Ryan Gosling Wallows In Sad Ken-ergy On The New ‘Barbie’ Movie Song ‘I’m Just Ken’

When the tracklist for the Barbie movie soundtrack was revealed in May, the impressive roster included Ava Max, Charli XCX, Dominic Fike, Dua Lipa, Fifty Fifty, Gayle, Haim, Ice Spice, Kali, Karol G, Khalid, The Kid Laroi, Lizzo, Nicki Minaj, PinkPantheress, and Tame Impala. Interestingly, also on the list was Ryan Gosling, who stars in the film as Ken. Now we have our first taste of the Gosling track, “I’m Just Ken.”

The song sees Ken reflect on his second-fiddle status, singing, “Doesn’t seem to matter what I do / I’m always number two / No one knows how hard I tried, oh, I / I have feelings that I can’t explain / They’re drivin’ me insane / All my life been so polite.” Then comes the chorus: “‘Cause I’m just Ken / Anywhere else I’d be a ten / Is it my destiny to live and die a life of blonde fragility / I’m just Ken / Where I see love, she sees a friend / What will it take for her to see the man behind the ten and fight for me”

By the end, though, he has a more optimistic outlook: “I’m just Ken and I’m enough / And I’m great at doing stuff / So, hey, check me out, yeah, I’m just Ken / Baby, I’m just Ken.”

— Barbie Movie (@barbiethemovie) July 10, 2023

Gosling previously said of approaching the role of Ken, “Up until this point, I only knew Ken from afar. I didn’t know Ken from within. I doubted my Ken-ergy. I didn’t see it. But Margot and Greta conjured this out of me.”

Check out the “I’m Just Ken” video above.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.