my single is dropping Dec. 24, 2023

Unwrapping the Pop Culture References in ‘I’m Just Ken (Merry Kristmas Barbie)’

Portrait of Bethy Squires

By Bethy Squires, a Vulture news blogger who covers comedy

On December 20, the Barbie bros left one more present under the mojo dojo casa house’s Xmas tree. Ryan Gosling and Mark Ronson released Ken The EP and the accompanying single video, “I’m Just Ken (Merry Kristmas Barbie).” But how is this song Christmasy? Is it the decorations in the studio? The fact Gosling says “Merry Christmas, Barbie,” at the end? Yes and no. This version of “I’m Just Ken” takes a lot of orchestral notes from wig enthusiast/producer/insane person Phil Spector. His “wall of sound” arrangement style is all over this single, as well as his compilation album A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector. It’s probably the best Christmas album from a convicted murderer. The album’s sole original composition is “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” performed by Darlene Love.

But the strings section (and Gosling-as-Ken’s despondency) reads less Spector-y and more like Harry Nilsson. The arrangement is reminiscent of his album of jazz standards, A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night, but the energy is all Son of Schmilsson. “He’d just separated, and was going through a divorce with his first wife Diane, and it hit him really hard,” producer Richard Perry says in the documentary Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin’ About Him)? While recording Son of Schmilsson, Nilsson fed his demons a diet of Brandy Alexanders and issued a song with the lyric “you’re breaking my heart, you’re tearing me apart, so fuck you.”

So that’s one self-destructive alcoholic and one violent misogynist echoing through Ken’s Christmas single. How very on-brand for the Barbie movie and its themes of patriarchy and codependence. Happy Holidays!

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Unwrapping ‘I’m Just Ken (Merry Kristmas Barbie)’

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