South of the Border
Benny Goodman and His Orchestra Lyrics

South of the border
Referring to a location south of the border that lies between Mexico and the United States.

Down Mexico way
In the direction towards Mexico.

That's where I fell in love when stars above came out to play
It was in Mexico that the singer fell in love, under the stars at night.

And now as I wander
As the singer wanders or travels around now.

My thoughts ever stray
The singer's mind constantly wanders to their past experiences in Mexico.

She was a picture
The woman that the singer fell in love with was beautiful and captivating.

In old Spanish lace
She was wearing a lace garment with Spanish influence.

Just for a tender while I kissed the smile upon her face
The singer shared a tender moment by kissing the woman's smile.

For it was fiesta
The atmosphere was festive and celebratory at the time.

And we were so gay
The singer and the woman were happy and carefree in that moment.

Then she sighed and she whispered "Mañana"
The woman sighed and whispered the Spanish word for 'tomorrow.'

Never dreaming that we were parting
Unaware that they would soon be separated, the woman whispered about tomorrow.

And I lied as I whispered "Mañana"
The singer lied by repeating the word 'tomorrow' because they knew they were actually saying goodbye.

For our tomorrow never came
The singer and the woman never had another chance to meet again.

I rode back one day
The singer returned to that same location one day.

There in a veil of white by candlelight she knelt to pray
The singer saw the woman who he had fallen in love with kneeling to pray, wearing a white veil illuminated by candlelight.

The mission bells told me
The bells of the mission rang to warn the singer that he should not stay.

That I mustn't stay
The singer knew he had to leave that place and couldn't stay.

Ay! Ay! Ay! Ay!
An exclamation of emotional expression that is common to the Mexican culture and language.

Ay! Ay! Ay! Ay!
Repeated again to emphasize the strong emotional impact of the memories of Mexico.

Ay! Ay! Ay! Ay!
Repeated a third time to further emphasize the emotional impact.

Ay! Ay! Ay! Ay!
The final repetition assures that the memory of Mexico will always stay with the singer.