"South America, Take It Away" was written for Call Me Mister, a 1946 Broadway revue that touches on the post-war infatuation with Latin and Latin-American music and culture in the United States, which would go on to spawn and influence numerous hit songs throughout the latter half of the 1940s and early 50s.
The narrator claims that South American music styles are "leaving [him] aching," with "more bumps than a cucumber," "cracked hips," and an "outta-whack spine," insinuating that they are difficult to dance to and require a lot of moving, suggesting "Maybe Latins in their middles are built stronger.
2 on Billboard's Best Sellers in Stores list in the summer of 1946 (blocked by Frankie Carle's "Rumors Are Flying"), spending 7 weeks in the top ten, and ranking by the magazine as the 8th biggest song of the year.
Billboard called this version "a bright and breezy satire on Latin dance steps" with "exciting rhythms" that "give foil meaning to the lyrical frames" and "make it a pre-sold platter for the play.
"[3] Band Leaders wrote of it, "With the Cugat chorus giving vocal help and maestro providing catchy musical setting, it's plenty attractive for the satirical "Call Me Mister" show ditty.