I don't see the lyrics of this 1977 megahit here at Mudcat, so I think they ought to be posted. Can't say I've ever liked the song, but it's a real earworm. Every time I hear of the song, it sticks in my head for a week, and I hate myself for having such drivel running through my head.

If you go to Key West, at the end of the Florida Keys (and you really should), you will be inundated with Jimmy Buffett and Margaritaville paraphernalia. I see in Wikipedia that Jimmy Buffett, born in Pascagoula, Mississippi, on Christmas Day in 1946, got his start busking in New Orleans. Jerry Jeff Walker took him to Key West on a busking expedition in November, 1971. Jimmy Buffett also apparently had some sort of connection to Jim Croce, which seems logical to me. Now, Key West may well be the most active busking location in the entire United States. Hordes of people go to the waterfront for sunset over the Gulf of Mexico, and there are all sorts of buskers there for the nightly celebration. I gather that Buffett has lived in Key West for most of the time since then. Buffett has kind of a "drunken beach bum" persona that really turns me off, but I get the impression that there's a person of substance lurking beneath that persona. His songs are certainly clever, and he seems like he might be a really good guy.

I think the song is an interesting commentary on the banality of the party life of people in places like Key West. I get the impression that Buffett doesn't really believe in this kind of life, but he's stuck in it - and a whole culture has been built on this banality. It could be interesting to study the parallels between Buffett and Hemingway and their life in Key West.

I swear that Key West is one of the most fascinating places in the United States. I drove to Key West and expected to spend one night there, at the "Southernmost Motel in the United States"; but the place was so interesting that I stayed there three days. I took a seaplane from Key West to Dry Tortugas National Park, and went snorkeling amidst the coral reefs (and saw TWO lighthouses and one barracuda who seemed a bit too interested in me). Since I was alone, I got to sit in the copilot's seat. That was wonderful, but the most interesting part of Key West was the nightly sunset ritual, when everyone in town went to the waterfront to witness the sunset. Yeah, there was banality and booze; but there was something wonderful and profound about seeing all those people gathering to witness the simple wonder of the sunset. I guess that's what drew Hemingway there, too. Oh, and there are feral chickens in Key West, chickens everywhere you go. Nobody seems to know why they're there, but there's something wonderful about them.

The water around Key West is horribly polluted, and nobody can find the cause. So...you can't swim in the water or eat the fish you catch there. It may seem like paradise....but there are problems. All that seems to fit, too.

MARGARITAVILLE
(Jimmy Buffett)

Nibblin' on sponge cake,
Watchin' the sun bake,
All of those tourists, covered with oil;
Strummin' my six-string,
On my front porch swing,
Smell those shrimp, they're beginnin' to boil.

CHORUS:
Wastin' away again in Margaritaville,
Searching for my lost shaker of salt;
Some people claim that there's a woman to blame,
But I know it's nobody's fault.

I don't know the reason
I stayed here all season,
Nothin' to show but this brand new tatto;o
But it's a real beauty,
A Mexican cutie,
How it got here I haven't a clue.

CHORUS:
Wastin' away again in Margaritaville,
Searchin' for my lost shaker of salt;
Some people claim that there's a woman to blame,
But I know,
Hell, it could be my fault.

I blew out my flip-flop,
Stepped on a pop-top;
Cut my heel, had to cruise on back home.
But there's booze in the blender,
And soon it will render
That frozen concoction that helps me hang on.

CHORUS
Wastin' away again in Margaritaville,
Searching for my lost shaker of salt;
Some people claim that there's a woman to blame,
But I know it's my own damn fault.
Yes and some people claim that there's a woman to blame,
But I know it's my own damn fault.


http://www.lyricsfreak.com/j/jimmy+buffett/margaritaville_20071892.html
(corrected)