The Macarena was the sunny, Spanish one-hit-wonder at every kid’s birthday party in the nineties, however there is a nastier note to the cheerful Los Del Rio anthem.
For many of us youngsters, doing ‘The Macarena’ was the first taste of what clubbing might one day feel like.
Those few poptastic beats before the song erupted with toe tapping rhythm was the signal to shake our thing after pass-the-parcel or sleeping lions.
However, not too many of us nineties kids mumbling along to the rapid, half understood lyrics stopped to consider what a questionable character Macarena actually is…
For many of us, Macarena refers simply to the universally funky dance routine. However, Macarena is first and foremost a woman. A woman who cheats on her boyfriend while he is serving in the army with not one, but two of his friends.
See the following lyrics as a first example:
Macarena has a boyfriend who’s called…
who’s called the last name Vitorino,
and while he was taking his oath as a conscript
she was giving it to two of his friends …Aaay!
Not only is Macarena doing the dirty on Vitorino while he is away fighting and perhaps even risking his life for his country, she is also doing it with two people that he trusts…
…Apparently at the very same time!
Essentially, Macarena is giving Vitorino some serious trust issues for the rest of his life both in terms of friendships and any future romantic prospects. Ayy!
To make matters worse, Macarena expresses zero guilt about sneaking around behind her boyfriend’s back in Marbella, even coming across as curiously callous.
Check out this revealing lyric where the true Macarena shows a jarringly cruel side:
Now don’t you worry about my boyfriend
The boy whose name is Vitorino
Ha! I don’t want him, can’t stand him
He was no good so I, ha ha ha
Okay, so shit happens and people are unfaithful… But laughing manically about potentially breaking somebody’s heart while making the suggestive comment that they are *wink-wink* ‘no good’?
Big no-no.
Macarena even appears to be a delusional narcissist. She instructs the listener to chant along with her on the somewhat dubious promise that she might take them home with her if they are good.
Worst of all, she can’t face up to her mistakes like a real adult, even asking the listener to sympathise with her ‘plight’:
Now come on, what was I supposed to do?
He was out of town and his two friends were so fine.
You can refresh your memory with the catchy tune below:
Of course, we aren’t getting the full story and maybe Vitorino is a real piece of work. But based on these lyrics, Macarena really isn’t as fun and light-hearted as she first appears…
Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.