Margaritaville
| "Margaritaville" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| B-side | "Miss You So Badly" |
"Margaritaville" is a 1977 song by American popular music singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett from the album Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes. He wrote it in Key West while spending time in Florida. The song was a chart hit in the United States when it was released and contemporary[update] popular culture references and remakes attest to its continuing popularity. It reached #8 on Billboard Hot 100 chart, topped the Easy Listening (Adult Contemporary) chart at #1, and peaked at #13 on the Hot Country Songs chart. It remains[update] Buffett's highest charting solo single.
Named for a cocktail, the margarita, and with lyrics reflecting a laid-back lifestyle in a tropical climate, "Margaritaville" has come to define Buffett's music and career. The relative importance of the song to Buffett's career is referred to obliquely in a parenthetical plural in the title of a Buffett greatest hits compilation album, Songs You Know By Heart: Jimmy Buffett's Greatest Hit(s). The name has been used in the title of other Buffett compilation albums such as Meet Me In Margaritaville: The Ultimate Collection and is also the name of several commercial products licensed by Buffett (see below).
Song narrative
The song is a narrative overview of the singer's life for the previous season. He sings about laid-back living in a drunken haze in a beach community. "Margaritaville" is the mental state in which he exists during this period, induced—presumably—from the perpetual imbibing of margaritas. This is best illustrated in the last verse, when the singer goes for a walk, cuts his heel and returns home to ease his pain with the eponymous alcoholic beverage. The singer says that some friends surmise that he is reeling from a failed romance.
Lost verse
There is also a "lost verse" to this song, as described by Buffett, which he often adds when performing in concert, which was reputedly edited out before recording the song in order to make the song more airplay-friendly. Ironically, the song was shortened even further for the radio edit.
- Old men in tank tops,
- Cruisin' the gift shops,
- Checkin' out chiquitas, down by the shore
- They dream about weight loss,
- Wish they could be their own boss
- Those three-day vacations can be (or "become") such a bore
Lyric confusion
There is some confusion as to whether Buffett sings "Wasted away" or "Wastin’ away" in the chorus of the song. The original unedited lyrics, that appear on the record sleeve to the Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes LP, read "waistin'" [sic]. Also, most guitar tablature and sheet music read "wastin'." Buffett has never made a statement on the issue. However, he has also been known to use "wasted" in some performances, as well as in the video-game re-recording for Rock Band.
Chart performance
| Chart (1977) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 8 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles | 13 |
| Canadian RPM Top Singles | 4 |
| Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks | 1 |
| Canadian RPM Country Tracks | 8 |
Other versions
Radio edit
A radio edit was released in 1977, timing at 3:20. The abridged version omits:
- The interlude between the second chorus and third verse.
- The section during the third chorus and final refrain "…woman to blame but I know, it's my own damn fault. Yes and, some people claim that there's a…" This makes the song structure riff-verse-chorus-verse-chorus-verse-chorus-riff, as opposed to riff-verse-chorus-verse-chorus-interlude-verse-chorus-refrain-riff.
- The track itself was sped up a half-step. The original recording of the key of D would be E-flat.
Cover versions
American country singer Alan Jackson covered the song on his 1999 Under the Influence album. The cover featured Buffett singing along on the last verse; it also peaked at #63 after receiving play as an album cut. Professional wrestlers Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock sang the song together on the November 12, 2001 episode of RAW. Jimmy Buffett also re-recorded this song as well as "Cheeseburger in Paradise" and "Volcano" specifically for Rock Band as downloadable content.
Parodies
In 2006, Kenan Thompson did a parody of the song on a Weekend Update sketch on Saturday Night Live where he plays a soldier who found out he was going to the U.S.-Mexico border and not Baghdad. When Amy Poehler asks him what his reaction was when he discovered he was going to the border, in the next shot, he has a Corona banner above him, a sombrero on his head. He is swaying a Corona beer bottle and singing, "Wasting away again not in Iraq." This was likely a parody on Mortaritaville, which was recorded around 2 years prior.[3]
Cultural references and significance
 | This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. (October 2007) |
Camp Anaconda/Balad Air Base, an American military base in Iraq, has been dubbed "Mortaritaville" (a portmanteau of mortar and Margaritaville) due to the large numbers of mortar attacks it receives from Iraqi insurgents.[4]
The Swarthmore College chapter of the Delta Upsilon social fraternity holds an annual all campus party in honor of "Margaritaville" with emphasis on the carefree and laid back attitude that has made the song famous.[5]
In the Broken Lizard film Club Dread, the character of Coconut Pete (a former country singer turned club owner played by Bill Paxton) angrily insists that Jimmy Buffett's "Margaritaville" was stolen completely from Pete's own unreleased song "Pina Coladaburg." The Broken Lizard team organised a screening of Club Dread for Jimmy Buffett pre-release, where he not only gave his blessing to the parody, but asked if they'd mind if he included some of the Coconut Pete song "Pina Coladaburg" in his set as an introduction to "Margaritaville."
The password for Internet access on the TV show CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is "Margaritaville" (fictional use).
In episode 3G03 of The Simpsons, "Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious", Shary Bobbins drunkenly sings the first two lines of the chorus with Barney Gumble after losing faith in The Simpsons ability to be a normal family. Also, In the episode "Bart to the Future", the future version of Bart has a gig at a bar and claims he couldn't get the rights to do any Jimmy Buffett songs, so he does an "original"—an incredibly derivative song called "Daquiritaville".
On June 3, 2008, "Margaritaville", as well as "Cheeseburger In Paradise" and "Volcano", was released as downloadable content on the video game Rock Band. The songs were re-recorded for the game to include all of the in-game instruments.
An Emmy winning episode of South Park is entitled "Margaritaville."
Merchandising
As Buffett's best-known song, "Margaritaville" has been used in a number of commercial ventures and product licensing tie-ins including:
- Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville, a casual dining restaurant chain, tourist destination and chain of stores (shops) selling Buffett-themed franchise merchandise in Jamaica, Mexico and the U.S. In 1985, Buffett opened a "Margaritaville" restaurants in Key West, though his first was in Gulf Shores, Alabama.
- Margaritaville Chips and Salsa
- Margaritaville frozen seafood
- Margaritaville Frozen Concoction Maker
- Margaritaville Chicken Wings
- Margaritaville margarita mix (manufactured by Mott's)
- Margaritaville tequila
- Radio Margaritaville, a radio station that broadcasts on the Internet and Sirius XM Radio
- Margaritaville Soles of the Tropics Footwear
Notes
- ^ The U.S. single did not have a picture cover but was issued with a standard ABC Records cover.
- ^ Song length time given is for the single version. Album version is 04:09.
- ^ Retired Reservist: Mortaritaville - song from Iraq. Accessed on July 31 2008.
- ^ "Balad Airbase" at GlobalSecurity.org. Accessed on 1 April 2007.
- ^ Alisa Giardinelli. The Drinking Dilemma: Swarthmore re-examines its alcohol policy. March 2000. Accessed on 1 May 2007.
External links
- Jimmy Buffett' "Margaritaville" at MIX Magazine online