Going Down to Cuba

Album: Time The Conqueror (2008)
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  • Sometimes I get to feeling low
    Wish I could just pick up and go
    Somewhere new change my point of view
    Maybe somewhere I don't know
    Toss the idea to and fro
    Not sure what makes it come and go
    There it is again sweet music on the wind
    Over the Gulf of Mexico

    I'm going to down to Cuba someday soon
    Following that Caribbean moon
    It's been too long since I've been there
    I'm going down there to see my friends
    Down where the rhythm never ends
    Where women wear gardenias in their hair

    People will tell you it's not easy
    You're not supposed to go, they say
    They say that Cuba is the enemy
    I'm going down there anyway

    I'm going down to Cuba to see my friends
    Down where the rhythm never ends
    And no problem is too difficult to solve
    Yeah times are tough down there it's true
    But you know they're gonna make it through
    They make such continuous use of the verb to resolve
    They've got to deal with that embargo
    Enough to drive any country insane
    They might not know the things you and I know
    They do know what to do in a hurricane
    Maybe I'll go through Mexico
    Old Jesse Helms don't have to know
    Anyway all the allies of the USA
    Travel to Cuba everyday

    I'm going down to Cuba to see my friends
    Down where the rhythm never ends
    Where by comparison my trouble will just unravel
    I'm North American, you know
    Don't like to hear where I can't go
    Free people will insist on the freedom to travel

    I'm gonna drink the running mojito
    And walk out on the malecón
    In one hand a monte cristo
    And in the other an ice cream cone

    I'm going down to Cuba with my band
    We're going to formulate a plan
    Whereby we obtain that cultural delusion

    If I told you once I told you thrice
    It'll put a smile on your face to see a Chevrolet with a soviet transmission
    I bet the country cast a spell
    And there are things I think of still
    Like the beauty of that woman that spoke to me
    In the hotel national

    I'm gonna book my flight today
    I'm definitely on my way
    Just hold my place and I'll get back in the race
    And I'm back in the USA Writer/s: JACKSON BROWNE
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 2

  • Edward from Birmingham, AlOK...this is my follow-up. My first post is above. I made the trip to Havana in August 2011 because of Obama's new change in educational regulations. I have to admit, the song was inspirational. The continued embargo and the lack of courage on the part of our politicians to change it is absurd. It's really not one of JB's best songs musically but the politics are right on.
    Ed, Alabama
  • Edward from Birmingham, AlIt's clear that JB sees the absurdity in the US-Cuba embargo and U.S. foreign policy in this clever musical rendition. His references that Americans are forbidden to travel to Cuba but that out allies travel there every day! It's a subtle message. I like it...makes me want to go too.
    Ed, Alabama
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