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Monday, August 8, 2011

Barbie Girl

Hello, '90s kids! Who among you doesn't know (or who doesn't have even the tiniest bit of familiarity with) this song?




I loved this song when I was a kid. I used to dance to this song, especially during Christmas parties with relatives when kids were "required" to dance or sing or perform anything in exchange for aguinaldo (money given to kids by godparents or any adult during Christmas). This song was just so fun to listen and dance to. Adding to that is the oh-so-playful music video. Everything about this song was so lovable to my kiddie eyes and ears.

That was because I didn't know the meaning behind this song's lyrics. Haha! I mean, hello? It's Barbie and Ken going to a party together. What could possibly be wrong with that? That's what I used to think.

Not until I listened to this song again as an adult did I realize that this song is about sex. Like hello, hanky panky? I agree with one comment in Youtube about this: "I just realised how dirty this song is...O_O" (yeah the exact words published there). I'm not gonna go moralistic here by saying that songs like these should be banned yadda yadda yadda. What I'm concerned about is that kids who listen (or should I say listened, because this song isn't played in the radio or wherever anymore) to this song, or to these kinds of songs, might wake up to the wrong notions of sex - that it's just a "hanky panky", or a mere game, instead of it being done in the context of love and commitment and responsibility.

So what are we going to do now? I believe it is important that adults - parents, aunts, uncles, godparents, among others - must get to know the things that their little ones are exposed to. I'm not saying that we should be strict and let the kids watch only Dora the Explorer. But rather, we must be aware of the TV shows they watch, the music they listen to, and the games they play so that when we see that they are watching Rated-PG shows, or hear that they are singing along to songs that aren't appropriate for their age, we can explain very well what those shows or songs are trying to say. This way, they get to learn about sex or any sensitive topic from people they can truly trust and who truly care about them.

Meanwhile, I can't seem to stop hitting the replay button. I can't help but reminisce my childhood with this song, when I was still a young and innocent girl whose means of "earning money" was performing in front of relatives during Christmas parties. :) Haha!

2 comments:

  1. hi, first time ko yata dito. I dont know but u look familiar. anyway, just to comment in this song, just what you said, when we are young we did not realize that the song is about sex. we just listen to the melody of the song. Hahahaha. so nothing to worry, what is important is that we enjoy the music. ^_^

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  2. Hi MG. Thanks for dropping by. Maybe I look familiar because I left a comment in one of your blog entries? Anyway, yeah, this song is really enjoyable. Kakaaliw pa yung music video :)

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