A Record in the Shape of a Doll: The Story of the ‘Barbie’ Soundtrack

in the first scene of barbie We see the perfect day of the world’s favorite doll: her perfect world is filled with perfect other Barbies with different clothes and looks, but who behave exactly the same. There’s also Ken, who showers Barbie with an overwhelming affection and who essentially exists as a sidekick to her. Everything will fall apart the next day, but badly. have a soundtrack pink by Lizzo, a song that paints accurate pictures of this pastel colored world constructed with ’80s camp stereotypes. Margot Robbie, who plays the lead in the film, says “Lizzo’s songs are hilarious,” and add another layer of comedy.

The soundtrack is one of the most important weapons in the hands of director Greta Gerwig, who carefully matched visuals and musical cues, meaning she relied on a specialized team to give sound to her vision. Robbie explains, “You’ll hear songs that exactly reflect the images, in short, music is much more than a simple accompaniment, it’s a tool that serves to reinforce what the audience sees and experiences.” , until it becomes their voice.”

The Atlantic was awarded the project long in advance, working closely with Gerwig and her co-writer husband Noah Baumbach. “Many were interested in barbie, but we’ve had our eye on him for a while,” explains Kevin Weaver, president of Atlantic Records’ West Coast office. Given the dominance in the soundtrack industry in recent years, the label is an important participant, see Cases suicide squad And Birds of Prey and the fictional reincarnation of Harley Quinn (again with Robbie), as well as for the franchise fast and furious and series Daisy Jones and the Six,

the team that worked barbie

They needed two songs in particular right away: a pop tune for a choreographed dance scene and an ’80s-style power ballad for Ryan Gosling’s Kane. And so Oscar- and seven-time Grammy-winning producer Mark Ronson was given a message by his friend, music supervisor George Drakoulias. It contained one word: “barbieRonson did a Zoom call with the team working on the film. Their task: to lay out the core of the soundtrack within at least two weeks. “I’m not one to read a lot of scripts,” says Ronson. But that’s everything I want from a film.” “Even if I didn’t get the show, it would have been my film of the year.”

Ronson and Andrew Wyatt strike a chord dance the night away Inspired by a playlist prepared by Gerwig, which she enjoyed. Margot Robbie recalls, “We did a lot of dance rehearsals using the beat of the song before it even had the lyrics.” “On set, it immediately became Barbie’s anthem. And those rehearsals were the first chance for the cast to bond and make friends.”

Disco music seemed like the right genre for a musical commentary on Barbie’s experiences, especially after her arrival in the real world. As Gerwig told Robbie, “The notion of disco is that people want to dance and have fun, even though it stopped being cool when punk-rock came along.” Yet the disco is still there, with its flared trousers.

According to Weaver, dance the night away, which was written with Dua Lipa in the lead, was somehow present in the film’s DNA. However, Ronson and Wyatt play key roles: they composed the original music for the film, and Ronson is also an executive producer. They spent almost a year choosing songs that fit the world of Gerwig’s mind. The soundtrack was born exactly like the film: working in harmony and inspiring each other. “Gerwig wanted to create a unique and special world,” explains Brandon Davis, executive vice president and co-head of pop A&R at The Atlantic. “That’s why there’s a reggaeton by Karol G and right after that there’s a piece by Dominic Fike in Sugar Ray.”

While editing the film, Ronson and Gerwig made a habit of showing a scene each week to the cast they wanted to include. Ronson says, “And everyone, a week or so later, would come back with a piece that was perfect for what we were trying to do.”

One of the first callers was friend Charli XCX. A huge fan of Barbie, she says her first live performance was when she was four and sang a cappella Barbie Girl Aqua’s at a talent show on a cruise ship. “My parents were very worried, they thought I would go on stage, cry and it would be a disaster. On the other hand, I was convinced that I wanted to do it. I sang it all and I won.

Ronson and Gerwig gave Charli XCX a few scenes to choose from. A fan of car-themed pop anthems, she was charmed by a chase scene and wrote speed drive, “I’ve always loved singing about cars. I think there’s an intrinsic connection between driving, music and the fact that when you’re in the car you feel like a star.” That’s what he wanted. speed drivewhich he mentioned in the rebuttal hey mickey by Tony Basile, was “a bit daring” and “talked about being sexy.”

and then there’s the matter Barbie Girl Of Aquas. When the Danish group told the press last year that their 1997 pop hit would not be featured in the film, fans were outraged. Even though it was not explicitly written in the script, Gerwig always thought about finding a spot for the song, and Robbie and the others begged her to do so.

“I said to her: ‘Greta, how do we do this? We can’t make a Barbie movie and not even approve it. Barbie Girl Of Aquas. There should be”. And she: “Don’t worry, we’ll find a good way to use it”», recalls Robbie. “Then at one point she came in saying: ‘Guess who’s going to remix it? going Barbie Girl Of Aquas? Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice.” And I thought, “Together? Are you kidding me?!”. I knew my friends would be mad.”

The idea of ​​putting the queen of barbz rap on the cover Barbie Girl It seemed almost trivial to Ronson. “People have been asking Nicki to rap on that song for 15 years.” It was not easy to get hold of Ice Spice, which is in high demand. She was supposed to come to the studio early in the day to record her part, but she arrived after midnight. Ronson, who was already getting ready for bed “like a senior”, cycled back to the studio in the middle of the night.

Karol ji finds time, even in a busy year, to make “Wild and Unbridled” watati

, she was the musical guest of snl exactly six hours after Ronson went into the studio to do some shots barbie,

The Pink Panthers did not even have a Barbie as a child, “my mother didn’t buy them for me”, but studied Gerwig’s filmography in school before dedicating herself to music, as her dream was to become an actress. Chance to work with the director who inspired The Sound of Sadness in him angel This thrilled her.

Now Ronson doesn’t want to leave the Barbie world she’s lived in for almost a year. “The film is very good. And it’s visually remarkable: You can stop at a random shot of it and you’ll find yourself staring at its thousand shades of pink for an hour as if it were a painting in the Louvre.

Before getting down to business, Ronson bought a series of Barbies from Toys R Us and placed them around the studio (she had sent Mattel some Kens she couldn’t find in stores). And then it happened: While he was finishing work on the film, he became a father for the first time. And yes, she is a baby girl.

Rolling Stone US From.