Mexico Songs by Gringos

I love Mexican music and could go on and on about my favorite groups and songs. In fact I wrote about some of them in this article.

There are also plenty of cool songs about Mexico by foreigners, mostly Americans. 

Sometimes they’re dreamy glimpses of Mexico in the imagination, like James Taylor’s Mexico.

Sometimes they’re stories of bandits and federales, like Pancho and Lefty, by Townes Van Zandt, made famous by Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard.

Sometimes they use the trope of Mexico as an escape, like Mexico by Cake, but they’re good songs about Mexico anyway.

The bad songs about Mexico, which aren’t on my list, are about doing tequila shots and making stupid decisions. Honestly, I don’t mind the lyrical content—I like doing tequila shots and making stupid decisions—but the music accompanying these banal, cliched songs about Mexico is undeniably terrible. 

Instead, I want to hear (and recommend) Going Down to Mexico by ZZ Top, Mexican Minutes by Brooks & Dunn, The Seashores of Old Mexico by George Strait, Buenas Tardes Amigo by Ween, Mexicali Blues by the Grateful Dead, and South of the Border, a jazz standard done very well by Frank Sinatra, Patsy Cline, Willie Nelson, and numerous other artists. 

All of these songs about Mexico and more are on my Youtube playlist Mexico Songs by Gringos. Check it out, and please recommend what I missed.