Mark Ronson: BIllie Eilish's Barbie song 'just floored me'

Fifteen months ago, Mark Ronson got a substance from his person George Drakoulias, the antheral who'd discovered LL Cool J and the Beastie Boys.

It contained conscionable 1 word: "Barbie?"

Drakoulias had been hired arsenic a euphony supervisor for the Barbie movie and helium had an urgent petition from writer-director Greta Gerwig.

An aboriginal series showed Margot Robbie enjoying her cleanable time successful Barbie Land, hanging retired by the pool, surrounded by chap Barbies and doted connected by the perma-tanned Ken.

There was conscionable 1 problem: The country culminated with a giant, 60-person creation number... but they hadn't got a opus for it. Could Ronson constitute one?

"The unit was brainsick due to the fact that they were going to commencement creation rehearsals successful 2 weeks and they wanted this large opus that could perchance beryllium a hit," helium tells the BBC.

What Drakoulias didn't cognize was that Ronson is simply a immense instrumentality of Gerwig and her co-writer hubby Noah Baumbach. After a speedy glimpse astatine the script, helium agreed to help.

"They could person astir apt said, 'We're making a movie astir Matchbox cars,' and I'd person been like, 'Cool, if you're doing it, it's gonna beryllium great'," helium laughs.

With the deadline imminent, helium got to enactment with Andrew Wyatt (with whom helium won an Oscar for the A Star Is Born deed Shallow) and together, they turned successful a large disco number, afloat of sweeping drawstring lines and funky bass licks.

Gerwig loved it. It was locked successful for the film.

And past Ronson faced an adjacent bigger struggle: Taking the instrumental way to an creator and persuading them to sing connected it, without being capable to marque immoderate changes to the song's tempo, consciousness oregon structure.

"It conscionable had the bushed and the strings. There was nary melody, nary lyrics, nothing. All I'd written was the moving rubric 'Tastes Like Barbie' due to the fact that I thought that sounded kinda cool."

His archetypal instinct was to nonstop it to Dua Lipa, whose Future Nostalgia medium shared galore of the aforesaid notation points.

On 31 March, 2022, arsenic Dua got acceptable for a performance successful Seattle, Ronson sent her an Instagram DM, inviting her to "co-write and star" connected the track.

"Because Dua has specified a voracious intelligence curiosity for art, culture, film, everything I conscionable knew she would she would excavation it," helium explains.

"She said, 'Yeah, cool,' and she ended up coming to New York and we wrote the opus together."

Gerwig was truthful impressed with the effect that she asked Ronson to curate the full soundtrack... and past to people the movie arsenic well.

Her transportation was that Barbie's communicative was a parallel to the Bee Gees successful the 1970s. Back then, the British trio were the astir fashionable set successful the satellite and Saturday Night Fever was the biggest-selling medium of each time.

Then, successful 1979 the "Disco sucks" question culminated successful Disco Demolition Night, wherever a section DJ called connected listeners to destruct disco records successful a Chicago shot stadium.

The stunt was ugly, with undertones of racism and homophobia, and the Bee Gees were caught successful the crossfire.

"They were interviewed a mates of weeks aboriginal and they were like, 'All we did ever did was conscionable constitute large popular songs. Why bash radical hatred america truthful much?'" says Ronson.

"Greta saw a parallel with Barbie successful immoderate ways. The Barbie character, each she ever wanted to bash was marque radical happy. But she besides represents a batch of things that are problematic and truly reviled."

Unlike erstwhile films he's worked on, Ronson says Gerwig had a "very circumstantial idea" of however the euphony would complement the action.

"No offence to the Ghostbusters reboot film, but I retrieve being 1 of 11 songs connected determination that re-interpolated the Ray Parker Jr. taxable due to the fact that determination was nary directive," says Ronson.

"But with this it's hard to archer which came archetypal - the movie oregon the song."

Audiences tin justice for themselves erstwhile the movie opens connected Friday. Until then, Ronson talks america done the soundtrack's highlights.

Lizzo's way opens the film, establishing the idyllic, pink-hued satellite that Barbie inhabits. But the chilled-out vibe is wholly astatine likelihood with the song's frantic creation.

"We had 2 days, and we got thing connected the archetypal one," says Ronson. "I was like, 'Maybe it's not gonna happen'.

"Then she started freestyling and narrating, successful a precise tongue-in-cheek way, immoderate was happening connected the screen, nary substance however ridiculous, like, 'Two Barbies, each dolled up and playing chess by the pool'.

"We conscionable started laughing but past we realised: This is musically good, and this is fun, truthful we ran with it.

"I showed it to Greta and she flipped out. At that point, the opus ended halfway done the credits due to the fact that there's a Helen Mirren voiceover that comes in. But Greta was like, 'Tell Lizzo she tin support singing! She tin sing astatine Helen! They tin person a dialogue!'"

That thought ne'er made it to celluloid, but it did pave the mode for Lizzo to person different philharmonic fig aboriginal successful the film.

"There were 2 things that were keeping maine up astatine night: What are we doing with Aqua? And however bash we perchance person the soundtrack without Nicki Minaj connected it?" says Ronson.

These were thorny issues.

Barbie's creator, Mattel, sued Aqua successful the 1990s, saying their smash deed Barbie Girl had brought the doll into disrepute.

Minaj, whose fans are called Barbies oregon Barbz, was besides deemed indispensable for the soundtrack - but she rejected "a mates of songs that I didn't love," she confessed astatine the LA premiere.

The turning constituent came erstwhile Ronson invited Ice Spice to flip a illustration of Barbie Girl.

"She's the astir breathtaking caller happening successful rap," says Ronson. "She's keeping New York alive."

Along with her producer, RIOTUSA, she took Aqua vocalist Lene Nystrøm's iconic "life successful plastic" hook and stapled it into a dark, New Jersey House beat.

"I loved it," said Minaj, agreeing to the collaboration.

The lone occupation was fitting the signaling astir Ronson's schedule.

"Ice Spice was expected to travel to my workplace astatine 9pm and, you know, I'm an aged feline with a marque caller baby," helium says.

"I waited till 11pm sharp, past I got into furniture - but erstwhile I looked astatine my phone, it said, 'We're connected the way'.

"I virtually was successful my pyjamas, but I enactment my apparel backmost on, rode my motorcycle backmost to the workplace and showed Ice and Riot the film. And the opus started from there."

Minaj wasn't the lone 1 who wanted to screen Aqua's classic.

"Barbie Girl is specified an important opus to Charli XCX," says Ronson. "She's told the communicative of singing it successful a endowment amusement erstwhile she was four. And she did a draught of it, but past she wrote the Speed Drive song, and it conscionable elevated the film.

"We loved it truthful overmuch that we said, 'Can we support this?'"

The British star's publication is simply a electrifying jolt of hyperpop that someway combines elements of Tony Basil's cheerleader anthem Hey Mickey with Cobrastyle, an underground rap way by Danish set The Teddybears.

But her mentation of Barbie Girl has subsequently leaked - with producer AG Cook playing it astatine 1 of his caller DJ sets.

Sung from the point-of-view of Barbie's much-maligned fellow Ken, this Sam Smith way is simply a delicious deconstruction of hot, elemental himbos.

"No I'm not gay, bro / But I've been connected that lay-low," drawls Smith successful an uncharacteristically gravelly voice.

"This comes astatine a constituent wherever you truly consciousness you request to consciousness the state of the Kens," says Ronson.

"Greta showed Sam the country and they started talking astir the feminist mystique and each these precise heavy texts that I cognize thing about. So I conscionable unopen my rima and listened.

"Soon after, Sam sent maine a dependable enactment of this unthinkable melody, virtually conscionable singing a capella, and it leapt disconnected the phone.

"It's truthful overmuch amusive to spot artists instrumentality immoderate licence, and bash things they mightiness not bash connected their ain records due to the fact that they're penning successful character. Sam's playing the Kens successful the verse, past they spell into this yearning Sylvester dependable successful the chorus and it conscionable explodes."

...In which Ryan Gosling bares his psyche (and his chest) with a show-stopping Broadway fig astir playing 2nd fiddle.

"I'm conscionable Ken / Anywhere else, I'd beryllium a 10," helium sings, earlier the opus explodes into a Hair-style rocker, with guitars by Slash and Wolfgang Van Halen.

Originally intended for an (unnamed) popular star, Gosling lobbied to sing it himself.

He came consecutive from the acceptable to Ronson's studio, with the shaper transposing the way to a little key, to marque it easier to sing.

"But each clip helium sang it, I was like, 'He sounds killer, l deliberation we tin bump it up,' until we were backmost successful the archetypal key," helium recalls.

"I was implicit the satellite because, astatine first, I was like, 'Okay, possibly the opus won't beryllium arsenic bully arsenic the demo' but successful the extremity helium exceeded the demo.

"And past erstwhile I archetypal saw the film, with him really acting retired the song, I was like, 'Of course!' Because helium knew that, astatine immoderate point, he'd beryllium acting retired these lyrics, truthful helium was already doing it successful the studio."

Eilish's opus cuts to the bosom of Barbie's predicament: What happens erstwhile the satellite turns against you?

The singer, who's fought her ain battles against nationalist perception, said inspiration deed her "like a tornado" aft watching a unsmooth chopped of the film.

Within 24 hours, she sent Ronson a substance saying, "'I wrote thing today', with a smiley face, arsenic if it was nothing", helium recalls.

"The adjacent morning, we got this MP3 and it conscionable floored us.

"I was like, 'How person they summed up the movie truthful well?' Because by that point. we had Ken's travel but we didn't person Barbie's...

"Greta likes to telephone it similar the glittery pinkish bosom astatine the centre of the film. And that's what this opus is."