satire songs like this. Not unusual to hear this on the dance floor back around when it was released. Three or so of Aqua's songs were very popular in my part of sweden.
They were quite popular here in Australia. I remember at least 5 of their songs being in the charts. If you haven't heard their song like a robot I suggest you listen to it!
"Candyman" was big, "Turn Back Time" was (because of that movie), "Dr Jones", "Roses Are Red" was a popular dance floor one (I think). "My Oh My" I'm not too sure on.
@Whemenoc Alarms (King of 'Cyclopes Horn Strobes') Okay so Bob Hardy had nothing to do with this song's creation and it was stated on the album itself that it is social commentary so I don't know why you believe he would be an authority on it. During this time there was plenty of artists in Scandinavia making 'funny' songs. Many of them were clearly just for fun but it wasn't really rare with songs that were making fun of specific things and pointing out the absurdity in them. I don't know if the group ever said exactly what they meant by the song, but Barbie had, and still has, a lot of symbolic meaning. She was a symbol for America in most of the world, a sex symbol meant for children to play with and also symbolized fake-ness as she was a woman literally made out of plastic. Barbie has always been somewhat of a controversial toy and as she exploded in popularity in Scandinavia in the 90s there were a lot of discussions around her. Basically it is extremely unlikely that Aqua wasn't very aware of all this when they wrote the song and just happened to see the doll and was like 'Let's write a funny song about this doll with absolutely no meaning behind it!'
“Don’t let kids listen to this song” in the uk in the 90s and early naughtys(early 2000s) this used to be played at kid’s birthday parties and school parties 🤣🤣🤣 oh how times have changed. Here it’s classed as a funny song like gangnam style.
I remember when this first came out. My niece, then 7, thought it was a song about her dolls. Fast forward 7 years, it comes on the radio again and she stopped dead in her tracks and said: "OMG! IT'S A SEX SONG!!"
Aqua are from Denmark, my home country, and this track made them go from only a little bit known here in Denmark, to worldwide stardom at made them millionaires. They had a string of hits after this, and then they stopped. Today they are active again. Not recording new music that much but performing festivals and big concerts. A fun thing is that when Barbie girl was a hit, a blackbird here in Denmark was heard tweeting a little part of the song. Experts said that because it was such a big hit, people walked around humming the melody, and the blackbird learned it that way.
I'm surprised he didn't mention the fact that it says, "Undress me everywhere." This song used to play at my Junior High dances, and even as 13 and 14 year olds we were always amazed that the school thought it was okay to play. The meaning was not lost on us.
@@ellen_trim_dance7928 it IS UNdress me evrywhere, and we all knew it, and all the teenage girls sang it that way, back in my teenage days. Teachers and parents were just like "oh, just a childish, kiddy-teen, parody song", not paying arrantion to the lyrics.
I remember being in high school and chaperoning my younger sister's 4th/5th grade dance. Like 9 and 10 year olds. And being with a friend and we just looked at each other with dawning horror/glee and new comprehension as we listened to the lyrics as near-adults after not hearing it since it was played AT OUR OWN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DANCE.
Fun fact: Even though they got sued by Mattel for using the name Barbie without permission, years later they used it on an actual Barbie commercial, with the lyrics changed, of course
They are actually an under-rated band, check out "Doctor Jones", and "Turn back time"? Turn back time was on the soundtrack to the film "Sliding doors".
I went to see Aqua in concert for a bit of a nostalgia trip. Honestly, they were one of the best live performances Ive seen in the pop genre! People raved about Muse, Aqua ran rings around their performances imo
@@DawnSuttonfabfour it is the fact that you couldn't make out what they were saying till when you grew up is exactly it.. Unlike today throwing genital words all over the lyrics an other nasty stuff kids can bluntly hear
As a Scandinavian band (the lead singer is Norwegian and the rest are Danish) Aqua was HUGE in that part of the world. I'll never forget when I was visiting some relatives in Norway when this song was big; we were driving along with this song blaring on the radio and my teenage cousin and her friend dancing in the back seat. This song was REALLY big there.
Haha, the last time I heard this song was nearly 25 years ago and I'm singing along here like it was yesterday. As awful as it is you cant deny its catchy.
Turn back time, showed just how good they could be. Unfortunately, the comedy value of Barbie Girl and Dr Jones, really placed them in a different genre :(
Next time you see someone in their 30s, remember that THIS was the background music of their youth. It was constantly on TV, radio, in clothes stores, their neighbor's stereo, etc.
Your reaction was the best! Priceless. You looked like someone shattered your innocence 🤣. All about Ken and Barbie and what they really got up to in that house of theirs 🥰😉
It was great song--the whole album was awesome. But yeah, there's a serious message in there about the objectification of women and also just "being plastic" to fit in.
Everybody used to sing barbie girl, no matter male or female lol and the fact that me and other kids at that time used to sing it is crazy since it's rated R haha 90s gotta love it!!
“I can beg on my knees”... wow I really regret learning the lyrics to this when I was 6... Another song I learnt was “I’m honey, honey honey honey, so honey, honey honey honey” but the word wasn’t honey I learnt 10 years later...
Love the shirt; good game. More 90's meme music: "Tubthumping" - Chumbawamba, "Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop)" - Scatman John, "Rico Suave" - Geraldo, "Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom" - Vengaboys, "Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit of...)" - Lou Bega, "Jump" - Kris Kross, "Here Comes the Hotstepper" - Ini Kamoze, "Return of the Mack" - Mark Morrison, "Blue" Eiffel 65, "Mmm Bop" - Hansen...
Oh my, please don't encourage him. I appreciate Jay and the quality of his channel too much to endorse that list of 90's fluff. It's so cringe worthy, I couldn't bare to watch him listen to it. A hard left turn from the good music he started with and it won't make his life better for hearing it, possibly worse.
An interesting list. I know people make fun of Hanson, but even their first album has some seriously good songs. My mom loves Chumbawamba. The one song of theirs that really got to me was Wagner in the opera. That one sure packs a punch.
Jayvon, I just want to say how much I appreciate someone that will listen to any random song and have something positive to say about it, or at least be upbeat about it. Your happy style is what makes watching your videos worthwhile! Quite refreshing. Keep it up 👍😆
This was a great bubblegum electro-pop act, from the 90’s. Their whole album is a tastee groove. Doctor Jones, Lollipop (Candyman), Be a Man, Happy Boys &Girls, Calling You. So many fun dance tracks!
This was HUGE in its days. I can't believe you haven't heard this song. Sometimes I think americans live in their own bubble. Even my niece in her 8 y.o. knows the song.
Well that's one thing Jovaughn was saying...that he'd HEARD the song, he just hadn't really listened to it, so when he did he was shocked. (The notion of him ambling around singing the first couple lines over and over is pretty amusing, though...)
This brings me back to high school! When all the guys were singing this song. Ironically it was way more popular with the boys than the girls, but loved all around. Haven't listened for years! Thanks for the nostalgia!
Ok and now react to "Los del Rio - Macarena" and get the original spanish Version with Lyrics .... and remember this song was often played at homecomming of soldiers from "The Sandbox" (Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait etc) ....
I have just discovered your channel and I am going through all of your reactions. I love your positive attitude, but also I like that you can appreciate instrumentals and overall technique of songs. I have a 12h online shift today and it starts for me at midnight - and I am happy that I can use up your energy not to fall asleep ;) It might be weird song to comment this, but I have already watched like 20 of your reactions and have 20 other tabs opened. Have a great day!
The song was a satire, mocking the societies norms... The msg apparently has been lost due to passage of time.. Or may because nobody cares to do it research
Nah nobody got it at the time either. It was listened to like a party song. Most people aren't that serious when it comes to music. Just how it is. And that's why aqua was a one hit wonder
I saw this video in my feed and told my husband, "I wonder if he's going to realised what a messed up song this actually is" hahaha when I saw your face, I was like "yup, he noticed it". I used to know this song by heart and sang it as a little girl, then one day as an adult I was singing it and before getting to the disturbing parts realised "oh damn, was I singing this crap as a kid?"
The thing about it is that young girls have zero concepts of it being sarcasm. They do keep singing the earworm and it does get into their heads. Young girls already objectify themselves. They don't even know any better.
@@garryiglesias4074 No, I happen to have them around and I know the popular RU-vid girls' sites. I watched a 9-year old decide to become a doll in a way where they considered psychiatric care after spending a few months watching it. She stopped watching the channels and snapped back to normal.
@@garryiglesias4074 Her pa had to carry her out of a party because she got so caught up in the role of doll from the videos that she wouldn't move unless someone made her. Like the popular girls in the videos.
@@wishingb5859 It's a problem with the parents, not the video. Those are "popular" because parents makes them popular the way they educate their kid. It's an education problem, not an 'entertainment' one. Some parents let their kids play with firearms too... It's so funny while it's empty.
There was one time it was played back to back to back several times in a row on the radio. Maybe it was because it got so many requests the radio djs were super annoyed and wanted us to be sick of it.
I love how you didn't want anything to do with it, then as soon as you realized it was about sex, suddenly you're jamming out to it like it's your favorite track 😂
I LOVED when Jay had to walk out of the song. That was absolutely hilarious and the BEST reaction EVER. I probably would've done it too if it was my first time hearing it too. ❤️😆😆
I love the social commentary in this song. Surface level, it's about the plastic dolls marketed to kids, and it gets away with it. Then you catch on to the lyrics and realize there are a lot of sex references. Next, you start to catch on to the subtle implications and assumptions of the social roles and behavior of the characters. Last, you realize that they ARE talking about the plastic toys, sex and social roles at the SAME TIME, how they are related. It works as both satire and commentary at the same time. Really well done.
So many lyric parts you "should not" sing out loud as a girl in public, like at 4:35... there is also the "I'm a Barbie Girl.... you can brush my hair, undress me ev'rywhere"
I want you to do "I can't see nobody" by the Bee Gees 1967 it is fantastic... I just discovered it today for the first time and Robin is the main singer, and it is Awesome. I know you really like Robin. Who doesn't,.. he was the best and most unique voice.
The lyrics of this song have a double meaning. If you have a clean mind when she says, "You can change me anywhere, you can touch me..." It can just means to change the Barbie dall clothes. And in order to play with the dall you must touch her. The meaning we give the song depends on how twisted our minds are...