Down in Mexico

Album: The Ultimate Coasters (1956)
Play Video
  • Down in Mexicali
    There's a crazy little place that I know
    Where the drinks are hotter than the chili sauce
    And the boss is a cat named Joe

    He wears a red bandana, plays a blues pianna [this is the way he pronounces
    It; to rhyme with "bandana"]
    In a honky-tonk, down in Mexico
    He wears a purple sash, and a black moustache
    In a honky-tonk, down in Mexico

    Well, the first time that I saw him
    He was sittin' on a piano stool
    I said "Tell me dad, when does the fun begin?"
    He just winked his eye and said "Man, be cool."

    He wears a red bandana, plays a blues pianna
    In a honky-tonk, down in Mexico
    He wears a purple sash, and a black moustache
    In a honky-tonk, down in Mexico

    All of a sudden in walks this chick
    Joe starts playing on a Latin kick
    Around her waist she wore three fishnets
    She started dancin' with the castanets
    I didn't know just what to expect
    She threw her arms around my neck
    We started dancin' all around the floor
    And then she did a dance I never saw before.

    So if you're south of the border
    I mean down in Mexico
    And you want to get straight,
    Man, don't hesitate
    Just look up a cat named Joe.

    He wears a red bandana, plays a blues pianna
    In a honky-tonk, down in Mexico
    He wears a purple sash, and a black moustache
    In a honky-tonk, down in Mexico

    Yeah, como est usted senorita
    Come with me to the border, south of the border, that is
    In Mexico, yeah in Mexico
    You can get your kicks in Mexico
    Come with me baby, come with me, come with me, crazy, yeah Writer/s: JERRY LEIBER, MIKE STOLLER
    Publisher: BELINDA ABERBACH STEVENSON AGAR REVOCABLE TRUST, O/B/O DistroKid, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 1

  • Nick from London, United KingdomLeiber and Stoller were certain they had a hit on their hands with Riot in cell block #9 and its failure came as something of a blow to them. They quickly realised that Spark was too small an outfit to get them where they wanted to be, so when an offer came to move to New York and work freelance for Atlantic Records, the two writer/producers jumped at the chance. This caused a problem in the ranks of the Robins because half the group including Terrell Leonard wanted to stay where they were. Leonard had the name Robins registered as a trademark, so when Bobby Nunn and Carl Gardner moved out east, the rest of the band stayed put keeping the name. Before the split, they recorded one last song together, Smokey Joe's Café and sticking with the Mexico theme, Leiber and Stoller came up with Down In Mexico for the first single by the new band, the Coasters, so-named in order to retain their connection with the West Coast. It was a top ten R&B hit but the next release Searchin'/Young Blood was a double-sided smash, which crashed into the pop charts at #3 and cemented their place in music history. Billboard February 1956: "Here's a new and definitely swinging crew and they delivera couple of highly commendable sides. Down In Mexico is a fetching ditty which is very close to Smokey Joe's Café."
    Nick Duckett
    http://www.rhythmandbluesrecords.co.uk/
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Ian Anderson: "The delight in making music is that you don't have a formula"

Ian Anderson: "The delight in making music is that you don't have a formula"Songwriter Interviews

Ian talks about his 3 or 4 blatant attempts to write a pop song, and also the ones he most connected with, including "Locomotive Breath."

Reverend Horton Heat

Reverend Horton HeatSongwriter Interviews

The Reverend rants on psychobilly and the egghead academics he bashes in one of his more popular songs.

Krishna Das

Krishna DasSongwriter Interviews

The top chant artist in the Western world, Krishna Das talks about how these Hindu mantras compare to Christian worship songs.

Kelly Keagy of Night Ranger

Kelly Keagy of Night RangerSongwriter Interviews

Kelly Keagy of Night Ranger tells the "Sister Christian" story and explains why he started sweating when he saw it in Boogie Nights.

Janis Ian: Married in London, but not in New York

Janis Ian: Married in London, but not in New YorkSong Writing

Can you be married in one country but not another? Only if you're part of a gay couple. One of the first famous singers to come out as a lesbian, Janis wrote a song about it.

Lecrae

LecraeSongwriter Interviews

The Christian rapper talks about where his trip to Haiti and his history of addiction fit into his songs.