Mark Ronson (‘Barbie’ composer and songwriter) was ‘propelled by emotion’ while concocting ‘I’m Just Ken’ [Exclusive Video Interview]
“All I can think about when I think about this project really, is being propelled by emotion at all times,” admits Mark Ronson of his work for “Barbie.” The Oscar and Grammy winner served as composer for the hit Warner Bros. film with his frequent collaborator Andrew Wyatt. The pair also wrote many of the original songs in the movie, including “Dance the Night” and “I’m Just Ken,” which are both shortlisted contenders for the Best Song category at this year’s Oscars. Watch the exclusive video interview above.
Ronson reveals that he drew plenty of inspiration from the way that writer and director Greta Gerwig inserted emotions into the pink, candy-coated world of Barbie dolls. Indeed, fans of the film may be surprised to learn that “Dance the Night,” a disco-tinged bop sung by Dua Lipa, was completely rewritten after Ronson glimpsed the scene in action. In order to fit with Gerwig’s vision, it couldn’t simply be a determined uptempo about perseverance as in the original version, but one that spoke to Barbie’s (Margot Robbie) inner turmoil about faking perfection. “It’s a good thing we had a good runup and lead time on this because we used every single second of it,” jokes Ronson.
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The songwriter’s material veers into over-the-top comedy with Ryan Gosling’s “I’m Just Ken” number, but there is poignancy underneath the laughs. “I guess we were just trying to write a song from Ken’s point of view,” explains Ronson, “But he’s a pretty funny character and he has a lot of paradoxes. We just kind of went to something that had some pathos and we knew that we could have some lyrics that needed a little bit to be a bit ridiculous.” He and Wyatt initially conceived the tune with just a piano for underscoring, but changed course once Gosling donned the extravagant white mink in the scene. That visual, and the epic staging of this production number, inspired the infamous “Kenergy” line. “It was this amazing thing,” admits Ronson, “we’d write something for the film, but then we’d be so inspired by the visuals. Then we would add something to it.”
Ronson and Wyatt weren’t supposed to score the film initially, but the duo created some necessary underscoring when Gerwig wanted an extended “I’m Just Ken” dance break. Then she asked for them to tackle the opening sequence, and before they knew it, the whole film. “I think we started to establish these instrumentations and a feel, emotionally, that Greta dug,” muses Ronson, “and she would give us some more stuff.” Film scoring was a new venture for Ronson, and one that he says involved a good deal of trial and error. But he admits to being “spoiled” by the evocative imagery and emotion of the film, which helped him and Wyatt any time they became stuck. “We really learned on the job.”
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Ronson won an Oscar for co-writing the original song “Shallow” from “A Star is Born.” That tune also earned him a Golden Globe Award and Grammy Award. He has seven Grammy wins in total. This year, Ronson added four Grammy nominations to his resume thanks to his work on “Barbie,” with bids for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media, Best Song Written for Visual Media (“Dance the Night” and “I’m Just Ken”), and Song of the Year (“Dance the Night”).
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