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Ahead of its premiere, Barbie got itself an interesting teaser. The new clip features Ryan Gosling as a sullen Ken crooning about having a tough existential crisis. The song, titled I'm Just Ken, focuses solely on the male protagonist detailing the emotional burden he feels to be “always number two” to the titular character. Apart from this, he also complains of being friend-zoned by his love interest.
As soon as the video was shared by Discussing Film, netizens naturally went berserk with adulation. They vociferously praised the actor’s singing and commented that he deserves all the praise coming his way. One user went ahead and remarked that there is a “Grammy incoming” for Gosling.
Written by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt, I'm Just Ken has a pretty starry inclusion. As per reports, Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash and Mammoth WVH creator Wolfgang Van Halen have given their talents to this new song.
Meanwhile, at the film’s world premiere pink carpet, Ronson told Angelique Jackson of Variety that the Drive actor “cut the vocals” in just “three hours on a Tuesday afternoon.” After he sent the track to Slash, the British-American hatted musician agreed to play on the “cool” song.
"Gosling steals the show": New song of Barbie leaves fans exulted
Lasting 1:30 minutes, the video of I'm Just Ken starts with an indecisive Ken, donning an unbuttoned pink printed casual shirt, in an about-to-propose position as Barbie passes by in a car, almost to avoid him. A scene follows where a sobbing Ken tells her:
“I just don't know who I am without you.”
When Barbie pleadingly replies that he’s Ken, Ryan Gosling’s character emphasizes:
“But it's Barbie and Ken…there is no just Ken.”
The song starts in the Canadian star’s deep and husky voice, aided by Slash’s music. The song indeed captures your senses and you do feel for Ken. The same emotion resonated with social media users when the pop culture portal Discussing Film shared the track on Twitter.
While talking to Variety, Ronson said that the song production was “crazy.” He added:
“[Ryan Gosling is] a huge star of this movie and only has three hours on a Tuesday afternoon to cut the vocals. He just went in and as he started to get warmed up I was like, ‘This guy is going to murder this song!’ Of course he would.”
After he recorded it, Ronson and the team worked on it for a year and sent the final version to Gosling, who was left “psyched and satisfied,” the music producer gushed.
Apart from Gosling as one version of Ken, the others are played by Kingsley Ben-Adir, Simu Liu, Scott Evans, Ncuti Gatwa, and John Cena as Merman Ken.
Meanwhile, the different iterations of Barbie have been portrayed by Margot Robbie (the female protagonist), Dua Lipa, Hari Nef, and Emma Mackey, among others.
Barbie hits theaters on July 21, 2023.
