"Mexico" is a single released in May 1970 by

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

rock band

Jefferson Airplane Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band based in San Francisco, California, that became one of the pioneering bands of psychedelic rock. Formed in 1965, the group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the Bay Area to ac ...

, produced by the band at Pacific High Recording Studios with Phill Sawyer as the

recording engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...

. Written and sung by

Grace Slick Grace Slick (born Grace Barnett Wing; October 30, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter, artist, and painter. Slick was a key figure in San Francisco's early psychedelic music scene in the mid-1960s. With a music career spanning four decades, s ...

, it is a tuneful rant against then-President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

and his anti-drug initiative, Operation Intercept, that he had implemented to curtail the flow of

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...

into the United States from

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. The song closes with an exhortation for the young to realize the power of their numbers, as shown by the gathering of "half a million people on the lawn" at

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...

. The song received little radio airplay, being banned in some states, but did reach #102 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' charts. The version on the ''

2400 Fulton Street ''2400 Fulton Street'' is a compilation album of music from the San Francisco rock band Jefferson Airplane, originally released in 1987 as a double LP containing 25 tracks. The title is taken from the street address of a mansion the band boug ...

'' LP and CD is a completely different mix from that on the single. Five months after the release of "Mexico", President Nixon requested that songs relating to drug abuse not be broadcast. Live versions of "Mexico" and its B-side, , were intended to be released on the next Airplane album; however, Marty Balin left the band before production of ''

Bark Bark may refer to: * Bark (botany), an outer layer of a woody plant such as a tree or stick * Bark (sound), a vocalization of some animals (which is commonly the dog) Places * Bark, Germany * Bark, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland Arts, ...

'' was completed, forcing a change in some of the planned material. A live version of "Have You Seen the Saucers" appeared as the opening track of the live album '' Thirty Seconds Over Winterland''; the two studio tracks were finally released on an album when the ''

Early Flight ''Early Flight'' is a 1974 compilation album by the American psychedelic rock band Jefferson Airplane, released as Grunt CYL1-0437. It features previously unreleased material from 1966, 1967, and 1970 as well as both sides of a non-album 1970 sin ...

'' compilation was released.

Personnel

Personnel from original vinyl credits. *

– piano, vocals * Marty Balin – vocals *

Paul Kantner Paul Lorin Kantner (March 17, 1941 – January 28, 2016) was an American rock musician. He is best known as the co-founder, rhythm guitarist, and vocalist of Jefferson Airplane, a leading psychedelic rock band of the counterculture era. He cont ...

– rhythm guitar, vocals * Jorma Kaukonen – lead guitar * Jack Casady – bass *

Spencer Dryden Spencer Charles Dryden (April 7, 1938 – January 11, 2005) was an American musician best known as the drummer for Jefferson Airplane and New Riders of the Purple Sage. He also played with Dinosaurs, and the Ashes (later known as the Peanut Butt ...

– drums, percussion *

Joey Covington Joseph Edward Covington (born Joseph Edward Michno; June 27, 1945 – June 4, 2013) was an American drummer, best known for his involvements with Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna and Jefferson Starship. Early life Though best known for his work w ...

– congas and bells on "Have You Seen the Saucers"

References

Jefferson Airplane songs 1970 songs Songs written by Grace Slick Songs about cannabis Songs based on American history Songs about Mexico Protest songs Political songs Songs about Richard Nixon RCA Records singles {{1970s-song-stub