Song Lyric Sunday was created by Helen Vahdati from This Thing Called Life One Word at a Time and author Jim Adams from A Unique Title For Me is our current guest host. For complete rules or to join in the fun, click here.
The theme for Song Lyric Sunday this week is “Burrito/Fajita/Mexican/Tequila.”
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Named for the tequila-filled cocktail with lyrics reflecting a laid-back lifestyle in a tropical climate, Margaritaville has come to define Jimmy Buffett’s music and career.
The song was written about a drink Buffett discovered at Lung’s Cocina del Sur restaurant in Austin, Texas, and the first huge surge of tourists who descended on Key West, Florida, around that time. He wrote most of the song one night at a friend’s house in Austin, and finished it while spending time in Key West.
The 1977 hit reached number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and went to number one on the Easy Listening chart, also peaking at #13 on the Hot Country Songs chart. Billboard ranked it number 14 on its 1977 Pop Singles year-end chart. It remains Buffett’s highest charting solo single.
The song is about a man spending an entire season at a beach resort community. The three verses describe his day-to-day activities. In the first verse, he passes his time playing a six-string guitar on his front porch swing, watching tourists sunbathe, all the while eating sponge cake, and waiting for a pot of shrimp to boil. In the second verse, all he has to show for his time is a tattoo of a woman – a Mexican cutie, but he cannot remember how he got it. In the third and final verse, while the narrator was going out for a walk, he blew his Flip-flops and cuts the heel of his foot by stepping on a “pop-top” (the pull tab from an old-style soda can), forcing the narrator to come home, and ease his pain, with a fresh batch of margaritas.
The three choruses reveal that the narrator is drowning his sorrows over a failed romance, all the while onlookers speculate that an ex-girlfriend is at fault. The last line of each shows his shifting attitude toward the situation: first “it’s nobody’s fault,” then “hell, it could be my fault,” and finally “it’s my own damn fault.”
FUN FACT:
- Margaritaville was inducted into the 2016 Grammy Hall of Fame for its cultural and historic significance.
- As Buffett’s signature song, Margaritaville has been used in a number of commercial ventures and product licensing tie-ins including:
- Radio Margaritaville, a radio station that broadcasts on the Internet and Sirius XM Radio
- Tales from Margaritaville, a collection of short stories by Buffett
- Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville, a casual dining restaurant chain, tourist destination and chain of stores selling Buffett-themed franchise merchandise in Jamaica, Mexico and the U.S. In 1985, Buffett opened a “Margaritaville” restaurant in Key West, though his first was in Gulf Shores, Alabama.
- Margaritaville margarita mix (manufactured by Mott’s)
- Margaritaville tequila
Enjoy!
See my Song Lyric Sunday selection for Nesie’s Place!
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Disclaimer: I have no copyrights to the song and/or video and/or hyperlinks to songs and/or videos and/or gifs above. No copyright infringement intended.
Margaritaville
Watchin’ the sun bake
All of those tourists covered with oil
Strummin’ my six string on my front porch swing
Smell those shrimp they’re beginnin’ to boil
Wastin’ away again in Margaritaville
Searchin’ for my long lost shaker of salt
Some people claim that there’s a woman to blame
But I know it’s nobody’s fault
Don’t know the reason
Stayed here all season
Nothing to show but this brand new tattoo
But it’s a real beauty
A Mexican cutie
How it got here I haven’t a clue
Wastin’ away again in Margaritaville
Searchin’ for my lost shaker of salt
Some people claim that there’s a woman to blame
Now I think hell it could be my fault
Stepped on a pop top
Cut my heel had to cruise on back home
But there’s booze in the blender
And soon it will render
That frozen concoction that helps me hang on
Wastin’ away again in Margaritaville
Searchin’ for my lost shaker of salt
Some people claim that there’s a woman to blame
But I know it’s my own damn fault
Yes and some people claim that there’s a woman to blame
And I know it’s my own damn fault
Felicia Denise, Author 
Brings back memories of somebody I met when I was in Fl, trying to convince me of the genius of Jimmy Buffet! 🙂
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LOL! You either love Jimmy…or you don’t! 😄
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They obviously loved him! And I got to appreciate how big he was there. He never released in the UK, so he was a new name to me. But even back then he was a big deal to them.
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Never released in the UK? Weird how the music industry works.
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I never looked at the lyrics for this song before and I always thought that he stepped on a pop-tart, which is more funny, but a pop-top makes more sense. Great choice for today.
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LMAO! 😄😄 I definitely like pop-tart better!
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Love Jimmy Buffett! I am a Parrothead!
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LOL! Who knew? 😄
Thanks for stopping by, Ida!
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The classic Buffett tune…
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You’d think the man only made one song! LOL!
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I didn’t say that, but it’s the one I think of most when I think of Jimmy Buffett.
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No, no, didn’t mean you, John. Was in a chat with a group who could not name One. Other. Song. by Buffet. When I started listing titles, they swore I was making them up! 😀
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I heard Margaritaville from another blog recently and thought it was quite a nice tune!
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Glad you enjoyed it! 😊
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Has to be one of my favorite Jimmy Buffett songs! 🙂
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So glad you enjoyed it! 😊
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I found the bottom of plenty tequila bottles but strangely enough I was never a margarita drinker. This is a great beach song!
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Margaritas were the Sunday brunch drinks I shared with my mother-in-law. I prefer my Jose Gold straight! 😂
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Me too! 😂
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They opened a Margaritaville restaurant chain here and my hubby was one of the crew that did all the plasterwork. Not sure if it was supposed to mimic the real Margaritaville but it did have a beach theme 🙂
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Always wanted to visit one. Could use a beach theme right about now in the Arizona desert. 😀
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