The Story of Despalito™

Sometimes the best ideas don't come from trying.

They come from being.

Despalito™ started as something completely different.

I wanted to create another tequila-based RTD brand. My first thoughts were rough, edgy, and bold. I had created the word Desperlado™, inspired by Desperado.

In my mind, it was all Calavera skulls, cowboy imagery, rugged cans, and a rough-around-the-edges attitude.

I wanted a song for the brand, something with the energy and identity that Vila Tequila had.

So I started playing with words.

Desperlado.

Desperlito.

 

I kept saying them out loud, listening to how they felt.

For some reason, "lado" felt like a down word to me.

"Lito" felt like an up word.

Lighter. More musical. More inviting.

Despalito™ Was My New Word

It began to feel right.

 

The problem was that the song still wasn't there. Words didn't fit, too many bumps. 

Searching for rhyming words to Despalito™ .. not much

So, I made up words ..  Pélo Lito !!

 

To this day, I don't know exactly what it means.

But somehow it felt right.

Then something unexpected happened.

The brand stopped leading the song.

Life started leading the song.

 

A phrase I've carried in my head for years,

suddenly appeared, and for maybe the first time

I said it out loud

"I'm Not Trying .. I Just Am"

 

Been married for over 30 years, and like most husbands,

I've heard the question more than once:

"What are you trying to do... start a fight?"

 

Every time, I would silently answer the same way:

"I'm not trying... I just am."

 

Those words had lived in my head for decades.

Not as a slogan.

Not as a business idea.

Not as a lyric .. Just as who I Am

 

The moment I wrote those words down, everything changed.

The song began writing itself.

"I'm not trying... I just am..."

"Swaying to the moonlight..."

"Dancing in the sand..."

 

Suddenly the rough cowboy became softer.

The skulls became soulful.

The tequila became a backdrop.

The song became a feeling.

 

I picked up my guitar and played four simple chords.

Nothing fancy.

Just soft acoustic guitar and my imperfect voice.

 

But for the first time, it sounded real.

Despalito™ was no longer a drink.

It was a state of mind .. a feeling in the heart

A place where life slows down.

A place where nobody is trying to impress anyone.

 

Nobody is pretending.

Nobody is performing.

Just be who you are.

 

Looking back, I find it funny.

I started with skulls and ended with soul.

I started with a cowboy and ended with a dance.

I started trying to create a tequila brand.

 

Instead, I found a song that touched my heart.

Sometimes inspiration doesn't arrive

when you're searching for it.

 

Sometimes it arrives when you've stopped searching.

And it becomes who you already are.

 

Despalito™.

A word I created.

A song I didn't expect.

 

A Reminder .. 'Be Who You Are' 

Pélo Lito… Hand in Hand