Going Down To Cuba

[Verse 1]

Sometimes I get to feeling low

I wish I could just pick up and go

Somewhere new might change my point of view

Or maybe somebody—I don't know

[Verse 2]

I toss the idea to and fro

Not sure what makes it come and go

But there it is again, sweet music on the wind

From over the Gulf of Mexico

[Chorus]

I'm going to down to Cuba someday soon

Following that Caribbean moon

It's been too long since I've been there

I'm going down there to see my friends

Down where the rhythm never ends

Where women wear gardenias in their hair

[Post-Chorus]

People will tell you it's not easy

You're not supposed to go, they say

They say that Cuba is the enemy

I'm going down there anyway

[Chorus]

I'm going down to Cuba to see my friends

Down where the rhythm never ends

And no problem is too difficult to solve

Yeah, times are tough down there, it's true

But you know they're gonna make it through

They make such continuous use of the verb "to resolve"

[Post-Chorus]

They've got to deal with that embargo

Enough to drive any country insane

They might not know all the freedoms you and I know

They do know what to do in a hurricane

[Verse 3]

Maybe I'll go through Mexico

And old Jesse Helms don't have to know

Anyway, all the allies of the USA

Travel to Cuba everyday

[Chorus]

I'm going down to Cuba to see my friends

Down where the rhythm never ends

Where by comparison my troubles just unravel

I'm North American, you know

Don't like to hear where I can't go

Free people will insist on the freedom to travel

[Post-Chorus]

I'm going to drink the ron añejo (No, no, the mojito)

And walk out on the Malecón (The Malecón)

In one hand a Monte Cristo

And in the other an ice cream cone

[Chorus]

I'm going down to Cuba with my band

We're gonna formulate a plan

Whereby we obtain that "cultural" permission

If I told you once, I told you trés

It'll put a smile on your face

To see a Chevrolet with a Soviet transmission

[Post-Chorus]

(Oh that mojito)

(Malécon)

(Yes)

[Verse 4]

Ah but the country casts a spell

And there are things I think of still

Like the beauty of that woman who spoke to me

In the Hotel Nacional

[Verse 5]

I'm gonna book my flight today

I am definitely on my way

Just hold my place and I'll get back in the race

When I'm back in the USA