From time to time I will become aware for the first time of some element of popular culture that most other people already know about. Today’s example is a term for a kind or category of song, namely the “I Want” song. There is a particular song that is very popular right now, all around the world, and it turns out that this particular song falls into the (apparently well-known) category of “I Want” songs. Today is when I learned that there is this category of song.
What is the definition of an “I Want” song? What is this particular song that is right now very popular all around the world that falls into the category of being an “I Want” song?
What is the definition of an “I Want” song? As I say, this is very much a thing. One of the ways that we know this is that there is an entire Wikipedia article devoted to “I Want” songs. Wikipedia says:
An “I Want” song, also called an “I Wish” song, is a popular type of song featured in musical films and shows. It has particularly become a popular term through its use to describe a series of songs featured in Disney Renaissance films in which main characters sing about their dissatisfaction with their current lives and what they’re searching for.
As one composer explains:
… pretty much any successful musical you can name has an “I Want” song for its main character within the first fifteen or so minutes in order to firmly, musically establish their desires and/or objectives in anticipation of the ensuing plot.
My guess is that many, many readers of this blog article have long been familiar with this notion of an “I Want” song, and every time you have watched a musical film or show, you know exactly when it will arrive, and it comes as no surprise. And my guess is, you then rank it compared to all of the other “I Want” songs that you have heard in previous films and shows, and you make note of the ways that this particular “I Want” song is somehow more or less effective and successful than earlier ones.
What is this particular song that is right now very popular all around the world that falls into the category of being an “I Want” song? Okay, dear reader, surely you know where I am going with this! Surely you already know of the “I Want” song that is all over the airwaves right now? Yes, that song is Golden, performed by the fictional K-pop girl group Huntr/x in the 2025 animated musical urban fantasy film KPop Demon Hunters. One of the ways that we know this song must be a thing is that it also has its own Wikipedia article.
In the film, the members of the fictional K-pop girl group Huntr/x are characters named Rumi, Mira, and Zoey. The speaking voices for these three characters are provided by Arden Cho, May Hong, and Ji-young Yoo respectively. The singing voices for these three characters are provided by Ejae, Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami, each of whom was already (I have learned) famous as a singer. You can see them at right. Golden was co-written by Ejae.
Golden became popular because of the film, and then was released as a single. The song reached number one on the Billboard Global 200, and also topped the charts in more than 20 countries, including South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The song additionally peaked within the top ten of charts in over 30 other countries.
Golden was performed live in full for the first time by Ejae, Nuna, and Rei Ami on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on October 7, 2025. A few days prior on October 4, it was performed live for the first time, but in an abbreviated form, on the Saturday Night Live season 51 premiere as part of a sketch in which host Bad Bunny’s character expressed his love for the movie.
I am fascinated to learn, from discussion groups that are focused on this stuff, that the song as performed on the The Tonight Show was pitched down about three half-steps from the film version. I think this allowed the voices to come through in a fuller, richer way as compared with the higher-pitched film setting.
You can see the Tonight Show performance on Youtube.