Jimmy Buffett’s 1977 classic “Margaritaville” is a song you’ve likely heard thousands and thousands of times, regardless of whether or not you really wanted to. Maybe you were stopping in for a fruity drink at an oceanside bar or grabbing a bite at the Cheeseburger in Paradise Bar & Grill. It’s a song as ubiquitous with warm coastlines as the smell of Coppertone or the gritty feeling of sand in your shoes.
Videos by American Songwriter
Call me late to the game, crazy, or both, but I just heard a version of “Margaritaville” as I’d never heard it before (an impressive feat, considering those aforementioned ‘all-time listen’ stats) that got me wondering: was this song, like, way sadder than any of us realized?
This Version Of “Margaritaville” Gives The Song A Whole New Meaning
I stumbled upon this ear-catching version of Jimmy Buffett’s late ‘70s ode to salty, lime-forward tequila cocktails where most people stumble upon random cultural gems they weren’t expecting: on social media. I happened upon a Jimmy Buffett cover band aptly called Jammy Buffet on Instagram, where they shared some delightfully nostalgic VHS footage of the band playing “Margaritaville” as I had never heard it before. Rather than the breezy, calypso major feel of the original, the band—lazily strewn about on couches and a large area rug—played the song in a minor key.
Suddenly, what was once a, dare I say it, cheesy Buffett classic turned into a track that could have easily found itself on the Eagles’ 1976 album, Hotel California. (Is it a coincidence that the Eagles’ title track and Buffett’s franchise-spurring hit single came out within a year of each other? For the sake of this ridiculous theory, I’m going to say no.) Without Buffett’s distinct opening lines, Nibblin’ on sponge cake, watchin’ the sun bake all of those tourists covered with oil, the song is hardly recognizable. Complete with Spanish guitar licks that would make Don Felder green with jealousy, “Margaritaville” got an instant makeover I never even knew it needed.
Besides sounding like it should be on the next set list for the Eagles, this minor version of “Margaritaville” got me wondering: is this song actually way sadder than any of us realized?
A Lost Shaker Of Salt Is Hardly The Worst Of This Guy’s Problems
Jimmy Buffett’s 1977 ode to tequila-infused escapism always had melancholy hiding in plain sight. Sure, he’s enjoying the sunshine while strummin’ my six-string on my front porch swing. But he’s also pondering the origins of a drunken tattoo he found on his body and dealing with a cut foot from stepping on a rogue pop top. His final verse is hardly a shining example of someone handling their problems in a healthy way: There’s booze in the blender, and soon it will render that frozen concoction that helps me hang on.
Amazingly, Buffett always had a bad day at the front of his mind when writing his signature track. “One day in the studio, he comes in and starts telling me about a day he had in Key West,” producer Norbert Putnam later recalled. “He was coming home from a bar, and he lost one of his flip-flops, and he stepped on a beer can top, and he couldn’t find his salt for his margarita. I say, ‘That’s a terrible idea for a song.’ He comes back a few days later with “Wasted Away Again in Margaritaville” and plays it, and right then, everyone knows it’s a hit song. Hell, it wasn’t a song. It was a movie.”
“I played it in the bar. People liked it. I go back to what Ry Cooder once said: ‘You never know what the public’s going to buy,’” Buffett told Rolling Stone. “The theme of Mardi Gras is ‘folly chasing death.’ So, you gotta have fun to keep the devil away.” But transform “Margaritaville” into a minor jam, and suddenly, that devil on your shoulder gets a lot harder to ignore.
Photo by Chris Walter/WireImage
Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.