“We’re Going to Ibiza!” was released in August 1999 as the sixth and final single from “The Party Album.” It was based on the number one hit “Barbados” by English band Typically Tropical, released in May 1975.
The song is a musical ode to Ibiza, a sunny island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of Spain. In the nineties, Ibiza built its reputation as one of the top places to party on the planet, with 24-hour clubs, wild pool parties, and gorgeous beaches.
Official Video
The animated music video features the Vengaboys traveling across the world visiting major cities, countries, and famous sites by road in a cartoon Vengabus and by air in a Venga Airways airplane flown by Captain Kim. The music video was officially released on Youtube in November 2009.
The song reached number one on the U.K. Singles Chart in September 1999, making it the Vengaboys’ second number-one single there. Outside the United Kingdom, the song also reached the number one position in the band’s country of origin, The Netherlands. It climbed to a top-five place in Flanders, Norway, and Sweden. In the Netherlands, the single was the second-best sold record that year.
Fun Facts!
“We’re Going to Ibiza” was also known as “The Pizza Song” in several English-speaking countries. The Vengaboys pronounce “Ibiza” as /ɪˈbiːtsə/, with the “za” sounding the same as in the word “pizza.” As a consequence, “We’re going to eat pizza” became a misheard lyric!
“I don’t want to be a bus driver,” the first sentence of the first verse, is a reference to “We Like to Party! (The Vengabus”).
German TV satirist Jan Böhmermann’s revelation of the Austrian Ibiza affair in May 2019 (dubbed “Ibiza Gate”) caused the resignation of Vice-Chancellor and far-right leader Heinz-Christian Strache. Demonstrators in Vienna used “We’re Going To Ibiza!” as a protest song. As a consequence, the song re-entered the Austrian singles chart and reached number 16, and climbed the Spotify charts too. This popularity led Vengaboys to perform live in front of the Chancellery in Vienna during the Donnerstagsdemonstrationen protests (German for ‘Thursday demonstrations’).
The video has a not-too-hidden reference to the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky affair. As the Vengaboys pass The Capitol building in Washington D.C., a silhouette of a man and woman having sex can be seen behind a window.
We’re Going to Ibiza! In Movies And TV-Series
In 2005 “We’re Going to Ibiza!” can be heard in the documentary series “Banned In The U.K.”
In 2017 “We’re Going to Ibiza!” was used in episode 9 of the TV series Twoja Twarz Brzmi Znajomo, a Polish talent show based on the Spanish version of the series.
