Story Behind The Song

Imagination

Song Description

Dad advises his son not to drink the water on his graduation trip to Mexico. He has a wild time, gets a girl pregnant, ends up paying child support and having to get a warehouse job...but he takes pride in telling people that he never drank the water.

Lyrics

When high school was through, I was ripe for some brew,

and had a lot of wild oats to sow.

So I packed up my bag, and I hopped in my Jag,

and I headed south to ol' Mexico.



As my car left the curb in our L.A. suburb,

my Dad gave me some fatherly advice.

With a tear in his eye, he near-started to cry,

said, "I hope that your vacation will be nice"...



"Son, you can shoot the tequila; You can eat enchiladas;

You can party' til the partyin's done

You can spend the gentle evening's with those pretty senoritas,

but don't drink the water, Son."



Well I reached Mazatlan on the second day's dawn,

and I pretty-nearly slept the day away.

But the evening came soon, and the Mexican moon

was tellin' me that it was time to play.



So I drove my fancy car to a little seaside bar,

and had the greatest night I'd ever had.

The tequila and cervesas had me dancin' on the mesas,

but I kept in mind the counsel of my Dad:



"Son, you can shoot the tequila; You can eat enchiladas;

You can party 'til the partyin's done

You can spend the gentle evening's with those pretty senoritas,

but don't drink the water, Son."



Well, a whole year's gone by. I remember, with a sigh,

sweet Maria and her Jose Quervo smile,

We've already been to court; Now, I'm payin' child support,

and my warehouse job has really cramped my style.



Though my life's near come apart, I'll just make a brand new start,

and give thanks my Daddy saved me from the worst...

on that day, he said to me, "When you're down south, by the sea,

just resist the wild craving of your thirst."


"Son, you can shoot the tequila; You can eat enchiladas;

You can party 'til the partyin's done

You can spend the gentle evening's with those pretty senoritas,

but don't drink the water, Son."


"Son, you can shoot the tequila; You can eat enchiladas.

You can party 'til the partyin's done

You can populate the planet with a slug of sons and daughdas...

You can gamble all your money on those Tijuana trottas...

You can spend the gentle evening's with those pretty senoritas,

but don't drink the water, Son.