Barbie Girl (foreign)

Some years back I was using Napster (the authentic one) to look for Barbie Girl by Aqua. (That song is a classic.) Doing a title search, I quickly discovered that there are many alternate versions by various artists. My favorite was one that came up twice, once calling itself the "German" version and then again as the "Hebrew" version. Both were identical, so at least one was mislabeled. Even though I couldn't understand the lyrics, I found that I liked it even more than the original version by Aqua, which, for all its greatness, clearly pales in comparison.

Determining the language took months. At first, I assumed it was Hebrew, because it obviously wasn't German. But then a friend of mine with a strong knowledge of German pointed out that Hebrew is normally much more guttural and that it was more likely that it was actually Bavarian German, which is radically different from standard German. This theory was strengthened when I played the song for a couple of Germans who, although they could not make out one word of it, were unable to rule out Bavarian German as a possibility. I liked this theory, because there were clearly some Germanic words present in the lyrics, such as "sportif" and a very intriguing phrase that sounds just like "like a freighter".

On the other hand, perhaps it was Danish. It certainly didn't sound like Danish, but the Danes do have a lot of weird dialects and strange manners of speaking. And Aqua is a Danish group. Who knows? Perhaps it was even by Aqua.

Subsequent investigations however, have led me to believe that Dutch is the correct language. Someone in this thread credits the song to Dutch musician Ome Henk. But perhaps this will not be the final word as I have yet to play this song to a native Dutch speaker for verification. Also, Ome Henk's website lists a poopload of his songs, but I can find no mention there of Barbie Girl.

In any case, those of you on my weekly MP3 mailing list will shortly be receiving a copy in your inbox, so you can enjoy it in the privacy of your own home. (No doubt Snowball will be listening to it at work, where it should create quite a stir.) For those of you not on the mailing list, you can enjoy a flash version of it here.