Look, I’m not going to bullshit you.
I’m drunk as fuck right now.
And everything said in this article is just a projection based on some hope that I’m not a crazy motherfucker.
But, despite being born in 1994, I think I’m a boomer.
And, if I could project onto other gringos who live in Latin America, I predict that they have had boomer moments also.
Of course, not all of them do.
Some stick strictly to the newest reggaeton music and only eat at restaurants reviewed on TripAdvisor.
They’ve never even had a schizo moment living in the dumps of some Latin city as an alcoholic with obscure music playing in the background.
But the contrast between the new reggaeton and the “obscure music” is where we find the importance.
Some gringos like the obscure music!
Let me introduce you to one.
Matt The Vaquero!
I’m a normal dude born in small town Iowa.
However, I have nights where I transform into something different.
On a night like tonight, I find myself going through a whole bottle of Captain Morgan.
And, oddly enough, the power of the drink expands my imagination.
It makes me, in my loneliness, realize that I’m actually a vaquero living in northern Mexico.
The Captain Morgan becomes Don Julio.
And I find myself listening to music like some of the songs below.
Absolute disgust, sadness & disbelief upon reading her letter with my boy Vicente.
Fake tears roll down my eyes.
I can’t believe she left me.
Her fucking love!
I put my head down.
NO QUIERO QUE REGRESES NUNCA MAS!!!
I began screaming with the song.
The agony that I invented, of which did not exist 5 minutes ago, has overcome me.
And my whole body is vibrating!
Vibrating as I sing along with Vicente Fernández to the line of…..
POR TU MALDITOOOOOOOOOOO AMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOR!!!!!!!!
My neighbors pound the wall.
YA CALLATE TU PINCHE BOCA, WEY!!!
But then, in the moment, you find a Youtube add playing.
The song is over and you forgot to stop the video before being reminded on how YOU CAN SAVE 95 PESOS BY SIGNING UP NOW!
The Don Julio becomes Captain Morgan again.
And the American in me fades back in slowly.
But only briefly.
Briefly until the next song.
100 Years!
I am no longer a vaquero in the northern rural fields of Mexico.
Now I find myself in some bar.
For some odd reason, a mariachi (or what the fuck is it?) band appears out of nowhere.
Listen, young bros – we didn’t have Tinder back in my day.
We had to spit out the WORDS from the HEART with a mariachi band playing live.
It either got you the pussy or it didn’t.
Here’s a video of me trying my best back in the day!
“Pasaste a mi lado ….. con gran indiferencia!!!”
And I get back into it!
Gringo at birth but, with enough liquor, a full blooded Mexican at 5:19 AM.
QUE ME OLVIDASTE!!!
And I become so emotionally invested into it.
EXISTENCIA!!
She still doesn’t look impressed…
Cien Años…
…..
…..
PIENSO EN TI!!!
And, though some doubt I am in the music video above, I feel the energy of it.
Emotionally invested.
Maybe the liquor was too strong tonight…
But it isn’t!
Let me be normal for a second and explain.
As normal as I can be, mind you.
Becoming the Boomer, I Shall
A few months ago, I remember getting into a conversation with a Mexican gal that I met on Mexican Cupid.
She was in her early 30s if I remember right.
And we go through the usual round of questions.
Music?
I give her the truthful answer that I like most types of music that I’ve heard.
She switches it to Latino music.
What Latino music do you like?
And, keep in mind, I’m recovering from a minor hangover in which, near the end of the last night, I was listening to some Mexican singer called Pedro Infante.
The same song that was posted to this article above.
And she said something to the effect of “yuck!” in Spanish.
With tears in my eyes, foe which I thought she was my soul mate before, I extend the conversation hoping she can redeem herself.
To which I say “Vicente Fernández” as I go on about music I like.
“NO!” she says in such disgust.
Soul mate, she no longer is.
What music does she like?
Hip hop.
Which, to be fair, I like too.
I credit my wide range of musical tastes to how I grew up.
And, to be honest, I didn’t care at all if she liked Pedro Infante or Vicente Fernández.
Though it was funny to me her negative reaction to either singer.
But, to be fair, both singers are probably more for the Mexican crowd over 50 or 60.
Perhaps those younger raised on good music too.
Either way, it’s a weird thing, no?
Why would a gringo like either singer more than your typical Mexican?
And, as I started out, I might be projecting here.
Maybe everything I’m about to say afterwards is complete bullshit.
But, based on at least two other gringos I know, it might not be.
It’s a theory I have that I’ll summarize and simply leave up to readers to give their 2 cents on
The theory being?
The Theory
Outside of how I find the two music videos funny as fuck considering how stereotypical the Mexicans look in those hats, there’s some other weird attraction I find to the music presented above.
And it’s hard to explain why I find it attractive.
Or why I find music of other Latin countries like these bits here to be attractive.
Some would say that it’s an example of a gringo trying to “be Latino.”
I get where they would come from saying that.
But I do think it’s different.
While some gringos do act as such, I will say this also…
When you move to another country that you weren’t born in, you become more interested in the “deeper roots” of the country.
Its history and culture for example.
Granted, not all gringos are like that.
Some live in very sheltered communities never going off the gringo tourist trail.
If that's how they prefer living, fair enough.
But, if you are the type of gringo to, for whatever reason, see many years or even decades of your life living down here, you simply feel the need to “dig deeper” into the culture.
In which you end up enjoying music or other things that your typical local wouldn’t because they were born into the area and take it for granted.
For example, as I wrote here, I went to some railway museum in Mexico a month or so ago.
It wasn’t the most exciting museum on the planet but it was cool enough.
You know – you move to a new area, you appreciate more every little thing a tiny bit more than your average local who just sees it “as it” and with little care.
Therefore, when going back to music, someone like Pedro Infante or Vicente Fernández seems pretty dope as fuck.
Not to mention that, with enough rum, it’s easy to find yourself literally singing along to the song and getting emotional to it.
Imaging yourself to be the main singer.
Especially on a night where you are lonely in northern Mexico City.
Not that I know anyone like that…
Either way, it’s a little detail to living life abroad for some.
If you have anything to comment, drop something below in the comment section.
Follow my Twitter here.
And enjoy this photo of Pedro Infante by the bathroom here that, funny enough, the older couple who owns the apartment where I live now has.
Thanks for reading.
Best regards,
Matt