Utopia, how pleasant they sound, but how untrue they usually are. Except for one—Key West, Florida, the place that inspired Jimmy Buffett‘s iconic hit single, “Margaritaville”. Key West, Florida, is certainly not a utopia in every sense of the word, but given the folklore that surrounds the island city in Florida, facets of it meet the criteria for a utopia. These facets, pulled from Buffett’s experiences on the island, are what helped him craft the fictional utopia of “Margaritaville”.
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Even if you aren’t a parrothead, you are likely familiar that Jimmy Buffett called Key West, Florida, home for quite a long time. The island is notable for being the home of famous writers, including Ernest Hemingway, Tennessee Williams, Robert Frost, and Judy Blume. However, Buffett has undoubtedly become the artistic face of the island, and that is due to many reasons, and one of those many reasons is, of course, “Margaritaville”.
How Jimmy Buffett’s Life on Key West Led to “Margaritaville”
As you probably guessed, the town Buffett sings about is not a real place. However, in a way, it has become a real place, as hotels named after the hit song have been popping up around the country since 2010, but beside the point. Concerning how Key West gave way to the fictional city, Jimmy Buffett told AZCentral in 2021, “Margaritaville has been a myth for such a long time. There was no such place as Margaritaville.”
“It was a made-up place in my mind, basically made up about my experiences in Key West and having to leave Key West and go on the road to work and then come back and spend time by the beach. Key West was always kind of mythical and also had a lot of history of great writers who kind of use it as their oasis as well,” Buffett said.
He added, “That’s kind of how I stumbled upon it,” and “I stayed there. Then the reality was that you had to take it out on the road. But you were singing [for] people to take them away somewhere mythical for a while until they have to return back to their real lives.”
In those comments, Buffett not only revealed a fairly obvious fact, but also seemingly reaffirmed his mission statement—”To take [people] away somewhere mythical for a while until they have to return back to their real lives.” The wonder of Jimmy Buffett is that no matter where he went, he always brought a piece of vacation with him.
Photo by Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images
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