Roll of the Dice: Down to Mexico

“When my folks moved out to California,” Bruce begins in response to a question about whether he really knows “a pretty little place in Southern California/Down San Diego way” as he claims in “Rosalita,” “my mom decided-see my father and I would fight all the time–and she decided that we should take a trip together. She decided that we should take a trip together. She decided that we should go to Tijuana [he laughs his hoarse laugh, reserved for the truly absurd]. So we got in the car and drove down there, arguing all the way. First I drove and he yelled at me, and then he drove and I yelled at him.

 

“Anyway, we finally got there, and of course, my old man is the softest-hearted guy in the world. Within fifteen minutes, some guy has sold him some watch that must’ve run for all of an hour and a half before it stopped. And then some guy comes up and says, ‘Hey, would you guys like to have your picture taken on a zebra?’

 

“Well, we looked at each other–who could believe this, right? Zebras are in Africa. And so we said, ‘Well if you’ve got a zebra, we definitely want to have our picture taken.’ So we give him ten bucks and he takes us around this corner, and he’s got…he’s got a damn donkey with stripes painted on its side. And he pulls out these two hats–one says Pancho, one says Cisco–I swear–and he sits us on the donkey and takes our picture. My mother’s still got that picture. But that is all I knew about Southern California at the time I wrote ‘Rosalita.’” — Bruce Springsteen to Mary Turner, via Dave Marsh, “Bruce Springsteen Raises Cain,” Rolling Stone, August 24, 1978

What does that story have to do with today’s Roll of the Dice entry?

We can only speculate.

But when it comes to “Down to Mexico,” a 1971-72 gem from The Bruce Springsteen Band, speculation is about all we’ve got, because the lyrics are, shall we say, slight.

The entire song revolves around variations of:

Oh do run daddy
Yeah you do or don’t you daddy
Papa where are you going
Down to Mexico

Honestly, though, the lyrics are so not the point here.  “Down to Mexico” is a straight-up showcase piece–first for Bruce, then for keyboardist David Sancious.

The first minute of the band’s 1972 performance at The Back Door in Richmond features Bruce at his funkiest, showing off on the guitar until Sancious enters, steals the spotlight, and runs off with it without ever looking back.

Remarkably, there are three additional performances of “Down to Mexico” circulating on bootleg from that month-long stand at The Back Door, but the lyrics don’t get any deeper over time.

There’s also strong evidence to suggest that The  Bruce Springsteen Band played “Down to Mexico” as early as November 1971 at The Student Prince in Asbury Park, so Bruce had ample opportunity to refine the song if he wanted to.

I’m guessing he didn’t want to.

So if you, like me, look for meaning and significance in Bruce’s lyrics, we can only raise an eyebrow at the timing of the song’s short lifespan and the story and photo that grace the top of this article.

The photo that backs Bruce’s story up as hyperbole-free is commonly attributed to the “winter of 1972,” but we know that Bruce’s visit with his parents actually  spanned from late December 1971 to mid-January 1972–so the clear “1972” sign in the photo probably places their trip just prior to or after New Year’s Day.

Which means that Bruce may have first performed “Down to Mexico” only weeks before his father-son road trip.

So was the song inspired by an already-planned trip? Or did Adele Springsteen nudge her boys to hit the road after overhearing her son’s song? Or are we simply trying to connect coincidence?

We may never know. But once again: with a groove this good, does it really matter?

I think not.

Down to Mexico
Never recorded
Never released
First performed: February 4, 1972 (Richmond, VA)
Last performed: February 26, 1972 (Richmond, VA)

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