Lookin' for Margaritaville: Place and Imagination in Jimmy Buffett's Songs

Parrotheads in Margaritaville: Fan Practice, Oppositional Culture, and Embedded Cultural Resistance in Buffett Fandom

“…One fan gives the recipe for Buffett's music by saying, “start with a cup of country, add two tablespoons of Caribbean music, a pinch of rock, and a cup of soul from New Orleans. Shake it all up and the result is what Buffett sounds like” (Bowen 104).…”

“…The subsequent success of Buffett's music relied partially on his unique sound stemming from his experimentation with and exposure to folk, rock, and country music. Phrases used to describe the Buffett “sound” include “Carib‐honky‐tonk,”“Shrimp‐boat rock,” and “Gulf and Western” (Harrington G1, cited in Bowen 103). One fan gives the recipe for Buffett's music by saying, “start with a cup of country, add two tablespoons of Caribbean music, a pinch of rock, and a cup of soul from New Orleans.…”

Songs you know by heart

“…Jimmy Buffett's most famous song, "Margaritaville," has led innumerable fans to search for this famous place (Bowen 1997) that Buffett describes as "a state of mind" (Buffett 1992: 12). From a cultural geography perspective, Bowen examined this song, and other similar Buffett lyrics, to determine the role of Buffett's music in the construction of place, especially the mythical place of Margaritaville.…”

“…To note, none of these authors systematically examined Jimmy Buffett's lyrics. In each instance, the authors examined either convenience samples on internet fan websites (Bowen 1997;Mihelich and Papineau 2005) or handpicked songs to exemplify the authors' arguments (Bowen 1997;Ingersoll 2001). Indeed, systematically examining an artist's lyrics in their entirety is quite rare (Hilbert 2012), yet understanding how musicians develop throughout their careers is an important endeavor (Collins 2012;Punter 2014).…”

“…The Buffett name is emblazoned on items for purchase, his lyrics are found in academic publications, and Jimmy Buffett's music and fans have been the topic of serious scholarly inquiries. For example, two academic journal articles (Bowen 1997;Mihelich and Papineau 2005) and a book chapter (Ingersoll 2001) have addressed some aspect of Jimmy Buffett's music or his fans. Another article demonstrated how his lyrics can teach criminology students about content analysis (Brank et al 2009).…”