In 2002, radio was spinning Britney and Eminem, pop music was provocative — but the taboo around a same-sex kiss still held strong.
And then the screens showed Yulia Volkova and Lena Katina pressed against each other in the rain behind a fence, in school uniforms. The video instantly sparked a scandal: some saw it as a brave expression of love, others as cheap provocation.
“What are they really selling?” critics asked snidely. Still, the image of “star-crossed lesbians” took over the world’s imagination.
For Russia, where the LGBT topic was (and remains) complicated, that kind of export success was an unthinkable cultural phenomenon.
t.A.T.u. even represented Russia at Eurovision 2003, despite outrage from conservatives. The moment was genuinely historic: an era when pop music dared to challenge homophobia — even if in a very questionable form.

In the verses, Volkova and Katina whisper almost confessionally, their voices trembling with held-back emotion, and then the chorus explodes: two voices merge into a soul-scream over a marching 90-BPM beat and an anxious electric roar of guitars. This “quiet-loud” dynamic captures the heroine’s inner storm — from the suppressed whisper of doubt to an all-consuming determination to push through judgment.

A special charm is in the vocals. Their English, with a strong accent, gives the sound an exotic honesty; when the girls stretch the vowels in “said,” you hear an unpolished, living emotion. Synth pulses and piano in the background add melancholy to the mix, making the song both danceable and tragic. In the middle of the track, the almost choral repetition of “running through my head” works hypnotically — like a stuck record in the mind, underlining the heroine’s intrusive thoughts. That insistence in the sound isn’t a bug, it’s a feature: the listener falls into a trance themselves, literally feeling what it’s like when forbidden thoughts keep circling in your head nonstop.

The final sound is a confident hit-ready blend of pop melodicism and rock drive — sticky enough for radio and dark enough to stand out among glossy competitors.
No wonder critics noted that this one song could fill an entire week of teenage angst — the sound of “All the Things She Said” screams a storm of feelings without sacrificing dance energy.

The heroine’s psychology is tearing in half: she’s “in too deep,” feels trapped (“all mixed up, feeling cornered and rushed”), and she’s tortured by inner voices. Who among us, as teenagers, didn’t feel like we were losing our mind because of love or because no one understood us? But here there’s an added cultural taboo factor — the object of love is a girl. For 2002, this is a bold plot: instead of the familiar “he” in the lyrics, you hear “she,” and because of that the line “this is not enough” takes on a bitter subtext — we aren’t given the freedom to love, the world is choking us, and this is not enough. t.A.T.u. sing without sentimentality: no euphemisms, a direct, head-on delivery of emotion. The lyrics use simple words to convey a complicated state — shame, fear, obsession. And that’s its power.

It’s worth noting that the English text was softened compared to the Russian: “I’ve lost my mind” turned into the more metaphorical “running through my head.” The managers clearly feared a direct reference to insanity would be too harsh. But that only makes the mental-health theme read between the lines: the heroine is suffering from pressure and judgment, and her own thoughts torment her. Today we’d say it’s obvious psychological stress because of stigma.
In 2002, people didn’t talk about it out loud, but t.A.T.u.’s song is basically screaming about a mental crisis caused by the ban on being yourself. In that sense the line “All the things she said, all the things she said,” as a mantra playing over a rock banger, is the voice of teenage anxiety turned into a radio hit. Rough, blunt, with no extra decoration — exactly like the topic itself.

The explosive effect of “All the Things She Said” was felt far beyond the music charts. The song kicked off a wave of debate and imitation, and it went down in history as a moment when pop music tested the boundaries of what was allowed. For starters, t.A.T.u. made a splash in Western pop culture, where artists from Russia had hardly appeared before. Two teenagers from Moscow pulled off what producers had been dreaming about for years: making a Russian-language (in the original version) track a global No.1. This opened the door for other non-English-language acts — the industry realized a hit could come from anywhere, even the post-Soviet space. In essence, t.A.T.u. anticipated the globalization of pop: long before the K-pop explosion or Latin American bangers, they proved that language isn’t a barrier for emotion and provocation.

But the duo’s real cultural footprint is in their image and their theme.
The school uniform, the girls’ kiss, rain on the window — that visual instantly became iconic. It was parodied and referenced everywhere: from sketch shows to talk shows. Music channels either banned the video or played it every hour. In several countries, the video was officially targeted for bans because of the girls kissing — which, of course, only fueled interest. t.A.T.u. played the edge skillfully: their performances often came with shock tactics. At the 2003 MTV Movie Awards they brought dozens
of girls on stage in the same skirts, and at the climax they tore off their school uniforms — the audience gasped. Nobody knew where the performance ended and where protest began. Even Eurovision, famous for its own outrageousness, supposedly censored their act and “tweaked” the vocals so the scandalous duo wouldn’t win. All of that only strengthened the forbidden-fruit aura around t.A.T.u.

Musical heirs and imitators? There were plenty, even if no direct copy of the duo appeared. But the idea itself — sell a taboo topic to the masses, seasoned with a catchy melody — stuck. In 2008, American singer Katy Perry blew up with “I Kissed a Girl,” using the same “girl kisses girl” intrigue for hype. That track also became a hit and also got its share of criticism for queerbaiting — clearly, t.A.T.u. had already cleared the path. You can also remember videos from that era: Madonna kisses Britney Spears at the 2003 VMAs — some will say it’s just pop scandals, but the spirit of the time was already different. t.A.T.u. set a trend for flirting with same-sex themes in the mainstream, even if in a surface-level way. Even the visual style — bold girl images, the mix of innocence (school uniforms) with explicitness — seeped into fashion and pop videos. On the border of the ’90s and 2000s there were the Spice Girls, but they were about “girl power”; there was Britney/Christina, but their sexuality was aimed at the male gaze. t.A.T.u. brought a new archetype into pop culture: a rebellious couple in love, challenging the world.

Speaking of fanfic. Years after t.A.T.u. broke up, their legacy resurfaced in a pretty unexpected place: in 2025 a Western series about a secret romance between two hockey players (“Heated Rivalry”) came out, and in a key scene you hear… yes, “All the Things She Said.” Not only did they include the original, they added a cover version too. The effect was immediate — Spotify recorded a 135% jump in streams of the track among Americans right after the episode aired, and 60% of new listeners were Gen Z! Turns out for today’s teens this song is a fresh discovery, not a dusty museum piece. TikTok virality did its thing: thanks to the new wave of popularity, t.A.T.u.’s hit is closing in on a billion streams. Who could’ve imagined in 2002 that a scandalous track by Russian schoolgirls would become a retro classic pulling in millions of listens in 2025?

Another interesting point: respect from newer artists. Pop idol Olivia Rodrigo performed “All the Things She Said” at concerts in 2022, calling it an “early-2000s anthem.” Alt-pop artist Poppy covered it too, and the virtual idol Seraphine from League of Legends — another weird sign of how deep the track got into pop culture. Pop star Halsey (an openly bisexual artist) admitted her single “Nightmare” was inspired specifically by t.A.T.u., and she even used samples of “All the Things She Said” while working on the track. So for the new generation of musicians, this song isn’t just an empty meme — it’s a reference with weight. It embodies an entire Y2K-era aesthetic: boldness, slightly dark electronic sound, a girl’s scream from the inside. Right now nostalgia for the early 2000s is in fashion — and t.A.T.u. ended up riding that wave, with their style being copied and their tracks being played at parties as proven-over-time bangers.

And probably the most important legacy: the arguments that still keep going. Long before the Twitter era, t.A.T.u. raised the topic of queerbaiting — exploiting LGBT imagery without real принадлежность to the community. Today they’re often used as an example of bad-faith use of the theme: the duo was created by a male producer for a male audience, and he cynically called it a “project about sex with underage girls.” On the other hand, many queer people — especially women — still remember how much air this song gave them in the 2000s. For a teenage girl in a homophobic environment, hearing “she said” on TV instead of the usual “he” was a revelation: wait, you can sing about this on screen, and it sounds beautiful. As journalist Jill Gutowitz noted, “how many videos at the time showed a real emotional love story between two women? None.” The t.A.T.u. paradox is that even as a fake, they still helped someone accept themselves. Their fans wrote: “You saved my life, thank you,” Lena Katina recalled. So a fake in terms of feelings managed to produce a real response. That’s the cultural footprint: contradictory, but deep.

Of course, not everyone shares the excitement around “All the Things She Said.” Over the years, the song and t.A.T.u. as a whole have been dragged from different angles. “A cheap gimmick,” “a one-off hit riding a scandal,” “exploitation of lesbian themes for men’s lust” — critics didn’t hold back. And it’s not like it’s baseless: the duo openly admitted they weren’t a couple and that the whole romantic image was a game. Producer Ivan Shapovalov cynically said he started t.A.T.u. for the shock value, calling his project a “teen sex project” created to shock. Today that approach would trigger an instant scandal and boycott. Many people, looking back, feel gross realizing they were obsessed in the 2000s with blatant queerbaiting theater. On top of that, one of the members, Yulia, later made homophobic statements in 2014, which pushed away even more ex-fans. So yes, culturally, t.A.T.u. are a problematic thing.

And from a musical point of view, skeptics will say: okay, there was a hit, okay, the chorus was catchy — so what? After that, the duo быстро fizzled out. After 2003 they didn’t have real superhits, and by 2011 they’d broken up amid scandals. Can you really seriously admire a “one-time” sensation that’s more famous for its video than its discography? Some even think the song’s reputation is inflated because of the hype: take away the lesbian image and you’re left with a typical
Euro-pop number, one of dozens. Those arguments were heard then and they’re heard now.

What do we say to that? First, even if t.A.T.u. were a marketing duck, that duck did, in fact, take off. Pop music has always been full of images and role-playing — from Ziggy Stardust to Madonna — and “the artist on stage” doesn’t always equal “the person in real life.” Yes, Katina and Volkova played roles written by their producer. But they played them convincingly. Millions of people worldwide bought not only the picture, but also the emotion of the song. Second, the musical value of the track isn’t reduced to the scandal. The melody, the production, the energy — “All the Things She Said” didn’t get stuck in people’s heads for nothing. The new generation’s streaming numbers prove it: 20-year-old listeners today don’t know the details of the old scandals, but they still blast the track like nothing happened. That means the song works on its own. And it works better than many “real” artists from that era whose names we don’t even remember anymore.

And third, the question of sincerity versus exploitation is a delicate one. t.A.T.u. absolutely manipulated a taboo theme. But the paradox is that their deception ended up benefiting queer visibility, strangely enough. Fake lesbians on screen gave real lesbians in the audience a little more courage. Isn’t that fate’s irony? Pop music is full of irony in general. So brushing off “All the Things She Said” as empty provocation is поверхностно. It’s a complex phenomenon where glossy producer calculation met a real human reaction. And if the song is still playing, then there’s something in it bigger than a simple расчет. A sad teenage scream locked into the shape of a pop hit turned out to be universal — outside the context of fetish or PR. You can blame t.A.T.u. for a lot (and not without reason), but you can’t deny their main hit became an era-defining thing, not just a meme from the past.

So, it’s 2025. Why should we, spoiled by the nonstop feed and new music, care about an old track from the early 2000s? First, this song is going through a second (or even third) life right now. Young people born after “All the Things She Said” came out suddenly made it the soundtrack of their time — through TV shows, TikTok, and covers. That’s a sign the emotional core of the track is universal. Themes of identity, rebellion against social pressure, searching for yourself — in 2025 those are as relevant as ever. The new generation talks openly about mental health, toxic standards, LGBT rights — and here you go: t.A.T.u.’s song touched all of that back then, even if unconsciously. Today’s 20-year-old listener might not be shocked by two girls kissing in the video (thankfully, times change), but they’ll feel that same angst — the anxiety and passion — that hits through the whole track. And the phrase “running through my head” fits perfectly as a description of the information overload Gen Z lives with. No wonder remixes and the refrain of this song keep circulating in memes: it describes a state familiar to anyone who’s ever gotten stuck looping on an obsessive idea.

Second, “All the Things She Said” matters as a cultural marker. The t.A.T.u. story is a warning and a lesson. In the era of post-truth and artificial images, it’s полезно to remember how easy it is to play on people’s sincere feelings for selfish ends. We now ask more often: is this queerbaiting? is an artist using someone’s identity for hype? t.A.T.u. taught everyone healthy skepticism. But at the same time, it taught that representation — even problematic representation — still changes something. The world of 2025 is far more open to different identities than the world of 2002, and a small (if questionable) contribution from Yulia and Lena exists there too. They were part of the path that brought us to today’s variety of real queer artists, from Sam Smith to Hayley Kiyoko. Their hit is like an archival document of where the mainstream conversation about forbidden love began.

Finally, purely musically: the 2000s are coming back. Y2K sound is loved right now — from fashion to music. Playlists comfortably mix new tracks and early-2000s classics. And here t.A.T.u. fits again: their production sits naturally in today’s pop scene, where genre-mixing and retro notes are normal. Young artists sample old pop hits, DJs do revivals. So “All the Things She Said” sounds fresh even next to tracks from 2025. And also — it’s just a perfect workout banger or a dramatic party soundtrack. Sometimes the reason a song lasts is dead simple: it’s addictive, it hits, you want to scream the chorus. And if a track two decades later makes a new audience scream along — then there’s something real in it.

To sum it up: “All the Things She Said” isn’t only a nostalgic hit for millennials remembering school. It’s also part of the current cultural landscape, a kind of bridge between eras. You can hear the echo of a time when boldness came with scandal — and at the same time it sounds like a premonition of what we talk about freely today: love without bans and inner demons we fight. So yes, a 20-year-old listener in 2025 does have a reason to care about this song. At least as long as it keeps playing in their recommended feed — and it is, don’t doubt it.

t.A.T.u. might have been an artificial project, a provocation for profit — but here’s the irony: their main hit outlived all the mockers. “All the Things She Said” still gets minds and legs moving like those twenty-plus years never happened. The arguments died down, the scandals got forgotten, but the drum beat and the desperate chorus still hit just as hard. Maybe time put everything in its place: the fake part fell away, and the song stayed. “All the things she said… This is not enough,” t.A.T.u. sang. No, girls — it’s more than enough. Your bold artifact of an era became an undeniable pop-revolution classic, and if all those things she said are still on everyone’s lips, then they weren’t said for nothing.

Listen further:

• t.A.T.u. — “Not Gonna Get Us” (2003) — another adrenaline hit from the duo, just as stubborn and rebellious. The perfect sequel to “All the Things She Said,” locking in their success.
• t.A.T.u. — 200 km/h in the Wrong Lane (album, 2002) — t.A.T.u.’s debut English-language album, full of electro-pop drive and teenage maximalism. It lets you hear the duo beyond one single, including the original “Ya Soshla S Uma.”
• Katy Perry — “I Kissed a Girl” (2008) — a late-2000s pop hit on the same forbidden theme. Less dark, but it clearly shows how the mainstream picked up the idea of shocking people with a kiss a few years later.
• Halsey — “Nightmare” (2019) — a modern pop-rock anthem of female rage. Halsey has explicitly noted she was inspired by t.A.T.u.’s song while creating it. Similar rebellious spirit, but now from an artist of a new generation.

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