Heaven Is A Margaritaville
i hope jimmy buffett is enjoying that big blender in the sky
I had this idea long before Jimmy Buffett died, but it felt appropriate to push it up in the queue given the circumstances. RIP. Disclaimer: I am not generally a topical lady. This will mark two blog posts in a row that have been Breaking News!, but don’t expect that from me, or you will be disappointed, and I will not feel bad.
The late, great Jimmy Buffett gave us many things - the hit song “Margaritaville,” the hit book “Tales From Margaritaville,” the chain of successful restaurants named “Margaritaville.” While a talented musician known for being a pioneer of tropical rock [god, how cool is that in its own right?], I revere Jimmy Buffett more as a business legend and my personal lifestyle icon, so that is the journey I’m going to take you on today. Now, slip on your Hawaiian shirt, grab a pair of shades, smell the sea air, leave any bad energy behind [I’m looking at you], and throw back one two three margaritas before continuing. Hey, it’s five o’clock somewhere…
I’ll Help You Find Your Lost Shaker of Salt
As a business legend, Jimmy Buffett did what all of us could only dream of doing. Namely, he did exactly one thing extremely well and rode that pretty much into the sunset. This is really the crux of my thesis here because if I could write a hit song about a beverage and make a jillion dollars, none of you would ever see or hear from me again, respectfully.
To dive a little deeper as the proverbial scuba diver in warm tropical waters - in 1977 Jimmy Buffett releases the chart-topping song “Margaritaville.” We all know it; we all love it. If you don’t, what the hell is wrong with you? Margaritaville tells the tale of a man relaxing and drinking the days away at a tropical resort, slowly coming to terms with the realization that he is the cause of his own misfortune. Aren’t we all?
Honestly, I looked the song up on Wikipedia for funsies just now, and whoever wrote that Wikipedia page knocked it out of the park with better prose than you’ll ever get from me, so let me just let you enjoy that analysis unchanged:
“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 sorrowfully 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.”
- Some Wikipedia Legend, spitting absolute fire in a way that makes me 100% positive they have had the exact experience Jimmy is singing about.
In short, Jimmy Buffett produced a singalong banger that makes the listener feel both Good and Bad [or as I like to call it, the vacation special]. After hitting #1 on the US Adult Contemporary chart and the Canada Adult Contemporary chart [the real metric of success], Margaritaville has since been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and deemed culturally significant for preservation by the US Library of Congress. And you thought it was stupid to open a song with “Nibblin' on sponge cake…”
Now, I’ve warned you that the musical accolades of Jimmy Buffett are hardly my main area of interest (though, “Cheeseburger in Paradise” is a banger, and coincidentally all I want in life). What I care about is what happened after Margaritaville [besides the hangover]. Jimmy Buffett parlayed Margaritaville into a lifelong career as the King of Vibes. Jimmy stands for island escapism, no worries, and throwing back another bahama mama if you ever even consider starting to worry. With the immaculate vibe curation, Jimmy also curated an empire. Margaritaville is now a beloved chain of restaurants and resorts [don’t believe me? watch this video masterpiece, which is at once a narrative epic and autoethnographic adventure]. Jimmy sells dinner, lunch, AND breakfast, if you can believe it. Margarita time is anytime. Minor league baseball teams across the country pay regular homage to Jimmy’s legacy (see below). The broader Margaritaville corporation made $2.2 BILLION last year. Two point two billion dollars. One Song, Two Point Two Billion Damn Dollars!!! I am so proud of Jimmy Buffett. I want to be Jimmy Buffett.
But, what truly sets Jimmy Buffett apart is that he doesn’t just sell burgers, fruity lil drinks, and Jimmy’s Jammin' Jambalaya (real food) for a massive, hulkin’ profit. No, Jimmy Buffett sells a lifestyle. The island lifestyle. Most ““artists”” diversify their portfolios with albums and tours, the occasional foray into the televised arts, etc., but not Jimmy. He took the Margaritaville empire and transformed it into a philosophy, a way of life. He didn’t ride the wave to stardom; he cracked open a book and a beer on a quiet stretch of beach and let the tide roll in. In a world where many of us trudge uphill in the Sisyphean wet sand of life, grinding out “careers” instead of shaved ices, Jimmy's commitment to one infectious tune and a laid-back ethos is refreshingly straightforward. He's living proof that sometimes, all you need is one sweet melody and a big ol’ marg (and possibly a lot of ecstasy? I didn’t read that Wikipedia too closely) to create something extraordinary. The man in the song wonders whether his misfortune is his own damn fault, not with pain or fear, but with the practiced balance and acceptance of someone who has book a ticket to the island in his mind. Or, he’s just sat down for dinner service at another fine Margaritaville establishment.
This post is quite rambling, but, like Jimmy would want, nay, demand!, I am electing not to care. Like so many Jimmy Buffett tribute bands who have truly come to embody the spirit of Jimmy by making their careers off of exactly one well-placed song in an otherwise unknown set, I will continue to harp on my singular point. In every sense but physical, I now permanently live at a swim-up bar in the Bahamas, and my life has never been better. Now, if you don’t understand why it is inherently impressive that one man translated a hit song about drinking and vibing into a multibillion-dollar industry, I think it’s over for you [translation for the vibically challenged: that means “you’re hopeless”].
On a final note in this tribute tune to Jimmy, I want to commend him for being what this world sorely needs - a guy who stands for, and actively promotes: hanging out, having a few, and not worrying about whatever comes tomorrow. Jimmy Buffett worked hard to teach us that we really don’t have to. If we could all just get a little bit of that island breeze in our brains, I think the world would be a better place. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to waste away again in Margaritaville…
p.s. if you made it this far - ik this post is late, blame my two jobs i’m working to keep this damn website afloat! i do it all for you, my loyal fans.
Who can resist sponge cake? As Jack Klompus once said: “Of course I wanted it. I love sponge cake!”
Man I’m out here getting the vacation special every day!! RIP Jimmy