Some songs come from a melody. Others come from a line. Viva México came from a lifetime of memories.
I first started traveling to Mexico in the late 1980s, while I was living in Hollywood and working in the film industry. My friends and I would make regular trips south, and every time I came down, it felt like more than just a vacation. There was a familiarity, a sense of belonging I couldn’t explain. I used to joke that if anyone ever found themselves in Mexico and saw a guy napping under a sombrero, it might just be me.
That pull never went away.
Years later, I was living in Toronto and managing an Irish pub. That’s where I met my future wife. She’d occasionally come in with a couple who were regulars and friends of mine. We’d barely spoken, but I couldn’t place her accent. I finally worked up the courage to ask her out. She was from Guadalajara.
That changed everything.
We now live in Mexico, by the sea, with our son. And during the COVID lockdown in 2020, while staying in Nuevo Vallarta with my family, I wrote Viva México. It came out all at once — a mix of memory, love, and belonging that had built up over decades.
The official lyric video was filmed during a boat trip from Nuevo Vallarta to Yelapa. As we cruised along the coast, a group of birds soared above our boat. I lay down and hit record, just trying to catch the moment. It felt as free and alive as the song itself. I think they might be Magnificent Frigatebirds or Blue-footed Boobies? They are common in the Bay of Banderas (Bahía de Banderas).
It’s the first track on Legend Of The West, and it’s the first chapter in a larger story I’ve been wanting to tell for a long time.
Here are the lyrics:
Viva México
I’m lying here under a blue sky
The palm trees sifting the sunlight
I don’t know how, but I’m happy, that I came
I came for the sun, I came for the sand
But what you gave me Mexico you can’t understand
The ocean’s right there and the waves say come and play
Oh oh, Mexico
You got my mind and you got my soul
No place I’d rather go
Than my, Mexico
I came down here many times in my life
To drink a few beers and try to unwind
And part of me always said, I’d like to stay
But I never thought about it seriously
I’d always go home to the snow and the sleet
But then you sent an Angel my way
Oh oh, Mexico
She’s got my heart and you got my soul
No place I’d rather go
Than my, Mexico
I never was one to believe in fate
But something surely sent her my way
We’re married now and we live in Mexico
We had a Niño and now we live by the sea
This pace of life is perfect for me
I finally feel, like I am home
Oh oh, Mexico
Long ago, you danced with my soul
No place I’d rather go
Than my, Mexico
Viva, Viva, México
Viva, Viva, México
Viva, Viva, México
Watch the official lyric video: Viva México – Official Lyric Video
Hope you enjoy it.
— Rick Marshall