Watch Kids Freak Out Upon Realizing What 'The Macarena' Is Really About
Did you even realize this?
Khosro / Shutterstock This may seem wrong, but there are some things you actually don't need to find out the truth about. For instance, if as a kid you believed in Santa Claus, but do you really need to have someone sit you down and tell you that he wasn't real?
Don't you think, at some point, when you were a little older, that you would have figured it out?
Then, there are some things that you really never, ever need to know about. I have favorite actors, but I don't want to know what their bodies are like in real life. Let me just have my fantasy.
Unfortunately, as much as we may enjoy certain illusions, reality seems to have a nasty habit of popping up and ruining everything.
At least, that's what happened in 2015 when 90s kids learned that the popular song "The Macarena" wasn't so innocent at all.
They felt the innocence of their childhoods blown up like a condemned building. It was the very definition of "childhood ruined."
Spanish pop duo Los del Rio released the phenomenally popular song in 1994, and it became a staple of the airwaves and social events all over the world. Everybody danced to it all the time, especially at weddings, probably because the moves of the dance were so simple that little kids could do it easily.
No one was interested in the lyrics, least of all 90s kids, so it's not difficult to understand the shock that those grown they felt when the lyrics were explained to them.
Apparently, the Macarena wasn't a thing, but was actually a woman who does what — and who — she wants. In the song, she explains:
Now don't you worry about my boyfriend
The boy whose name is Vitorino
I don't want him
Can't stand him
He was no good so I... ha ha ha ha
Now come on, what was I supposed to do?
He was out of town and his two friends were so fine!
Hey, Macarena, indeed.
Macarena is so bored by her boyfriend that she cheats on him with his two friends. How's that for a song that 90s kids listened to before they even knew what cheating was?
You know when you were dancing and singing along to "Gangnam Style" or "What the Fox Says"? Were you ever paying any attention to the lyrics? No, of course not, because they're pretty silly, and the point of the song isn't to express the darkness of the soul or the poetry of love.
Sometimes, music is just supposed to be about having mindless fun. And in the case of Macarena, that's exactly what she did.
Those poor 90s kids, though! Maybe one day they'll be able to dance freely to "The Macarena" once again, without dwelling on the nasty backstory.
Still, it's a really fun song to sing and dance to. So, maybe it's not as scarring after all.
Christine Schoenwald is a writer and performer. She's had articles in The Los Angeles Times, Salon, and Woman's Day. Visit her website or and her Instagram.
Editor's Note: This article was originally posted on May 2016 and was updated with the latest information.