# About Jimmy Buffet's "Margaritaville" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 3, 2011, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-jimmy-buffets-margaritaville/598416 "2011-10-03T07:30:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-jimmy-buffets-margaritaville/598416/1 "2011-10-03T07:30:55Z")
I heard this song on a Los Angeles oldies station. I nearly memorized the refrain, and then got the lyrics last night online. What I’d like to know is: Did he mean this as a comedy song? It almost sounds like something you’d expect to hear on the Dr. Demento show! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-jimmy-buffets-margaritaville/598416/2 "2011-10-03T07:43:13Z")
He certainly meant for it to be funny. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-jimmy-buffets-margaritaville/598416/3 "2011-10-03T07:50:16Z")
Jimmy Buffet’s songs seem superficially cheerful and ‘fun’ but there’s usually a dark undercurrent to them, specifically the constant references to compulsive drinking. For a guy who has built his career on an image of good times, the lyrics of his most popular and best-known song are amazingly depressing. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-jimmy-buffets-margaritaville/598416/4 "2011-10-03T08:20:36Z")
I see what you mean, Argent. I know there was a tragic cast to the brilliant works of Mozart, too–and I didn’t come to that appraisal from seeing the movie _Amadeus._ ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-jimmy-buffets-margaritaville/598416/5 "2011-10-03T13:22:24Z")
It’s not a comedy song, but it has a lighthearted feel that belies the literal meaning of the lyrics. Not eating right (living on spongecake), pining for a woman, living aimlessly (don’t know the reason etc.), got so drunk he can’t remember getting tattooed, turns to booze to ease pains big (the woman) and small (cut heel). As **Argent** said, it’s a fun song if you don’t analyze the message, and a lot of people like various songs with no real clue of what the lyrics are saying. It’s quite popular with crowds that are in a party mood. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-jimmy-buffets-margaritaville/598416/6 "2011-10-03T13:26:28Z")
I love how the chorus goes from “it’s nobody’s fault,” to “it could be my fault,” and finally “it’s my own damn fault.” Been there, done that. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-jimmy-buffets-margaritaville/598416/7 "2011-10-03T14:31:45Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > Jimmy Buffet’s songs seem superficially cheerful and ‘fun’ but there’s usually a dark undercurrent to them, specifically the constant references to compulsive drinking. For a guy who has built his career on an image of good times, the lyrics of his most popular and best-known song are amazingly depressing. Your own issues are clouding your judgment, as usual. The OP is dead wrong about the song belonging on Dr. D. Light-hearted, maybe. But outright comedy, no. Jimmy does a lot of funny songs, but _Margaritaville_ isn’t one of them. That group would include _The Great Filling Station Hold-Up, Why Don’t We Get Drunk (And Screw), Math Sux,_ and a few others. He is mainly a laid-back balladeer with a nautical bent. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-jimmy-buffets-margaritaville/598416/8 "2011-10-03T15:30:39Z")
There’s a big difference between a light-hearted song and an outright-joke-Dr.Demento-song. Margaritaville is a light hearted tale of regret. I think Buffet is an underrated songwriter. not that he misses that among his piles of money. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-jimmy-buffets-margaritaville/598416/9 "2011-10-03T16:18:18Z")
The phrase “Lost shaker of salt” has always bothered me, even though I know he was just shoehorning a rhyme in the lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-jimmy-buffets-margaritaville/598416/10 "2011-10-03T16:19:25Z")
> [@campp](#): > > The phrase “Lost shaker of salt” has always bothered me, even though I know he was just shoehorning a rhyme in the lyrics. That’s the best part! He’s making margaritas to kill the pain and he can’t even find the salt to rim his glasses with. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-jimmy-buffets-margaritaville/598416/11 "2011-10-03T17:25:11Z")
It’s a humorous song about regret and bad choices. The tone is light, but clearly the singer is in the fit of depression over the loss of his lover, and get further depressed as he gets drunker. It’s a very sophisticated and dark story song, treated with a catchy tune and making fun of the depression. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-jimmy-buffets-margaritaville/598416/12 "2011-10-03T17:34:49Z")
All I know is that every time I hear the first line, I think to myself “Damn, that sounds comfortable…” ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-jimmy-buffets-margaritaville/598416/13 "2011-10-03T18:38:55Z")
> [@campp](#): > > The phrase “Lost shaker of salt” has always bothered me, even though I know he was just shoehorning a rhyme in the lyrics. This is my own personal mis-heard lyric. Until very recently, I always heard that line as “searching for my outlaw shaker of salt”. Listen to it, and come back and tell me that’s not what it sounds like. mmm ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-jimmy-buffets-margaritaville/598416/14 "2011-10-03T18:45:28Z")
LOL… guess what just came on the radio? ---
**Author:** ![AndyLee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/898d66/32.png) [@AndyLee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndyLee)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-jimmy-buffets-margaritaville/598416/15 "2011-10-03T18:50:23Z")
I agree I never thought it to be comedy. And I am a boy who grew up in the Florida Keys. It was a pretty good representation of the people around me I saw on a daily basis ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-jimmy-buffets-margaritaville/598416/16 "2011-10-03T19:25:23Z")
The lyrics are clever, sometimes funny, but the song isn’t supposed to be a joke. As others have said, the whole idea behind the song is that the narrator had his heart broken some time ago, and now spends most of his time sitting around the house, getting sloshed. Despite the cheery tone of the music, the song is a sad portrait of a broken man. Of course, the narrator shows more self-awareness than most drunks do. Presumably, the woman who broke his heart is LONG gone, but he’s still unable to move on. By the end, he pretty much acknowledges that, at this point, the woman who dumped him isn’t responsible for his problems. If he’s a lethargic, house-bound alcoholic, well, that’s his own problem and his own fault. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-jimmy-buffets-margaritaville/598416/17 "2011-10-04T07:52:42Z")
Well, then, this has special meaning for me, Astorian. Our family was wrecked twice by heavy drinking–first my father’s, then my stepfather’s. I never felt the sense of independence necessary to break away, and so I was always there to defend others, especially my hapless mother. I am a teetotaler but from an overview of our family history you might conclude that drinking has done me severe damage. I agree that the dissolution Buffet describes in his lyrics is nothing to laugh at. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-jimmy-buffets-margaritaville/598416/18 "2011-10-04T08:29:41Z")
Man, you guys know how to dissect a song to its worst, and affect your own malaproprism… It’s simply a sailor’s tune, or a dirge of limerickism, much like the Beach Boys, sloop John B. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-jimmy-buffets-margaritaville/598416/19 "2011-10-04T08:47:58Z")
[Sloop John B](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9fw7eOqBSk&feature=related). There are some notes and melodies, phrases and chords, which exist herein that are important. See the influence on that Buffet tune? ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-jimmy-buffets-margaritaville/598416/20 "2011-10-04T12:06:18Z")
I’ve always thought it was a tongue-in-cheek song about a month-long bender following a bad break up. (P.S.“Lost shaker of salt” is very clever.) Oh, and for years, I thought that he’d slipped on a PopTart, not a pop top. The image of a PopTart on the floor is still ingrained in my head. I also picture some opened cans of Spam and loose Saltine crackers, FWIW. For a darker song, I’d recommend at “A Pirate Looks at 40,” which happens to be my favorite Buffet tune. “Come Monday” is also pretty depressing. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-jimmy-buffets-margaritaville/598416.md?page=2)