"Stays in Mexico" is a song written and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist

Toby Keith Toby Keith Covel (born July 8, 1961), known professionally as Toby Keith, is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and record producer. He released his first four studio albums—1993's ''Toby Keith'', 1994's ''Boomtown'', 1996' ...

. It was released in August 2004 as the lead off single from his compilation album '' Greatest Hits 2''. The song peaked at number 3 in the U.S. 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 ...

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart.

Content

The song features a man named Steve, an insurance salesman from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and a woman named Gina, a first-grade school teacher from

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

. Both are in

Cabo San Lucas Cabo San Lucas (, "Saint Luke Cape"), or simply just Cabo, is a resort city at the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula, in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. As at the 2020 Census, the population of the city was 202,694 inhabitan ...

without their spouses and meet in the

Cabo Wabo Cantina Cabo Wabo is a nightclub, restaurant and bar company founded in 1990 by American singer-songwriter and rock musician Sammy Hagar. Located in Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico franchises exist along the Las Vegas Strip and on Hollywoo ...

. Steve and Gina engage in a tequila-fueled weekend affair. The song's chorus repeats that "what happens down in Mexico stays in Mexico."

Critical reception

Kevin John Coyne, reviewing the song for Country Universe, gave it a mixed rating. He stated that the song is "great until you process the depth of its immorality; then, you’re just sick to your stomach."

Music video

The music video was directed by Michael Salomon and premiered on the television network CMT on August 19, 2004. The video was filmed on July 5, 2004, and featured

Oklahoma Sooners football The Oklahoma Sooners football program is a college football team that represents the University of Oklahoma (variously "Oklahoma" or "OU"). The team is a member of the Big 12 Conference, which is in Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (forme ...

administrative coordinator, Matt McMillen and actress Chanel Hart as Gina. It was filmed in Acapulco, Mexico.http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?page=program/mcmillen McMillen guards Stoops' blind side

Chart positions

"Stays in Mexico" debuted at number 27 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of August 14, 2004.

Year-end charts

References

2004 singles Toby Keith songs Songs written by Toby Keith Song recordings produced by James Stroud DreamWorks Records singles Music videos directed by Michael Salomon 2004 songs Songs about Mexico {{2000s-country-song-stub