Rob Thomas is embracing his inner Kenergy. A video of the Matchbox Twenty frontman dedicating a performance of his song “Push” to Ryan Gosling—who does a hilarious cover of the song in a key Barbie scene—has gone viral on TikTok.

“I dedicate this next song to Ryan Gosling,” Thomas says in the video, before launching into a rousing rendition of his 1996 alt-rock anthem. Anyone who engaged in Barbenheimer this weekend knows that Matchbox Twenty’s “Push” plays a pivotal role in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, in which Gosling plays Barbie’s male toy counterpart, Ken. (If you don’t want to know more, it’s best to stop reading now).

After traveling from Barbie world to the human world and learning about the patriarchy, Gosling’s Ken launched a hostile takeover of the pink utopia. He transforms the female-centric world of Barbie into a male-dominated “Kendom,” complete with everything that toxic masculinity entails—including the (straight) male compulsion to serenade women with an acoustic guitar. In one hilarious scene, Gosling and his fellow Kens break out their guitars by a campfire and launch into a cover of “Push” that lasts for literal hours. 

Gerwig was very intentional about having Matchbox Twenty’s “Push” serve as the unofficial anthem for the unwavering strength of the male ego. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Gerwig said that she really wanted Margot Robbie’s Barbie and Gosling’s Ken to each have their own favorite ’90s-era song. “I was like, Well, if Barbies loved Indigo Girls’ ‘Closer to Fine,’ which is one of my favorite songs of all time, the Kens might really attach to Matchbox Twenty,” she said. Born in 1983, Gerwig has fond memories of the song from her youth. “It was playing all the time on Quad 106.5 when I was in seventh grade, and if it wasn’t playing there, it was playing at 107.9,” she said. “I really loved that song. I listened to it all the time and I was like, I feel it. Something’s in this.”

Though lesser men might chafe at their song serving as the embodiment of toxic masculinity, Thomas took it in stride. In an interview with USA Today, Thomas said that he thought the film’s use of his song “was hilarious.” 

“I did this thinking I’d be the butt of the joke,” he continued. “And I was fine with that. I’m pretty thick-skinned.” He didn’t mention whether Gerwig also asked Thomas for his permission by personally writing him a letter—like she did for Justin Timberlake when she used his “Cry Me a River” in her solo directorial debut, Lady Bird. What is clear is that Gerwig knows how to pick the right song for the right movie moment.