The Real Meaning Behind “The Macarena” Will Shock You

If you're a child of the '90s, or have attended a wedding, bar mitzvah, or another such social gathering over the past two decades, then you are definitely familiar with the dance craze known as "The Macarena" by Los del Río. Now, there's a good chance you can still do the moves from "The Macarena." (They weren't terribly difficult, which probably explains its widespread appeal.) But there's an even better chance that you still just mumble all the lightning-fast lyrics, paying no mind to what the ear worm is actually about. Enter: the folks over at Distractify Video, here to put one of your beloved childhood cassette singles and middle school dance jams into serious perspective. Listen closely, because as you'll notice, the song is about a sultry gal named Macarena who cheats on her boyfriend with not one, but two, of his friends (while he's serving in the army, no less). Pretty missed up, right?! The Huffington Post even helped point out the naughty nature of the song, providing translations of key lyrics 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." "She would like to live in New York/And seduce a new boyfriend." Ay, Macarena, indeed. The self-proclaimed '90s kids who appear in the Distractify clip were all pretty much in agreement that the words were "gibberish," admitting that they were too busy dancing along to really listen to the details of Macarena's sordid (or, in the words of one participant, "trifling") affair. One girl's reaction to the eyebrow-raising lyrics really says it on all of our behalf: "Wait, they played this at my elementary school!" Watch the original music video (good luck getting the song out of your head now) and the Distractify video below, then kiss your childhood innocence goodbye.