Covers Revue, Vol. 11 – Home Grown covers "Barbie Girl" :: Originally by Aqua

Let us venture back into the late 90’s, shall we? Bubble gum pop ruled the radio waves and we were all caught up in it. I admit that I was never into boy bands or Britney Spears, but there was one group that had me by the fake blond hair. That was Aqua (Denmark’s most successful band ever) and their song “Barbie Girl.”

Despite the song’s numerous placements on lists such as Most Awesomely Bad Songs … Ever, Ultimate Cheese-Fest Top 20, 50 Worst Songs Ever and 20 Most Annoying Songs, “Barbie Girl” was a massive hit! It also placed on lists such as VH1’s Greatest One-Hit Wonders, Best Number Ones of All Time and 50 Guilty Pleasures.

Aqua’s original version was the cause of much controversy once Mattel heard about it. The song features seemingly suggestive lyrics (“Make me walk, make me talk, do whatever you please/I can act like a star, I can beg on my knees/Come jump in, bimbo friend, let us do it again/Hit the town, fool around, let’s go party!”) but the clever song-writing skills got the band out of hot water in court when they claimed that “Mattel injected their own meanings into the song’s lyrics.” The case was eventually dropped so what did Mattel do? Why, they used the song in various advertisements and changed the lyrics around for their own profit, of course!

At any rate, the incredibly infectious beat and catchy melody had us all keeping a beat with whatever appendage available, whether we liked to admit it or not. The song had everything in it. A little bit of guitar, synths, crazy beats all over the place and a whiny/annoying female lead accompanied by a burly, porn star-esque Ken.

In true pop-punk fashion (that’s right, I’m calling it that), the song was the victim of a cover. Do enough research and you’ll find an obscene amount of punk covers and “Barbie Girl” was covered by Orange County’s own Home Grown.

Like many of the other punk covers out there, the formula was the same for this cover: take a hit song and make it as punk as possible! Home Grown didn’t jump through any hoops to make this song a musical masterpiece. The charm is all in the fact that distorted guitars and fast drums rule this cover. For me, hearing a male sing a female lead is always pretty funny so that adds to the charm as well. Ken’s part is still sung by a dude but when he started growling, I’m not sure! One thing is for sure though, and that is that Home Grown pulls it off in their own special way!

I can’t say that I enjoy this cover more than the original. Aqua’s version definitely has that guilty pleasure vibe to it, only I was never ashamed of that song! I was way too into it than I probably should have been but, what can I say? I’m a sucker for horrible songs, I guess!

Aqua – “Barbie Girl”
Home Grown – “Barbie Girl“