Warning: This article contains slight spoilers for “Barbie”!
Rocker Rob Thomas loves being part of the “Barbie” world.
The Matchbox Twenty lead singer spoke to USA Today about the group’s song “Push” and its special place in the summer blockbuster, which broke multiple box office records when it came out last Friday.
The theater audience cheered as Ryan Gosling and his colleague Kens tried to serenade Margot Robbie and the Barbies with an acoustic version of “Margot Robbie and the Barbies”. the scary hitwhich becomes an anthem for the male dolls after they take control of Barbieland.
Thomas said he found the Kens’ campfire scene “hilarious” after years of watching his band as the “butt of the joke” in movies and on TV.
“There was a whole period in the ’90s where the more successful we were, the bigger our goals were,” the singer explained. “We were easily defeated.”
When the Barbie filmmakers asked permission to use Push, Thomas assumed Matchbox Twenty would be the trigger again.
“When I got the call for ‘Barbie,’ they said to me, ‘Ken is sitting by the fireplace, he’s playing the song and it’s his favorite band,'” he said. “So I did that because I thought I was the butt of the joke and I was fine with that. I’m pretty thick skinned.”
Jim Spellman via Getty Images
Thomas said he was pleasantly surprised — and relieved — that director Greta Gerwig didn’t make much fun of the band, saying the filmmaker “has always been one of my crushes.”
Gerwig told USA Today why she thought “Push” was the perfect song for Ken after he unhappily brought patriarchy, toxic masculinity and mansplaining to Barbieland.
The title, which Thomas said is about an emotionally abusive ex-girlfriend, is still controversial due to lyrics like “I wanna push you around / Well, I will, well, I will” and “I wanna take you for granted.”
Gerwig recalled the song initially running through her head, saying, “It wasn’t until college that I actually thought, ‘What is this song about?'”
While Thomas acknowledged that parts of “Push” could be considered “problematic,” he said the song was written out of “innocence.”
“It was just about the idea that finding someone to take advantage of is so much easier than actually putting work into a relationship,” he told USA Today.
“I was in my early 20s at the time. I didn’t even know what I was writing about,” he admitted. “I have to be in my 50s now and married 24 years to look back and be like, ‘Oh man, I’ve been through a lot.’
Movie buffs can see “Barbie” and Ken’s interpretation of “Push” in theaters now.
