Finally! A Tribute Album Devoted to the “Macarena”

It’s a tough world for the “Macarena” cover fan. Lord knows we don’t make it easier for ya. Every day you check the site, hoping against hope that today, finally, we’ll post a cover of everyone’s favorite Summer-of-1996/Latin-fusion/dance-sensation/one-hit-wonder. And every day you cry bitter tears of disappointment. The flood of “Macarena” requests from Los Del Rio diehards finally grew so overwhelming we had to set up a special address devoted to the cause (macarenarequests@covermesongs.com). Yet still we ignored you.

All that ends now. Your prayers to the gods of irritating ‘90s novelty pop have been answered. We don’t have one version of the “Macarena” though – we have seven! The most unexpected tribute album we can remember, a Mexican label has put together a free online tribute album to the song we love so dearly (that’s the cover on the right). Don’t think it’s all fun and games though. The album aims to raise awareness of a horrific social injustice: the Macarena.

Wait…what?? Yeah, it’s confusing. From what we can gather from the Google Translated version of the website, the record protests Los del Rio stealing and profiting off what was really a cover of an obscure popular-domain song. The album accompanies the upcoming academic article “Arqueología de la Macarena,” the title of which you can probably translate on your own. The whole thing also seems to be based around McDonald’s or something too, which we don’t completely understand.

Join the cause – or ignore it and have a laugh – by listening to seven new “Macarena” covers. Somewhat confusingly, they’ve all been given names. We’ve got a couple sample tracks below, including a sensitive acoustic ballad and an organ-fueled rave that sounds like a collaboration between Booker T. and Tiny Tim. Since we know you’ll want more, though, you can download the full set here.

MP3: Espaldamaceta – Macarena (Los del Rio/traditional cover)
[audio: News0411/20Macarena.mp3]

MP3: Manos de Topo – Alegría [Macarena] (Los del Rio/traditional cover)
[audio: News0411/20Alegria.mp3]

Download the full album here. Click “Disco completo” at the bottom of the page. We’d post the tracklist…but it’s just a bunch of versions of the “Macarena.” Ayi!