"Margaritaville" | ||||
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Single by Jimmy Buffett | ||||
from the album Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes | ||||
B-side | "Miss You So Badly" | |||
Released | February 14, 1977 | |||
Recorded | November 1976 | |||
Studio |
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Genre | ||||
Length | 4:09 (album) 3:20 (single) | |||
Label | ABC | |||
Songwriter(s) | Jimmy Buffett | |||
Producer(s) | Norbert Putnam | |||
Jimmy Buffett singles chronology | ||||
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Alternative cover | ||||
Audio sample | ||||
"Margaritaville" is a 1977 song by American singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett,released on his seventh album, Changes in Latitudes,Changes in Attitudes . In the United States,"Margaritaville" reached number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 chart,and went to number one on the Easy Listening chart, [7] also peaking at No. 13 on the Hot Country Songs chart. [8] Billboard ranked it number 14 on its 1977 Pop Singles year-end chart. [9] It was Buffett's highest charting solo single. After Buffett’s death on September 1,2023,the song re-entered the Top 40 for the week ending September 16,2023.
Named for the cocktail margarita,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 was used in the title of other Buffett compilation albums including Meet Me in Margaritaville:The Ultimate Collection and is also the name of several commercial products licensed by Buffett. The song also lent its name to the 2017 musical Escape to Margaritaville ,in which it is featured alongside other Buffett songs. Continued popular culture references to and covers of it throughout the years attest to the song's continuing popularity. The song was mentioned in Alan Jackson's 2003 single "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere",on which Buffett is a featured artist,and in Blake Shelton's 2004 single "Some Beach".
"Margaritaville" has been inducted into the 2016 Grammy Hall of Fame for its cultural and historic significance. [10] In 2023,the song was selected for preservation in the United States National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally,historically,or aesthetically significant." [11] Buffett maintained a resort chain by the same name. [12]
In an interview with Sound on Sound magazine, [13] producer Norbert Putnam stated Buffett approached him with the concept of an album of light,carefree songs about life by the beach. Putnam encouraged Buffett to record the album at Criteria Studios in Miami,rather than Buffett's usual studio in Nashville,in order to take inspiration from Miami's easygoing beachfront lifestyle. One day during recording,Buffett complained about a bad day he recently had on the beach,which included losing one of his flip-flops on his way home from a bar,cutting his foot on a beer can pop top,and running out of salt for his margarita. Buffett was already working on a set of lyrics about the incident,to which Putnam told him,"That's a terrible idea for a song." A few days later,Buffett played a rough version of the song,then called "Wasted Away Again in Margaritaville," and Putnam and others at the studio realized it had potential as a hit. [13]
The song is about a man spending an entire season at a beach resort community,with three verses that describe his day-to-day activities. In the first verse,he passes his time playing guitar on his front porch and watching tourists sunbathe,all the while eating sponge cake and waiting for a pot of shrimp to boil. In the second verse,he has nothing to show for his time except a tattoo of a woman that he cannot remember getting. In the third and final verse,he steps on a discarded pull-tab,cutting his heel and ruining the flip-flops he is wearing,then returns home to ease his pain with a fresh batch of margaritas. In live performances,he sang "I broke my leg twice,I had to limp on back home".
The three choruses reveal that the narrator is pondering his recent failed romance,and his friends are telling him that his former 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." So the overall story that the song tells is not hedonist enjoyment of life in the sun,but rather almost the opposite;it's a man's gradual recognition,while drowning his sorrows in alcohol,that it was his foolish actions that destroyed the chance of happiness with the woman he loved. The appeal of the song is partly the clever way this evolving story is related in just a few words at the end of each chorus.
Buffett revealed during the recording of an episode of CMT's Crossroads with the Zac Brown Band that "Margaritaville" was actually supposed to be recorded by Elvis Presley,but Presley died the same year the song was released (he declined the offer before the song could be recorded). [14]
There is a "lost verse" to this song,as described by Buffett,which he often added when performing in concert,which was reputedly edited out before recording the song in order to make the song more radio friendly. The song was shortened even further for the single edit:
There is some confusion as to whether Buffett sings "Wasted away" [15] 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 ]. [16] Also,most guitar tablature and sheet music read "Wastin'." Buffett never made a statement on the issue. However,he was also known to use "wasted" in some performances,as well as in the video game re-recording for Rock Band.
Record World said that "Buffett turns in a melodic performance that could give him his first big hit." [17]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
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When "Margaritaville" was released to radio stations in 1977, the single edit ran for 3:20, cutting out the instrumental break, and the section during the third chorus and final refrain. So the song structure changed to "riff-verse-chorus-verse-chorus-verse-chorus-riff", and the track itself was sped up at half-step. The original recording in the key of D would be E-flat.
"Margaritaville" | |
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Song by Alan Jackson with Jimmy Buffett | |
from the album Under the Influence | |
Released | October 26, 1999 |
Genre | Country |
Length | 4:15 |
Label | Arista Nashville |
Songwriter(s) | Jimmy Buffett |
Producer(s) | Keith Stegall |
In 1999, American country singer Alan Jackson covered the song on his album Under the Influence . The cover featured Buffett singing along on the third and final verse; it also peaked at No. 63 after receiving play as an album cut.
American singer Toby Keith covered it as a duet with Sammy Hagar in 2013 for his album Drinks After Work . It appeared only on the deluxe edition of the LP. This version was also included on the Sammy Hagar & Friends album, also from 2013.
Jimmy Buffett also re-recorded this song as well as "Cheeseburger in Paradise" and "Volcano" specifically for Rock Band as downloadable content.
In 1991, comedian Mark Eddie wrote a parody of the song titled "Marijuanaville". The song appeared on the album "Rock n' Roll Comedy Cuts Part II" (1998). In 2006, Kenan Thompson did a parody of the song during the Weekend Update segment on Saturday Night Live , where he plays a soldier who found out he was going to the U.S.-Mexico border, rather than 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."
In 2013, a parody has aired on the John Boy & Billy Big Show titled "Martinsville", referencing Martinsville Speedway. [34]
James William Buffett was an American singer-songwriter. He was known for his tropical rock sound and persona, which often portrayed a lifestyle described as "island escapism" and promoted enjoying life and following passions. Buffett recorded many hit songs, including those known as "The Big 8": "Margaritaville" (1977), which is ranked 234th on the Recording Industry Association of America's list of "Songs of the Century"; "Come Monday" (1974); "Fins" (1979); "Volcano" (1979); "A Pirate Looks at Forty" (1974); "Cheeseburger in Paradise" (1978); "Why Don't We Get Drunk" (1973); and "Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes" (1977). His other popular songs include "Son of a Son of a Sailor" (1978), "One Particular Harbour" (1983), and "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" with Alan Jackson (2003). Buffett formed the Coral Reefer Band in 1975.
Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes is the seventh studio album by American popular music singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett. This is his breakthrough album, which remains the best-selling studio album of Buffett's career, and contains his biggest single, "Margaritaville". It was initially released in January 1977 as ABC AB-990 and rereleased on its successor label, MCA.
Son of a Son of a Sailor is the eighth studio album by American singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett. It was initially released in March 1978 as ABC Dunhill AA-1046 and later re-released on its successor label, MCA.
"Hey, Good Lookin'" is a 1951 song written and recorded by Hank Williams, and his version was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2001. In 2003, CMT voted the Hank Williams version No. 19 on CMT's 100 Greatest Songs of Country Music. Since its original 1951 recording it has been covered by a variety of artists.
"Come Monday" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett. It was first released on his 1974 album Living & Dying in ¾ Time.
"Cheeseburger in Paradise" is a song written and performed by American popular music singer Jimmy Buffett. It appeared on his 1978 album Son of a Son of a Sailor and was released as a single, reaching No. 32 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Cheeseburger in Paradise" became one of Buffett's signature songs, and was selected as the first track on his greatest hits album Songs You Know by Heart.
"Amazed" is a song by American country music group Lonestar, released on March 22, 1999, to country radio as the second single from their third studio album Lonely Grill (1999). The power ballad is the band's longest-lasting number one single and biggest hit, spending eight weeks at the top of the Billboard country chart. The song was written by Marv Green, Aimee Mayo, and Chris Lindsey. A pop remix of the song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and number two on the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks charts in 2000. The song has sold over 1,650,000 digital copies in the US as of February 2016.
"It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" is a song performed by Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett, and written by Jim "Moose" Brown and Don Rollins. It was released in June 2003 as the lead single from Jackson's 2003 compilation album Greatest Hits Volume II. It spent eight non-consecutive weeks at #1 on Billboard Hot Country Songs in the summer of 2003, and ranked #4 on the year-end chart. In addition, the song peaked at #17 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September, and ranked #65 on the year-end Hot 100, making it the biggest pop hit for Jackson and the first top forty hit for Buffett since the 1970s.
"Heartache Tonight" is a song written by Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Bob Seger and J. D. Souther, recorded by the Eagles and features Glenn Frey on lead vocals. The track was included on their album The Long Run and released as a single in 1979. It reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in November of that year and was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America representing one million copies sold. It was the Eagles' final chart-topping song on the Hot 100.
Living and Dying in ¾ Time is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett. It is the second major label album in Buffett's Don Gant-produced "Key West phase". It was initially released in February 1974 as his second album for Dunhill Records. It contains the song "Come Monday", his first top-40 hit single.
Under the Influence is the eighth studio album by American country music artist Alan Jackson. It was released on October 26, 1999, and features covers of other country artists' material. Three singles were released from Under the Influence; "Pop a Top", "The Blues Man", and "It Must Be Love", which respectively reached No. 6, No. 37, and No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs charts. "My Own Kind of Hat", "Margaritaville" and "She Just Started Liking Cheatin' Songs" also entered the lower regions of the charts from unsolicited airplay.
The discography of American singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett consists of 32 studio albums, 11 compilations albums, 14 live albums, one soundtrack album, and 67 singles. Buffett was known for his unique style of music called "Gulf and Western", which combines elements of country, folk rock, pop, and Caribbean, with tropical lyrical themes. Buffett has sold over 20 million albums worldwide and had a net worth of $550 million.
"Weather with You" is a song by New Zealand-Australian rock band Crowded House. It was the third and most successful single released from the group's third studio album, Woodface (1991), reaching top 50 in 10 countries, including the United Kingdom, where it reached number seven. At the APRA Music Awards of 1994, the song won Most Performed Australian Work Overseas. The song was intended to be part of the Finn Brothers' unreleased 1990 debut, but after Capitol Records found the recordings, they were merged with a Crowded House session to become Woodface.
Songs You Know by Heart: Jimmy Buffett's Greatest Hit(s) is the 18th album and the first greatest hits compilation by American singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett. It was released in 1985. The parenthetical "s" in the subtitle alludes to the status at the time of "Margaritaville" as Buffett's single large chart hit.
Riddles in the Sand is the thirteenth studio album by American popular music singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett. It was released in September 1984 as MCA 5512 and was produced by noted country music producer Jimmy Bowen and represented a concerted shift toward a more country sound by Buffett. He appeared on the album's cover in typical country singer garb and promoted the album at Fan Fair country music festival in Nashville, Tennessee. The album was originally to have been titled Gulf and Western Music reflecting the fusion of musical styles seen in much of Buffett's music often called Gulf and Western music. In the album's liner notes, Jim Harrison says, "This album has a musical range expanding in an arc from Bob Wills to Bob Marley with the Gulf somehow always there."
"Pencil Thin Mustache" is a song written and performed by American popular-music singer and songwriter Jimmy Buffett. It was released as a single on Dunhill D-15011 in August 1974. It was first released on his album of 1974, Living and Dying in ¾ Time. It just missed the Billboard Hot 100 at number 101 on Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles, and reached number 44 on the Easy Listening chart.
"Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes" is a song written and recorded by American popular music singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett. It was released as a single on ABC Dunhill 12305 in August 1977.
"How Forever Feels" is a song written by Wendell Mobley and Tony Mullins and recorded by American country music artist Kenny Chesney. It was released in December 1998 as the first single from Chesney's 1999 album Everywhere We Go. The song reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart and the RPM Country Tracks chart in Canada. It also peaked at number 27 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, making it Chesney's first Top 40 hit on the pop chart.
"Toes" is a song recorded by the Zac Brown Band, an American country music band. Lead singer Zac Brown and bass guitarist John Driskell Hopkins co-wrote the song with Shawn Mullins and Wyatt Durrette. It was released in July 2009 as the third single from the band's 2008 major-label debut studio album The Foundation. The song became their second number one hit and their third Top 10 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in November 2009.
"Sea of Heartbreak" is a song written by Paul Hampton and Hal David and recorded by Don Gibson in 1961. The song reached #2 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.