Brandon's Buzz

Earlier in the summer, one of Sherry Ann’s best friends was planning a trip to Mexico, and before she discovered that the friend doesn’t even own an mp3 player (!!), she proposed that I create a playlist of Mexico-themed tracks that she could load on the iPod. My initial reaction to her request was that it would be an entirely futile exercise, that there didn’t exist enough songs about our southern neighbors to even take down the fingers on one hand, much less fill up a brilliant Buzz playlist. However, a bit of spelunking into the scary depths of my iTunes library proved my original hypothesis to be incorrect. Indeed, some of my favorite songs ever (literally!) are either about outright, or — in their lyrics and melodies — ultimately evoke the spirit and mood of, Mexico. I quickly understood that she was on to something, and what follows is the final result of this earnest experiment. If, by the end of track number ten, you’re not picturing Mexico in a whole new light, do me a favor and start all over again at song one. And the second time through, listen harder.

(P.S. If you’re wondering, Sherry Ann, why Shelly West’s early-’80s classic drinkin’ tune “Jose Cuervo” isn’t on this playlist, the answer is simple: for reasons that can’t be explained rationally, the song, along with the rest of West’s stellar solo work, remains unavailable on iTunes. Steve, baby, we need to get to fixin’ that immediately.)

(P.S.S. Ditto Tori Amos’ “Alamo.” Seriously, already!)

1.  “Smooth” — Santana featuring Rob Thomas (from Supernatural) —  — this century’s first Grammy winner for Record of the Year, the ridiculously ubiquitous Latin-flavored classic that sent us all scrambling for a Spanish-English dictionary to figure out what exactly was a muñequita.

2.  “Valerie” — Patti Scialfa (from Rumble Doll) —  — it’s not ostensibly about Mexico — although Scialfa mentions in the chorus that she desires to go there — but the wistful imagery the song masterfully conjures brings brilliantly to mind a top-down, wind-in-your-hair drive south.

3.  “I Got Mexico” — Eddy Raven (from The Best of Eddy Raven) —  — it took the magnificent Raven twenty-two years to land his first number one single, and he did it with this perfect little piffle about cutting your losses and trading them in for the Coke-and-rum-laced good life.

4.  “Playboys of the Southwestern World” — Blake Shelton (from The Dreamer) —  — from a strongly underrated musician and artist, a hilarious ditty about a pair of gringo doofuses (doofi?) who get mixed up in a Mexican mess south of the border.

5.  “Stays in Mexico” — Toby Keith (from 35 Biggest Hits) —  — a typically rowdy smash from crunchy’s current king of the amoral story song.

6.  “Mexico” — Jimmy Buffett (from Barometer Soup) —  — James Taylor’s original is much beloved, and with mighty fine reason, but I have long preferred Buffett’s breezy take on this classic. As superb a summer sing-along song as has ever been written. (Not counting, of course, Buffett’s own slightly-more-pensive stab at navigating this particular kind of terrain, the hilariously heavy-hearted “Margaritaville”  )

7.  “South of the Border (Down Mexico Way)” — Chris Isaak (from The Baja Sessions) —  — a sleepy Latin lullaby — sung with a rock-solid croon by the always-dependable Isaak — reminiscent of Marty Robbins’ timeless signature “El Paso,” albeit with an infinitely happier ending.

8.  “The Seashores of Old Mexico” — George Strait (from Somewhere Down in Texas) —  — one of the finest, most heartfelt vocals from Strait’s illustrious career tells the story — written by the iconic Merle Haggard, who also appears in track number nine below — of lovers on the lam through the mountains and valleys of the old, rugged country. A dangerously romantic knockout.

9.  “Pancho and Lefty” — Willie Nelson & Merle Haggard (from Pancho and Lefty) —  — one friend betrays another and sends him toward his untimely death in this oft-covered, strangely moving Townes Van Zandt classic whose most famous version became an unlikely smash, one of the biggest hits either of these legends ever scored.

10.  “Mexico” —Leona Naess (from I Tried to Rock You But You Only Roll) —  — listen to even just eight bars of her best material — of which this lovely, bittersweet tune ranks at the pinnacle — and I swear you’ll wonder why Naess has managed to fly so far below the radar for so long. If you set a lazy, longing Sunday afternoon to music, I reckon it would sound exactly like this.

names dropped with reckless abandon: Blake Shelton, Chris Isaak, Eddy Raven, George Strait, iPod, James Taylor, Jimmy Buffett, Leona Naess, Marty Robbins, Merle Haggard, Patti Scialfa, Rob Thomas, Santana, Shelly West, Sherry Ann, Steve Jobs, Toby Keith, Tori Amos, Townes Van Zandt, Willie Nelson