Switched on Pop - Jimmy Buffett: Next Year in Margaritaville

Episode Date: September 12, 2023

When Jimmy Buffett died on the first day of September, 2023, musicians from Paul McCartney to Pitbull mourned the death of the "Margaritaville" singer. This surprised Nate and Charlie, because frankly, they had never listened deeply to Buffett's work before, and viewed him more as a branding genius than a great musician. How wrong were your faithful podcast hosts. Jimmy Buffett was no novelty act or one-hit wonder. He found a precise combination of yearning lyrics, hip modulations, and singable melodies that produced a collection of songs that questioned the fantasy of Island Life as much as they celebrated it. Journey with us across the seas of Buffett's artistry as we listen for everything we might have missed about this unique musical icon. Songs Discussed Jimmy Buffett - Margaritaville, Cheeseburger in Paradise, Why Don't We Get Drunk, Come Monday, Fins, A Pirate Looks at 40, My Gummie Just Kicked In Harry Belafonte - Will His Love Be Like His Rum? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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It's free for iOS users. Welcome to Switchdown Pop. I'm musicologist Nate Sloan. And I'm songwriter Charlie Harding. Charlie, in 2023, we have lost so many great musicians. I mean, this is the year we had to say goodbye to Tina Turner. Bert Bacharach. Astrid Gilberto.

The girl from I pen name I goes walking. Robbie Robertson. and so many more. I mean, Charlie, each of these figures could be an entire episode of our podcast, right? Surely, yeah. And yet, of all these icons that we could discuss, I find myself compelled to do a deep dive on the career of another musical great who left us too early. Charlie, I want to talk about Jim.

Jimmy Buffett. Interesting. Yeah. And this surprises me because all those musicians I just mentioned, I have long and deep relationships with. Jimmy Buffett, on the other hand, I virtually know nothing about. And if I'm being honest, when I think about him, I think of him more as a kind of kooky brand and businessman and, like, corny empire than I do as a great musician.

And yet, after he passed away, there was this outpouring of grief and praised from this really diverse group of musicians. Sir Paul McCartney went on at length about his respect and admiration for Jimmy Buffett. Jenny Lewis spoke about his brilliance. Bob Dylan, I guess, is a huge Jimmy Buffett fan. A parrot head. And even Mr. Worldwide himself, Pitbull, eulogized his friend Buffett saying, thank God for Jimmy Buffett. And when life gives you limes, make margaritas. Rest in Paradise.

So if all these people love Jimmy Buffett, like maybe I've been missing something. And maybe this is a chance to write the record and to celebrate the life and music of this musician that clearly means a lot to many people. will you come with me on this journey today, Charles? Absolutely. Jimmy Buffett is one of the most interesting cult figures in popular music. And I think he's technically a one-hit wonder. Like Margaritaville, I think, is the only top 10 hit that he ever had. And yet he was a billionaire. I wouldn't call him a one-hit wonder exactly.

I mean, he's definitely had a number of other songs hit the Hot 100. Whether they hit the top 10, I'm not sure. Right. I mean, he's a radio staple. Like, when he passed, I also started listening to, a number of his records. And I was like, oh, yeah, I know a lot of his music. And to confirm Margaritaville, yeah, was in the top 10, went to number eight in 1977. But yeah, he had a smattering of songs on Billboard throughout his life. Which makes his cultural reach all the more

surprising. Buffett was born in Mississippi and had an early career as a journalist for Billboard before making it as a songwriter. He found inspiration in the Florida Keys, blending island and country sounds, and then turned it into a business. He launched restaurants, hotels, liquor brands, retirement homes, all playing off his lifestyle. And according to Forbes, it made him a billionaire. But Charlie, we're here to talk about his music. And to do so, we have to start with the song you just mentioned, his biggest hit, the song that started this empire.

We have to listen to Margaritaville. I never noticed until just listening to that, that he changes tempo in the chorus. there's a woman to blame, the song actually slows down, and then picks back up. Yes, there's a Rallantondo there, sophisticated temporal choice, perhaps signifying the narrator's physical wasting away in musical form. What was your impression of revisiting Margaritaville? Well, like you were saying earlier, this is like such a ubiquitous song. I feel like I've heard it so many times. And yet it wasn't until this listen that I realized, I think, what the song is actually about.

Wait, I have no idea. I've never thought about it. Well, when you listen more cursorily, it's like, oh, this is just a song about like having a good time, right? Margaritaville. Yeah. But actually, it's kind of about one man's descent into lonely solipsism and misery. Oh, man. It's so wild how frequently lyrics are.

are misheard. I mean, that makes total sense. And yet, he built a business empire of vacationing off of a song, which is really kind of melancholy. I mean, just listen to the lyrics of this chorus. He's wasting away in Margaritaville and looking for someone to blame. Like, that's not a happy image. That's not a carefree, feel-good image. Yeah, this is a kind of a dark sentiment. It's like I've found this place to unload my sorrows, but that's just because I'm never really going to find my home again. At the same time, it does contain some very clever and fun upbeat lyrics, even in its drunken haze. The third verse, I think, is just spectacular. I blew out my flip-flop, stepped on a pop-top. Cut my heel had to cruise on back home.

I love that these are sort of folk lyrics, very colloquial. Flip-flop, pop-top, cruise on Back Home. But there's booze in the blender, and soon it will render. That frozen concoction that helps me hang on. And then these harmonies come in, blending together, like the booze in his blender, creating the elixir that's going to heal his woes. Blender and render is a great rhyme that you might not expect. from this song. Not to mention

dropping concoction. That's a nice, there's some nice vocabulary in here. The frozen concoction that helps me hang on. One of the things about his lyrics is they all feel very spoken. Like, just some guy talking about being on a beach, whatever, I think that as part of his strength is

his relatability and giving voice to the place that people want to be all year long when they have to be stuck doing the thing that they don't want to be doing all year long. And he does it, just like, oh, here's some words. But in fact, they're well chosen.

Part of that directness, I think, comes from his writing process. I mean, he works fast. This song, he says, this song that built everything of the Buffett verse, he wrote in six minutes. No way. Yeah. In addition to establishing a certain kind of lyrical island vibe, this song also establishes a sonic world for Jimmy Buffett, right? this kind of mix of faux calypso-caribbean instrumentation and rhythm plus country storytelling and pedal steel inside guitar a little bit of folk and soft rock when you put all those things

into the blender so to speak yeah the concoction you get has sometimes been called gulf and western kind of a play on country and western right it's like this particular Buffett sound. You mean Gulf G-U-L-F, not G-O-L-F, right? I do. I'm talking about the maritime references here, Charles. Okay, so it's a blend of these different sounds, country Western, but also some of the Calypso sounds. That's the Jimmy Buffet thing. Now, to be clear, this isn't like true Calypso music.

It's kind of this pastiche version. Right. Like some of those elements might come from Calypso, but they're modified. The beginning of Margaritaville starts with this marimba and flute riff. Yeah, it's the vacationer music that they play at the buffet. But it's not really. I mean, if you listen to the music that was probably influencing Buffett, like the music of Harry Belafonte, another legendary musician who passed away in 20, 23,

you hear some of these elements, but they're different. Like instead of marimba, you hear steel pan, right? That's like the more traditional calypso element. And while we have flutes in some calypso, they're used in a very different way. Like listen to Harry Belafonte's song, Will His Love Be like His Rum? Will his love be like his rum? Yes, it will, yes, it will. Intoxicating all lifelong.

Yes, it will. Yes, it will. Everybody drink, drink this toast. Drink this wedding toast. So that flute is there, but man, it's used in such a different way in the Calypso original. It's a lot more freer and improvisatory dancing around the lyrics. It's like the Buffett version is a little buffetized. You know, it's a little sanded down and Americanized.

But it still works. And when you blend it with those country elements, it's like, wow, I've never heard anything quite like this before. Yeah. Yeah. This song, Margaritaville, in time, would be known as one of Buffett's Big Eight, this collection of songs that he performed at every single concert, this constellation of material all composed in the 1970s that formed the bedrock of his sound. It's the Buffett Canon. The Buffett Canon, yeah. So, Charlie, I don't know that we'll get to listen to all of the Big Eight today, but I did want to explore some more of these canonical. pieces with you and see how Buffett further

reinforces this unique sound that he's created. And I feel like the next logical destination on this tour is Cheeseburger in Paradise. Southern Rock with some stellar background vocals.

I mean, this truly must be one of the oddest top 40 hits. Or at least, it's the only one I could find that has a mention of Munster cheese, which I didn't even know as a popular burger. I did do a scan of the genius lyrical database because I was like, it's like how many songs do drop Munster in them. Yeah. And there are a few. The most notable Munster reference I found was on Little Wayne track

called The Other Side from one of his guest artists, LA, The Dark Man. When it comes to robbery, nobody do it better. He says, I'm all about that cheese, Switzer, Mazzarella, Munster Colby, American, and cheddar. It's like he took the metaphor for cheddar for money and just got obsessed with cheese. So I don't have a good cheese wrap to share, but Cheeseburger in Paradise does make me think of

Cruising for Burgers by Frank Zappa, who Buffett actually performed within concert multiple times. I think it's fitting that there's a Buffett Zappa connection because both of them have lyrics that are a little bit goofy and yet often deeply entertaining. Totally. And the paragon of that goofiness in Cheeseburger and Paradise, I think, comes in the bridge of the song. I can't help but laugh even before we listen to it. It is a tomato. I mean, it's literally just a list of burger topics. It's so silly.

And yet, this song does a great job, again, of communicating, not just communicating, but celebrating the simple pleasures in life. Like, is there anything better than a cheeseburger sitting on a beach? I don't know. It's an achievable luxury. Or an impossible burger for our plant-based friends out there. I appreciate it. Yeah.

Inclusive burgers. I wonder if Buffett has a vegan version of that song. He does, actually. Cashew cheese. Yes, I agree. I agree, Charlie. It does make me smile because I love kosher-dil pickles.

Okay, okay. And before we move on, can we just listen to the very beginning of this song? We may. Is that familiar to you? Let me run it back.

Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. I mean, I don't know. No, it's not not forgetting anything specific to mine. Go back to Margaritaville. What? You called it the Buffett verse. It's like he has a little, like,

producer tag. This is his musical cue. That's his rhythmic identification. That's pretty slick. Pretty slick. Good catch, Charles. It's extending the musical world of Margaritaville and introducing the cheeseburger in paradise. It's one giant continuum. It makes sense that he turned this thing into a restaurant empire.

Right. And if these songs are about, like you said, simple pleasures, right? So far we've had drinking, eating. then the next one of the big eight we need to listen to is, why don't we get drunk and screw? One of the most honest pop songs of all time. Very fun. Super goofy.

So like Margarita Ville, this song, the title of which is actually just, Why Don't We Get Drunk, has had its meaning changed over the years because Buffett wrote it as satire, basically like making fun of a prototypical country song. I guess putting the subdecks of most country songs right to the foreground. And then that would be the joke.

He didn't even use his real name when he composed this song. He used a pseudonym borrowed from the board game Monopoly, Marvin Gardens. You know that one, Charles? Great MC name. That's what I mean. It's like it's one of the most honest songs of all time. It's just like what are most songs about drinking actually about? They're about desire to, you know, exactly as he puts it.

This song has now become like a straight up anthem. I mean, listen to this live performance of the song by Jimmy Buffett from the 2000s. And you can hear how this has become this rousing group sing-along for all the parrot heads in the audience. Okay, girls, let's hit it. And then, of course, the men get the next verse. It's like, it's a good time. Very gender normative, but, uh, yeah. The song's not purporting to be anything more aware.

No, Jimmy Buffett is not breaking the gender binary. But he is creating this universe of songs that continue to have this power for his fans. So let's just step back for a second, think about what some of these qualities are, right? So we've got that Gulf and Western sound, this combination of calypso, country, and soft rock. You know, something I noticed that a lot of these songs are kind of these nice medium tempos. They don't go too fast. Definitely. They kind of like get to

groove along with them. Do some white people dancing. Buffett's voice never goes too high or too low. It's always in this nice middle range. These songs are really easy to sing along with like we just heard. Yeah, they're totally sing along songs. And as a guitarist, these are

like the ultimate strum along guitar songs as well. There are no complicated chords. These are the same, you know, five chords that everybody knows that just always reliably work. Finally, after listening to these songs, I kept thinking, man, these songs are so literal. Like, there's no metaphors here. It's like, what you hear is what you get with the Jimmy Buffett song. And I think there's something kind of comforting in that. And yet, Nate, like, I feel like the world that he created around the sound, I mean, that is the thing that so many people can see themselves within.

It's like he has created this larger universe through that sound. I think that's why I was interested in speaking about him today as well, is that he is this sort of unique musical figure that has this enduring really strong fan base. He's kind of alongside like the Grateful Dead in that way, which is a comparison I wouldn't think I'd ever make, but it is as much about the community that he's made with this sound as it is about the songs themselves.

There is a culture, a shared language, a sense of identification that has emerged around Buffett, that he's helped inculcate, but also like the fans themselves have shaped over the years. And I do think that is very cool. Right, right. But that said, Charlie, a cheeseburger is just a cheeseburger, right? It doesn't mean, it doesn't represent anything. It's just a cheeseburger. And that's great. That's delicious. These songs represent maybe like the lighter side of the Buffett verse. After a short break, let's come back. and dig into some of Buffett's more complex songs, some of the big eight that don't just make you want to get drunk and screw, but make you want to think a little bit. Attention Spotify. Has arrived on the new Good Girl Jasmine Absolute of Carolina Herrera, a fragrance intense with character curman and addicivio.

Imagine a jasmine emvolventy, caramelized, and tonka-tosted. A combination that seduce from the first instant and she has a wella. Good Girl Jasmine Absolute, Hypnotic, Irresistible. Charlie, one of Buffett's big eight that I found myself really moved by is a song called Come Monday. Oh, that's beautiful. I love this song. Come Monday, it'll be all right. Come Monday. The whining sound of the steel guitar with the swelling, string. rings so beautifully evoke the yearning of wanting to be back home come Monday.

Yeah, I totally agree. I was like, damn, I'm really like tearing up listening to this Jimmy Buffett song. You've clearly heard it before. This was new to me. And for that reason, I was like floored, like falling out of my seat when we got to the minute and a half mark and Jimmy dropped this modulation in the bridge. I can't help it, honey. you're that much a part of me now remember that night in montana when we said there'd be no room for die

oh yeah that's some hip shit man that's what do you call that kind of modulation like he has gone to another key while reminiscing about that time in montana there's like a memory that's occurring it almost has that same quality of like in film where you do like a flashback and like everything goes to sepia. Yeah, a jump cut, interesting. Flashback, I like that. Flashback modulation.

Major seventh chord built off of the super tonic like weird choice and I'm digging it. This is a great song. There's got some depths here. And it's like a crooner too. It's not a country song. It's not a Clipso song. It feels more in the world of like Frank Sinatra.

I guess I could see that. Frank Sinatra plus pedal steel. Let's listen to a little of that pedal steel. You know, Buffett actually did do a duet with Sinatra. No way. Yeah, maybe you're on to something, Charles. I think because it has that really intimate vocal, but with this big swelling production behind him,

I could see this being a staple on a Vegas stage. It's very sentimental. As you pointed out, this is not about cheeseburgers. This is about longing to be in a place that is home, which isn't that also the entire Buffett universe? that it's like it's about trying to get back to that place that you want to be margaritaville like here he is just like wanting to be somewhere else margaritaville is like um camelot or atlantis it's like this mythical place that can ever quite be reached but you can make the journey as pleasant as possible

along the way or more literally it's a place that you can save up for and go on vacation for one week a year Or you could move to one of the Margaritaville retirement homes, Charlie. No way. Yeah, which have over 3,000 houses down in Florida in one of these. Wow. And they love it. Okay, the Grateful Dead do not have a retirement home. Shout out to Amel at the Margaritaville at the Pliadal-Karman Airport,

who saved my life after my brother's bachelor party when I was at the airport for of like 5 a.m. flight, I wouldn't be here today without, without a meal and the way he took care of me at that. Margaritaville. So, so shout to him. I'm guessing you are not in a state of good health and we're going to miss your flight. I, it was, it was deeper than that. I was going to miss the rest of my life, potentially, if I didn't get some, some sustenance and really just some, some caring words from, from a meal. So, okay, Charlie, we got to get back on track here. Let's listen to Finns, another one of the Buffett Big 8 with a strong nautical

theme. Charlie, don't look now, but I think we've got a metaphor. I don't think this song is about sharks. No, no. No, let's listen to the first verse. What could this be about?

Drinking sharks. I thought this was kind of cool. It's like, here's Jimmy Buffett kind of writing from the perspective of like a single young woman being preyed upon by all these like drunk, letcherous, older men, Fin's the left, Finch to the right. Like, this is a rare Jimmy Buffett hit that projects kind of the darker side of this island lifestyle, I think.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Both with Margaritaville and with Finns, he is pointing to the dark side of, frankly, vacation towns, right? Right. Where they're both paradises, but they're also in the off-season places where people struggle to get by and there are issues with alcoholism. drug abuse and harassment and all kinds of things. And so it's in the music.

It's not just the paradise. It's also the full reality of vacation land. Well said, Chuck. And the last song from Buffett that I want to talk about has a similarly kind of jaundiced view of living the good life. It's called A Pirate Looks at 40. He needs to put some oranges in his smoothies. this smuggling

and I've run this share of grass I made enough money to buy Miami but I pissed it away so fast never meant to last This somewhat Elegiic song

I found very captivating And it turns out I'm not the only one Charlie I was shocked to find out that in our midst in Switch on Pop H.Q. There is a Jimmy Buffett fan

and it's none other than our producer colleague, Rihanna Cruz. And I want to bring Rihanna in here to talk about this song because they say it's one of their favorites. What's up, Rihanna? Rihanna, thank you so much for crashing this Buffett party.

Thank you for talking about Jimmy Buffett. I feel like a lot of people just write him off as the guy with the hotels or the guy down at the beach, but nobody really sits and thinks about his music. Rihanna, I mean, let's talk about a pirate looks at 40. Like, what about this song in particular speaks to you out of the entire Buffett?

Oh, man. I think, like, this song at its core highlights what Jimmy Buffett is best at. Most of his work focuses on kind of the ephemeral nature of time and relaxing. And I think The Pirate Looks at 40 specifically captures, a general sense of missing purpose and kind of mature themes present in singer-songwriter

folky types, you know, like James Taylor, like Gordon Lightfoot. And Jimmy Buffett frames it in the context of like the spaces he knows, right? So the beach and the ocean. And I think a pirate looks at 40 is really great at harnessing what it feels like to be roaming around in search of like a fundamental purpose.

You know, there's a contemplative songwriting to it that like evokes what your mind does and thinks about when you're unburdened by your earthly qualms like jobs and bills, you know, like it's like such an extension of his, um, island philosophy. And like you were saying, the the sort of darker, more contemplative aspects of what this lifestyle leads to, I think manifests in this song. It's one of my favorites. My dad always says you really know you're on vacation when you start having weird and bad dreams because your mind is finally like loose enough to start imagining other possibilities. And so I do think there is this thing when you go on vacation and you are in these beautiful

places. One of the things that can occur is you start actually. questioning fundamental things in your life, you start reflecting. It's not all just cheeseburgers. It's like you have relaxed so much that you're like, wow, okay, what is my purpose now? You know, what am I here to do? And you're brushing against these existential questions that I feel like Jimmy Buffett touches on a lot in his discography with these more contemplative tracks. Well, this is definitely a song about searching. I mean, it's interesting that there's no true chorus in the song.

Every verse is just another chapter in the story. So that's like kind of unusual gambit, very ballad-like. But, Rihanna, I mean, I have to ask, if you go to a Jimmy Buffett concert, I mean, these people, these fans, the cliche at least, is they're boomers, right? That's the core Buffett audience. And yet here you are, Gen Z. At the ripe age of 23. Is that okay to say?

Is that okay? getting down, like not just, you know, like a casual Buffett fan. Like you, you offered me like a lengthy diatribe on the entire Buffett discography. So like what, like how do you, what makes you connect with this music? I need to understand. You know, I think. How do you go from BabyTron and 100 geeks to a pirate looks at 40? I contain multitudes, Nate.

And I think it comes down to that. No, I think I've really connected with Jimmy Buffett and his. music more as I've gotten older and matured. And I know like I'm, you know, I'm still young, right? Like I said, the ripe old age of 23. But I do think that there's inklings in his work of him touching on these greater questions of like humanity and living and, you know, what our purposes. And I do think Jimmy Buffett by and large speaks to the working class. And I think there's an element about him that connects with people that desire this island lifestyle or desire relaxation, but again, are tethered to things like their jobs and their lives and they can't spend money

to uproo and live on an island for the rest of their days. And I think he is really able to connect to people inherently because of that. You know, like he speaks to me. He speaks to my desires. My family when I was younger, you know, we like would go to Margaritaville. resorts as our family vacation because we couldn't afford to go to the Caribbean or we couldn't afford to go to these places that objectively, you know, cost a lot of money, require a lot more. And I think there's something really heartwarming about that. Like, Jimmy Buffett wants to speak to no matter what our background is where we come from. Like, there's an innate need to relax in every single person on the planet.

and he wants to connect with that. You know, it's very human. And that's what I really respect about him. Rihanna, thanks for stopping by to share those thoughts with us. Absolutely. I love Jimmy Buffett. He's a king. Charlie, hearing Rihanna's take on Buffett, it's like, wow, this musician may have a long afterlife.

Yeah. Like, this is someone who's going to connect not just with his core audience, but perhaps like a whole new audience waiting in the wings. to discover Buffett. And I love that because Jimmy never stopped making music. Unlike some artists who kind of like have this golden period and then just kind of rest on their laurels, he like kept writing, kept releasing new songs. Even as a billionaire entrepreneur, wow. Yes, I know, right?

And I really respect that. And I feel like it means there's a lot of material for people to discover. There's even music, Charlie, that we have a. heard yet an entire album that's yet to be released. But two of the singles just came out today. And one of them, Charlie, features none other than Paul McCartney. No. And it's called My Gummy Just Kicked In. Let's go to a tribute concert together and take some gummies. I mean, if that's not a song title that testifies to Jimmy Buffett saying true to his mantra up till the very end, I don't know what else is.

So, man, after doing this deep listening conversation with you, Charlie, like, I have gone 180 on Jimmy Buffett. I started as someone who just kind of dismissed him, kind of thought he was a brand, kind of light and trite. And now I'm like, no, this is someone who speaks to multiple generations, who establish his own unique sound world, who continue to make music throughout his entire long, rich life. and like whose music speaks to me in ways I didn't think possible. So rest in power, Jimmy Buffett. Yeah, I've never been to a Margaritaville, Nate, but I feel like next time you and I get to hang out in person, that's where we got to meet.

You know, at Passover, they say next year in Jerusalem. We'll say next year in Margaritaville. Switched on Pop is produced by Rana Cruz, edited by Art Chung, engineered by Brandon McFarlane, illustrations by Iris Gottlieb, community management by Abby Barr, the Shot Kuroa is our executive producer, or member of the Vox Media Podcast Network,

and a production of Vulture. Tell us your favorite Buffett songs, your favorite Buffett covers, favorite moments at Switchdown Pop on social media. And don't forget to tune in next Tuesday for a brand new episode. Until then, thanks for listening.