About the Song

In the realm of country music, Toby Keith stands as a towering figure, a true American icon. His music, infused with a rugged patriotism and a deep appreciation for the simple pleasures of life, has resonated with millions of listeners worldwide. Among his vast repertoire of hits, “Good To Go To Mexico” holds a special place, capturing the spirit of wanderlust and the allure of sun-kissed shores.

Released in 2002, “Good To Go To Mexico” is an upbeat, infectiously catchy tune that paints a vivid picture of escape to a tropical paradise. Keith’s signature twangy vocals intertwine seamlessly with the lively guitar riffs and mariachi-inspired instrumentation, creating an irresistible soundscape that transports listeners to a land of warm breezes, margaritas, and endless possibilities.

The song’s lyrics, penned by Keith and Chuck Cannon, are a testament to the power of music to transport us beyond our daily routines and into a world of carefree revelry. Keith paints a picture of a world weary individual, yearning for a respite from the drudgery of everyday life. The chorus, a simple yet powerful declaration of liberation, serves as an anthem for anyone seeking to escape the confines of their routine and embrace the joys of adventure:

“I’m packin’ my bags, I’m headin’ south Good to go to Mexico Where the tequila flows and the music’s loud Good to go to Mexico”

“Good To Go To Mexico” is more than just a catchy tune; it’s an invitation to shed our worries and embrace the spirit of adventure. It’s a reminder that life is too short to be spent bogged down by the mundane, and that sometimes, the best medicine is a change of scenery and a margarita on the beach.

So, the next time you find yourself feeling weighed down by the cares of the world, crank up the volume on “Good To Go To Mexico” and let Toby Keith transport you to a place where worries melt away and the only thing that matters is the next sip of your margarita. After all, as Keith so eloquently reminds us, “It’s always a good time to go to Mexico.”

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Lyrics: Good To Go To Mexico

I can feel a chill of a cold November wind
Here in Oklahoma that means it is wintertime again
Every time I think about the rain and sleet and snow
I start dreamin’ about siestas underneath this sombrero[Chorus 1:]
Baby if you’re good to go we’ll go down to Mexico
Get a place in Cabo, kick back in the sand
It’ll be just you and me and moonlight dancing on the sea
To Spanish guitar melody of a mariachi bandI got two tickets bought
There won’t be no second thought
Weather’s always nice down there in paradise
We’ll find that little man who owns that taco stand
We’ll be drinkin’ margaritas while we’re workin’ on our tan[Chorus 2:]
Baby if you’re good to go we’ll go down to Mexico
Get a place in Cabo, kick back in the sand
If you’ll get off that telephone and put your shorts and sandals on
Tomorrow we’ll be dancing to a mariachi bandCancun don’t get me high
That’s where the snow birds fly
They like to winter there
Then they come from everywhere
I’ll take the Baja sun
It ain’t overrun
With the gringos and the touristas
We might be the only ones

[Repeat Chorus 1 (x2)]

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Gary Stewart never fit the smooth, polished Nashville mold dominating the 1970s. Born in Kentucky and raised in Florida, he possessed a high, quivering vocal delivery that always sounded like it was moments away from breaking completely. Long before stepping into the spotlight himself, Stewart and his songwriting partner Bill Eldridge penned tracks for artists like Stonewall Jackson and Cal Smith. RCA signed him in the early years of the decade, though the label initially struggled to position his unique sound. Everything shifted when producer Roy Dea embraced a raw, unapologetic honky-tonk style. In 1974, “Drinkin’ Thing” broke into the Top 10, quickly followed by his signature masterpiece: “She’s Actin’ Single (I’m Drinkin’ Doubles).” Penned by Wayne Carson, the song captured a man watching his relationship dissolve while his partner acted single and he responded by drinking twice as hard. Stewart’s strained vocals transformed the lyrics from clever wordplay into a nervous breakdown captured in real time. The track soared to No. 1 in 1975, and its parent album, Out of Hand, cemented itself as one of the hardest-hitting country records of the era. Yet the deep instability captured on wax wasn’t just a theatrical performance. As the years rolled on, Stewart battled severe struggles with alcohol and prescription drugs, compounded by heavy personal tragedies that slowed his momentum through the 1980s. Though he eventually returned to live performing with a fiercely loyal cult following, the darkness in his music tragically mirrored his real life. In December 2003, Mary Lou, his wife of over forty years, passed away from pneumonia. Less than a month later, Gary Stewart died by suicide at his Florida home. His legacy was never built on radio polish. What people remembered was the haunting tension that every single syllable might snap before the song reached its end—and how Stewart somehow held it all together just long enough to tell the story.

Long before he became a household name across America, Lefty Frizzell was cutting his teeth on the grueling Texas honky-tonk circuit, tossing out casual phrases that sounded far too good to throw away. One night after a show, an eager friend from Oklahoma tried to keep the party going, prompting Lefty to reply with a golden line: “If you’ve got the money, I’ve got the time.” He hurried home and built a timeless standard right around it. Though building a massive buzz throughout West Texas, Lefty remained an unsigned artist until producer Jim Beck caught wind of his effortless vocal style and began cutting demos with him in Dallas. Armed with those early recordings—including “If You’ve Got the Money”—Beck headed straight for Nashville, initially planning to pitch the tune to Grand Ole Opry star Little Jimmy Dickens. When Dickens passed on the opportunity, it completely altered country music history. Columbia Records producer Don Law listened to the demo and realized the singer on the tape was far more valuable than any other artist he could find, signing Lefty to the label in 1950. That first historic studio session yielded a ferocious double-sided powerhouse, as both “If You’ve Got the Money, I’v Got the Time” and “I Love You a Thousand Ways” rocketed all the way to No. 1, transforming an unknown Texas kid into an overnight superstar. His distinct vocal styling—featuring loose phrasing, stretched vowels, and a conversational delivery—instantly rewrote the blueprint for honky-tonk singing, casting a massive shadow over legends like George Jones and Merle Haggard. The song Little Jimmy Dickens didn’t want didn’t just top the charts; it made the man behind the microphone impossible to ignore

By early 1973, Bobby Bare had already spent more than a decade bouncing between record labels, radio hits, and near-misses, but he was hungry to try something completely different. Captivated by Joe South’s groundbreaking Introspect, Bare dreamed of crafting a cohesive country concept album that functioned as one living world instead of just a patchwork collection of radio singles. When he pitched the idea to his songwriter friends, however, nobody wanted to touch the project. Everything changed on a Saturday night at a Country Radio Seminar party when Bare ran into Shel Silverstein and vented his frustration about failing to find a collaborator. Silverstein listened closely, and by Monday morning, Bare’s telephone was ringing with a promise that an entire album’s worth of material was ready to go. Those songs blossomed into Bobby Bare Sings Lullabys, Legends and Lies. Bare took the reins as producer, keeping the musical arrangements loose and inviting to frame Silverstein’s eccentric characters, dark humor, and folk-tale simplicity with an intimate, living-room atmosphere—even mixing in live audience reactions to make the record feel like a gathering of friends. The creative gamble paid off instantly. “Daddy What If,” recorded as a duet with Bare’s five-year-old son Bobby Jr., climbed to No. 2 on the country charts, while “Marie Laveau” soared to No. 1, marking the sole chart-topping single of Bare’s career and pushing the album into the Top 10. More importantly, that weekend spark ignited a decades-long partnership. Bare went on to record well over a hundred of Silverstein’s compositions whenever he craved material that defied standard Nashville formulas. Bobby Bare set out looking for a single concept record, but he walked away with the creative partner who would define the rest of his legendary career.