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, RALEIGH MUSIC PUBLISHING, 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

Angelo Moore of Fishbone

Angelo Moore of FishboneSongwriter Interviews

Fishbone has always enjoyed much more acclaim than popularity - Angelo might know why.

Alan Merrill of The Arrows

Alan Merrill of The ArrowsSongwriter Interviews

In her days with The Runaways, Joan Jett saw The Arrows perform "I Love Rock And Roll," which Alan Merrill co-wrote - that story and much more from this glam rock pioneer.

Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty

Rob Thomas of Matchbox TwentySongwriter Interviews

Rob Thomas on his Social Distance Sessions, co-starring with a camel, and his friendship with Carlos Santana.

Rufus Wainwright

Rufus WainwrightSongwriter Interviews

Rufus Wainwright on "Hallelujah," his album Unfollow The Rules, and getting into his "lyric trance" on 12-hour walks.

Classic Metal

Classic MetalFact or Fiction

Ozzy, Guns N' Roses, Judas Priest and even Michael Bolton show up in this Classic Metal quiz.

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."