Macarena is a dance song by the Spanish pop duo Los del Rio about a seductive young woman. The song is about a lusty girl named Macarena who cheats on her boyfriend’s friends while he is serving in the military.
Diana Patricia Cubillan is La Macarena’s true name. The 25-year-old Venezuelan flamenco dancer, who has subtly but distinctly appeared in every nightclub, cruise ship, wedding reception in the western part of the country, and political conference, served as the song’s inspiration.
Rafael Ruiz and Antonio Romeo form the flamenco-pop duo Los Del Rio. They were allowed to tour South America in 1992, and their visit to Venezuela provided them with the inspiration for this song. They sprinted after Diana Patricia, a flamenco dancer, into the exclusive party section of the Venezuelan impresario. She became known as Macarena after the song got famous in Venezuela. Diana gave the guests a warm welcome by performing a Cubillan dance for them.
As an unprompted compliment to Cubillán, Antonio Romero Monge of the Los del Ro duo delivered the song’s eventual chorus: “Diana, dale a tu cuerpo alegra y cosas buenas!” Diana, look after your body. When Monge wrote the song in honor of Antonio’s daughter Esperanza Macarena, he gave it the name Macarena.
What does «Macarena» mean?
The name Los Del Rio is derived from the Virgin of Seville, often known as the Virgin Mary or the “Virgin Del Rocio” (Virgin of the Dew). Non-English-speaking members of the group believed that the “Virgin Del Rocio” had given them this song when it became a worldwide hit.
On the album A mi me gusta (I like it: in English), the song Macarena was remixed by The Bayside Boys, who added English lyrics in addition to the song’s original Spanish lyrics. The summer of 1996 saw a swift rise in popularity for this remix.
The song’s theme can change depending on the rendition you occasionally hear. Macarena, from the original version, is furious that Vitorino, her boyfriend, enlisted in the military. In response, she leaves the house and has pleasure with other men. When her boyfriend is away, Macarena, in the Bayside Boys mix version, lets out her annoyance before going outside to let it all out. She appears to lose more control in the rendition.
Nowadays, The Macarena is a popular song, and people of all ages enjoy it and move their feet to the song’s dancing, which is frequently unorthodox in style. When the music starts playing, and everyone starts dancing, very few people actually pay attention to the Spanish lyrics, much less the English words and definitions.
The female singer would identify herself in the English version as Macarena, the alluring lady who enjoys grabbing the attention of every man in the club or on the dance floor. She laughed at her willingness to dance with any male who stood in line to do so.
“When I dance, they call me Macarena
And the boys, they say que soy buena
They all want me
They can’t have me.
So they all come and dance beside me
Move with me
Chant with me
And if you’re good, I’ll take you home with me.”
The macarena was popular everywhere thanks to its upbeat music and unique dancing styles, including discos, school parties, and clubs. Because it was published at a period when Indians were only beginning to become accustomed to Western pop music, the song was especially beloved by children growing up in the 1990s.
Although practically everyone could dance to the song and follow the choreography, how many individuals were actually able to understand the lyrics? Even though there were a few English passages, most of the song’s lyrics were in Spanish, which many of us misunderstood for gibberish. And as long as we could move to the beats, it didn’t matter what the music represented.
The term “Macarena,” which is more than simply a strange word or phrase, refers to a young woman who is having fun and flirting with her boyfriend’s friends when her partner is away.
“Give your body delight, that your body is to give joy and pleasant things” is how Macarena’s chorus is interpreted and understood.
During the 1990s, this was the most well-liked dancing fad in the US. Everywhere there was dancing, such as weddings, office parties, cruise ships, etc., it was played. The “Electric Slide” was the preceding dance fad, and it was similar in that it was simple to learn and perform in a group, making it ideal for Americans with a terrible sense of rhythm.
More than 50,000 dancers were performing the same routine at once during a performance at Yankee Stadium, breaking the previous record.
Singer Alison Moyet of Yazoo’s laughter is sampled for seven seconds in the Bayside Boys remix. It originated with Yazoo’s “Situation,” a song released in 1982.
When the English-language version of the song was first released, many requests were made for the song to be translated into Spanish, but Miami Beach’s Power 96 radio station only played music that was in English. The station’s program director fell in love with DJ Jammin’ John Caride when he slipped an airing at around 1:30 in the morning. The DJ took the material to his friends Mike Triay and Carlos De Yarza and gave them two days to create an English remix (The Bayside Boys). The songs and poems were both written in one day. De Yarza asserts the music’s originality.
Despite the fact that Caride was involved in the Bayside Boys’ intricate remix of Macarena, the business opted to release the hastily produced Power 96 demo version instead.
Carla Vanessa eventually joined the Miami Sound Machine and sang the English lyrics.
In spite of becoming a global hit, the song could not unite Los del Rio and the Bayside Boys. De Yarza’s statement to Billboard that the song’s writers “seemed to have no interest.” “We desired to speak with them.”
«Macarena» by Los Del Rio – Songfacts
- This Spanish dance track was first released in 1993 and became a smash hit worldwide in 1996. It is played at weddings, parties, and sporting events, and when President Clinton visited South America, he was asked to dance the Macarena. The song tells the story of a woman cheating on her boyfriend while he’s being drafted into the army.
- «Macarena» is the second single from Los del Río’s third studio album, A mí me gusta.
- It was an international hit in 1995 and 1996, re-entering the U.S. charts in both 1997 and 1998.
- The song became a hit after British DJ Jonathon King passed a demo version of it on to radio DJ Mark Goodier at BBC Radio 1.
- It peaked at #3 in the U.K. singles chart in August 1995 and topped the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for 14 weeks; this is a record and the only Spanish song to end the Hot 100 until Luis Fonsi’s massive 2017 hit “Despacito” (featuring Daddy Yankee) did so in May 2017.
- Macarena is also one of only four foreign-language songs to top the U.S. charts since Billboard started recording sales information in 1956, “Dominique” by The Singing Nun, and “Hooked On A Feeling” by B.J. Thomas (recorded in English by Swedish band Blue Swede) and “Livin’ La Vida Loca” by Ricky Martin.
- In 1996, it was named Song of The Year at the ASCAP Pop Music Awards; that same year, it earned Los Del Mara its first Grammy nomination for Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal.
- The duo was inspired to write the song by a woman who frequented the beach in their hometown of Dos Hermanas, Sevilla, Andalucia.
- Macarena is an area in Seville, Spain – where this song’s authors live.
- He video for this song was filmed at a mansion in Beverly Hills, California. It is famed for its appearance in the T.V. show Dynasty as the home where Alexis Carrington allegedly murdered her ex-husband.
- In the summer of ’96, this was given a second life by radio stations that played it by request of listeners who wanted to hear songs other than the incessant “Who Let The Dogs Out?” and “Bad Touch” by Bloodhound Gang.
- This was used extensively as a campaign song for Ross Perot’s 1996 presidential bid. Perot promised he would play it if he were elected president.
- In this dance song, the singer tries to woo a girl named Macarena, who is dating another guy. The singer planned to wait until that guy left and try his luck with Macarena.
- Two Spanish women wrote the lyrics, Maria Mendiola and Query Caturla. It was sung in its original version by two men named Antonio Romero Monge and Rafael Ruiz Perdigones. Romero had been a backup singer for Julio Iglesias before he began working on “Macarena.” Still, the record company picked another vocalist for the track so it would have more of a Latin flair.
- This reached #1 in more than 30 countries around the world. In Belgium, it topped both the French-speaking and Flemish-speaking charts.
«Macarena» by Los Del Rio – lyrics
I am not trying to seduce youWhen I dance, they call me MacarenaAnd the boys, they say que soy buenaThey all want meThey can’t have meSo they all come and dance beside meMove with meChant with meAnd if you’re good, I’ll take you home with meDale a tu cuerpo alegría MacarenaQue tu cuerpo es pa’ darle alegría y cosa buenaDale a tu cuerpo alegría, MacarenaHey Macarena, ayDale a tu cuerpo alegría MacarenaQue tu cuerpo es pa’ darle alegría y cosa buenaDale a tu cuerpo alegría, MacarenaHey Macarena, ayBut don’t you worry about my boyfriendHe’s a boy whose name is VitorinoI don’t want himCouldn’t stand himHe was no good so I (hahahaha)Now, come on, what was I supposed to do?He was out of town and his two friends were so fineDale a tu cuerpo alegría MacarenaQue tu cuerpo es pa’ darle alegría y cosa buenaDale a tu cuerpo alegría, MacarenaHey Macarena, ayDale a tu cuerpo alegría MacarenaQue tu cuerpo es pa’ darle alegría y cosa buenaDale a tu cuerpo alegría, MacarenaHey Macarena, ayOh-ahAy, ayAy, ayAy, ayI am not trying to seduce you, ayMac, mac, mac, mac, mac, mac, MacarenaMac, mac, mac, mac, mac, mac, MacarenaMac, mac, mac, mac, mac, mac, MacarenaAy, ayMac, mac, mac, mac, mac, mac, MacarenaMac, mac, mac, mac, mac, mac, MacarenaMac, mac, mac, mac, mac, mac, MacarenaMacarena Macarena Macarena MacarenaDale a tu cuerpo alegría MacarenaQue tu cuerpo es pa’ darle alegría y cosa buenaDale a tu cuerpo alegría, MacarenaHey Macarena, ayDale a tu cuerpo alegría MacarenaQue tu cuerpo es pa’ darle alegría y cosa buenaDale a tu cuerpo alegría, MacarenaHey Macarena, ayOh-ah-ohOhAyHahahahaCome and find me, my name is MacarenaAlways at the party con las chicas que son buenasCome join meDance with meAnd all you fellows chant along with meDale a tu cuerpo alegría MacarenaQue tu cuerpo es pa’ darle alegría y cosa buenaDale a tu cuerpo alegría, MacarenaHey Macarena, ayDale a tu cuerpo alegría MacarenaQue tu cuerpo es pa’ darle alegría y cosa buenaDale a tu cuerpo alegría, MacarenaHey Macarena, ayDale a tu cuerpo alegría MacarenaQue tu cuerpo es pa’ darle alegría y cosa buenaDale a tu cuerpo alegría, MacarenaHey Macarena, ayDale a tu cuerpo alegría MacarenaQue tu cuerpo es pa’ darle alegría y cosa buenaDale a tu cuerpo alegría, MacarenaHey Macarena, ayDale a tu cuerpo alegría MacarenaQue tu cuerpo es pa’ darle alegría y cosa buenaDale a tu cuerpo alegría, MacarenaHey Macarena, ay
