Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCLXXVI--Jimmy Buffett: Margaritaville

This week's tune is another of those songs that I came to appreciate much more as I got older than I did when it was first released.  Whether that was born of the wisdom that comes with age or just the broadening of horizons I don't know...but I'd bet on the latter. 

[Blogger's Note:  If you're like me and generally ignore links, you can skip this.  However, if you like to read about the artist's career, please note that the Wikipedia entries for Jimmy Bufffett read more like press releases than encyclopedic histories of his career.  My advice:  don't bother.]

Jimmy Buffett got his start in Florida in 1964, working clubs for years to sharpen his skills before releasing his first album in 1970.  He had his first chart success in the late 70's and has had a constant string of LPs and commercial sales since.  For his career he has released thirty albums (his thirtieth released just this year), one of which hit #1, and nine others which broke the top ten.  He's also released 12 live albums, 9 compilations, 67 singles, and had forty-four concert tours.  Buffett is also something of an entrepreneur, cashing in on the success of his biggest single to open themed restaurants, casinos, and clubs in addition to foods and footwear (among others).  Buffett has also penned a couple of best-selling books...and being the good guy that he is has a number of charitable works to his credit.

"Margaritaville" was released in 1977 from his album Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes.  It was the biggest single of his career, reaching #8 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100, while the album would be the first hit LP he would have, peaking at #12 on the Billboard 200.

In "Margaritaville," Jimmy Buffett weaves a couple of snapshots in time in the life of a lost, but good-natured, drunk.  Buffett sings with compassion for his character, though a hint of his embarrassment sneaks through his vocals.  The music favors the Caribbean flavored country folk that marks so much of Buffet's work, though in this instance he uses it effectively to add a little pathos to his tale.  The kicker comes with the drunk's realization that while many folks think there's a woman to blame, he knows his problems are his own fault.  It's an affliction that's common to many of us, but isn't often easy to see through the rose-colored glasses most of us view our lives through.  The song in popular culture has become sort of an anthem for sitting back and drinking Margaritas which is unfortunate--while I've never understood the whole Parrothead (Buffett devotees) movement, or been much of a fan of most of his other songs, with "Margaritaville" he shows once again how every now and again we mortals can carve a slice out of heaven and add a few words with a bit of tune and make a little magic.

Lyric Sheet:  "But there's booze in the blender/And soon it will render/That frozen concoction that helps me hang on..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee