9 "Barbie Girl" Lyrics That Are More Controversial Than You Remember

You better be ready to feel very, very old, because I'm about to drop a major truth on you. Aqua's "Barbie Girl" came out 20 years ago on May 14, 1997. While it seems impossible that the pop classic was released quite so long ago, it's beyond impressive that the song has endured as long as it has. In fact, in April 2017, Official Charts reported that Aqua's "Barbie Girl" sold "an incredible 1.84 million copies." Whether you love it or hate it the single is extremely memorable, and chances are you've been caught singing along to the track more than once. But when you examine the words, you start to realize that the "Barbie Girl" lyrics are batsh*t crazy. Seriously, this is not a cute song about the doll you had as a kid.

"Barbie Girl" wasn't without its own share of controversy when it was released. Toymaker Mattel sued the writers of "Barbie Girl", claiming that the song's lyrics "associate sexual and other unsavory themes with Mattel's Barbie products." While the case was thrown out by a federal judge, it's an important reminder that the lyrics to Aqua's pop classic do matter. In fact, when you start to examine them, the "Barbie Girl" lyrics are more batsh*t than you realized back in 1997.

1. "I'm a Barbie girl, in a Barbie world. Life in plastic, it's fantastic."

Is life in plastic really fantastic, though?

2. "You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere..."

Wrong on so many levels.

3. "Dress me up, make it tight, I'm your dolly."

"Make it tight"? Let's not even think about the implications of this sentence.

4. "Kiss me here, touch me there, hanky panky."

Ken needs to stop.

5. "You can touch, you can play."

But why did they have to go and make it so creepy, though?

6. "Make me walk, make me talk, do whatever you please."

"Do whatever you please," is not the empowering message I'd hoped for.

7. "I can beg on my knees."

Barbie!

8. "Come jump in, bimbo friend, let us do it again."

Wait, did Ken really just call Barbie his "bimbo friend"?

9. "Hit the town, fool around."

This song is way filthier than I realized when I was a kid,

If you're feeling a little traumatized now, you're definitely not the only one. The "Barbie Girl" lyrics by Aqua are scandalous, but that doesn't change the fact that the song is a veritable classic.