In July 2016, the Andulasian pop pair of Antonio Romeo Monge and Rafael Ruiz, aka Los del Rio, collaborated with the Cuban duo Gente de Zona on the “modern version“ of a well-known song (video above).
The English version of that original song (video below) was de rigeur during the 1990s party scene anywhere in the world, and it was titled Macarena. It was played everywhere, from birthdays to weddings to political campaigns.
The original Spanish version came out in 1993. The song’s more popular avatar, the Bayside Boys’ mix, with partly English lyrics, was released in August 1995.
Success was not immediate. Billboard reports, “It went to No. 45 on the Billboard Hot 100 in its first run, dwindled, then exploded...”. It returned to the charts “in May 1996, and it eventually climbed to No. 1 on the chart on August 3, 1996.”
“It was the longest climb ever to No. 1 in the history of the chart, but it was worth it. Macarena stayed on top for 14 weeks, tying with six other songs for the second-longest run at No. 1 since the chart began in 1958.”
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the song's success and is a reminder of its continuing popularity. Los del Rio put out a new video for the song in 2013.
In the video below, a younger Hillary Clinton at the 1996 Democratic Convention claps enthusiastically, though she doesn’t give in to the urge to break into the Macarena, unlike most of the others around her.
The 1990s were also a time that Hindi film music was generously inspired. A year after the song’s chart-breaking success, not one but two Hindi films featured rip-offs. Sohail Khan's Auzaar, which was released in February 1997, had the song Dil Le Le Lena.
And Sameer Malkan's Dhaal, which was released in November 1997, also featured the rip-off, Dil Maka Dina.
The popularity of the song is clearly intact when in 2016, the Hindi news channel OK India, uses the tune to give out the latest news.
According to most accounts, the song was inspired by a beautiful Venezuelan girl. The story goes that the two members of Los del Rio were at a private party where they spotted her. Monge immediately came up with the lines “Dale a tu cuerpo alegría Madalena/ Que tu cuerpo es pa' darle alegria y cosa Buena” (which roughly translates to: “Give your body happiness, Madalena, for your body is made to give it happiness and good things”).
They wrote the entire song that night, and changed Madalena to Macarena, in honour of Monge’s daughter.
The lyrics are a tad risqué, with lines like: “Macarena has a boyfriend / Who is named with the last name Vitorino / And while he was being sworn in as a conscript / She’s giving it to two friends” and “Macarena dreams of the Corte Inglés (Spain’s biggest department store) and she buys herself the most modern clothes/ She would like to live in New York/ And seduce a new boyfriend... aaay!”
In the video below, people find out its real meaning for the first time and are quite shocked to find out what they were dancing to in primary school or church.
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