✨ Magical Mindset Podcast: "Macarena," Beyond the Dance

The Tale of Two Macarenas: Friends, Namesakes, and the Infamous Song

[00:00:00] Introduction and Guest Welcome

Macarena: I'm so excited for my guest today, Mackie Jones. She's a behavioral analyst and happens to be one of my besties.

Mackie: Thank you very much for having me, Macarena. My name is also Macarena, but I usually go by Mackie.

Macarena: We've been great friends for a very long time. We have a lot in common. Of course, we're both from Chile.

We're both named Macarena. It's so fun to be out and about because we forget. And in Miami, that name is still like a bit of an enigma. The two Macarenas. So to you, I'm the other Macarena and to me, you're the other Macarena.

Mackie: That's right.

Macarena: Which is really something. And it's okay.

[00:00:43] The Macarena Name Saga

Macarena: You call me Mac most of the time, because that's what people used to call me when I was young, before the song came out and they couldn't pronounce.

Mackie: That's right. Before that song. Oh my goodness.

Macarena: Yeah. Talk about trauma.

Speaking of which, did you listen to that podcast I was on about it?

Intro: Welcome to Magical Mindset with Macarena luz Bianchi, where we explore the magic of mindset, gratitude, and purposeful living. I'm your host, Macarena, and I'm thrilled to have you join me on this journey of wonder, wellness, and wisdom. You can find the episode show notes, your free Magical Mindset Blueprint, and more at xpres.me/podcast. And here's the show.

[00:01:32] Podcast Reflections and Healing

Mackie: I did. That was actually fun.

Macarena: That was fun and actually was quite therapeutic and I'm sure, as a soon to be psychologist, you can explain why. But even though I tend not to hold grudges, I was really pissed and I was pissed at the wrong people. And all of that was discovered in that podcast. I was blaming the Miami DJs for being tacky and ruining my name. And then it turns out that they had the best of intentions. They wanted to give her a voice in all of this song about a bimbo, which I thought was pretty crazy. And then, we buried the hatchet. It was really hilarious. I will put the link in the show notes because it was quite special.

Mackie:  Time out.I didn't see that podcast.

Macarena: You didn't?

Mackie: No, I thought you meant the link of the guy dancing to the Macarena.

Macarena: That is something else.

Mackie: Okay.

Macarena: Out of curiosity, do you still suffer when you hear it?

Mackie: Lately I saw, a video  of a really good looking guy dancing to the Macarena. And that was actually pretty fun and nice to watch.

Macarena: The jump roper. His name is Kole. He's something. It was really funny. So I send it to some friends saying, " I'll allow it." This is the one pass of doing something to this song for years. I couldn't even recognize it because I was like so almost allergic to it. And then I just got over it.

And doing that podcast was quite healing. I got to bury the hatchet with the producers afterwards.

[00:02:58] Cultural Impact of the Macarena

Mackie: So you're talking about the Power 96 version of the Macarena, right?

Macarena: Yeah, I was really upset at those guys. Cause I thought they had ruined everything and they were the reason why it grew like wildfire.

And it turns out that they're like the victim. So it was one of those moments where I was so pissed at them. And then after listening to the podcast, I had to make amends. Because I realized, I was the a--hole.

Mackie: To be honest, when it first came out, I was happy. Cause people's names on things or saying. And for the first time, there was something with my name. So I was like, "yeah, how exciting." And that was obviously in the early nineties. But then when Power 96, Miami station,

came out with their own version, I started disliking the whole Macarena dance.

But you're right. It's been a long time and I don't hear it as much except for weddings. I remember even my really old dentist that could barely move, he got up and he's " Oh, do you know this?" And then he starts doing the dance. He didn't even sing it. He just started doing the dance.

Like I couldn't. It was too much.

Macarena: Yeah. It still pops up every now and then.

[00:04:05] Personal Stories and Acceptance

Macarena: And the reason they found me for that podcast was because they found a news article where before the song was popular, before it blew up, I hate it. These idiots. My parents named me this name because it was unique and now it's going to be everywhere.

And I remember initially, the first time I saw anything,

was a telenovela called Macarena. And I was upset about that. It wasn't very popular in the US. But when I was traveling in South America somewhere, I found out about it. I saw it like in the TV guide. Remember that? Oh my God. We're so dating ourselves.

And then I was like, Oh, I was pretty upset about that. Then I knew I had heard there was like a salsa song. And I was like, okay, no big deal. Then, it was a summer. I was in New York. I called a DJ friend of mine from New York and he's like, "You're not going to believe this."

He's "there's a song, they're singing your name and it's these young girls with these old guys." And then he let me listen. And I swear, I got so upset, like physically upset. I think I almost started crying. I was like , "NO!" He's like, "and there's a dance to it." I'm like, " NO!"

So in that podcast, which I learned the story of it and it is quite fascinating. It's quite interesting how it took on a life of its own each step of the way. And then, yeah, with the dance, it got out of control. It was a cultural phenomenon. I should have trademarked my name, but it would have been the wrong category.

But anyway, We live and learn.

Mackie: But we should have. There's been like drinks, Macarena and bars, Macarenaand all these. We didn't make a penny out of that.

Macarena: No, but I suffered. I suffered a lot because here everybody was like, "Oh, like this song?!" And I was like, but at least people could pronounce it. And to go full circle, the reason people called me Mac is because no one, unless they spoke Spanish, could pronounce Macarena. And I have a hard time saying it in the English version.

You do really well. Can you say it? How do you say it? Yeah that's great.

Mackie: It should be Macarena, but it's like it's hard to switch the tongue.

Macarena: I can't say it wrong.

 My mom, before she passed, she would say it like that and it would make me sick. I was like, " no, not from you. Not from you. Other people, I don't care, but from you. You can't mispronounce my name."

[00:06:27] Conclusion and Moving Forward

Macarena: But to say all this is that I'm really over it, and I really don't care. I'm at a really good place with it now. So much so that I reposted the jump roper to it. Okay, this is a version we can all handle. It was really funny.