I think it’s more fair to compare average income versus average life satisfaction. (using a scale of 1 to 10) (On this scale Finland is the happiest, and Afghanistan is the least happy)
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/gdp-vs-happiness
Average satisfaction for Costa Rica (6.61) or Mexico (6.33) isn’t that much lower than the United States (6.89) at roughly 1/4th the GDP.
South Korea (5.95) doubles Mexico’s GDP ($45.5k vs $20.25k) but has a lower life satisfaction.
Or Hong Kong (5.31, $58k) is close the US ($64k) in GDP but less happy than Russia (5.66, $27.4k).
Costa Rica is at the 1.5t per capita probably safe emissions and has a life satisfaction of 6.61 compared to the US’s 6.89.
Our world in data also has life satisfaction versus CO2 emissions and central america looks to be doing fairly well for themselves. https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/life-satisfaction-vs-co-emissions-per-capita
My guess is the music goes into the past, leaving echos in your memories.