Colette Marie Murphy

It’s taken me a while to figure out exactly what I wanted to write in the wake of Jimmy Buffett’s death. When I first read about it on the morning of September 2 (he passed on September 1), I cried. I cried most of the day, well into the next, and the tears keeping hitting me at random moments. I cried three times…no, wait, four… writing this post.

After all, those who know me well know I wear my Parrothead pride as a badge of honor.

If I’m on a trip somewhere and we find out there’s a Margaritaville in town, you can bet I’m making my entire group come with me, even if it’s literally the first time I’ve met some of them in person. Case in point? This photo is from 2016 in Nashville, TN, taken about an hour and a half after I met my previously-only-online friends for the first time:

And then there’s this photo from the final day of our honeymoon at the Cancun airport when I discovered Air Margartiville restaurants were a thing:

Damn it. In looking for that second picture, I found this one that I also took that day, and the slogan is making me tear up again…

I wrote a lengthy post on social media when the news broke about my personal connections to Buffett, but I knew I wanted to say more. Specifically, I wanted to find ways to introduce people who maybe only know him as “The Margaritaville Guy” to the music I’ve loved — and will forever love — my entire life.

Of course, the easiest thing to do would be to tell you to grab the greatest hits compilation, Songs You Know By Heart (1985), or – if you’re feeling particularly adventurous – the four-disc boxed set Boats, Beaches, Bars, and Ballads (1992). More recently there was the collection Meet Me in Margaritaville (2003) and, during the pandemic, he released Songs You Don’t Know By Heart, a bit of a follow-up to his famous first collection of fan-favorites that still hit that “deep cut” feeling.

But that didn’t feel like enough. I wanted to make my ultimate Buffett playlist, featuring my top tracks and favorites.

I knew I needed to give myself parameters. The man had over 60 albums if you count studio recordings, compilations, soundtracks, and live concert albums. If I thought you’d listen, I’d tell you to just go and stream literally everything. There are no skips in the Buffett discography (okay, even as devoted a fan as me skips some sometimes, but it’s close to being true…).

Instead, I’ll offer you this: for each studio recording album, I’m going to list 1-3 songs I think are most “quintessentially Buffett” (aka, the ones that would make you think “oh, yeah, the Margaritville guy…) and then 1-3 songs that are my personal favorites.

I know that sounds like a lot, but trust me when I say, I’m leaving stuff out that is breaking my heart to do so. (Like, the ENTIRE ALBUM of Fruitcakes (1994) should be a mandatory must-listen for everyone, solely because that was my first Buffett album I had a copy of my own that I kept in my CD case and played on my boombox; not just another disc in the family collection.)

And yes, I made a playlist on YouTube music featuring all the songs I mention so you can listen to them. So, here we go…

Down to Earth (1970)

Quintessential Buffett Song(s): “The Captain and the Kid”

My Personal Favorite Buffett Song(s): “Captain America”

High Cumberland Jubilee (1971)

Quintessential Buffett Song(s): “In The Shelter”

My Personal Favorite Buffett Song(s): “Livingston’s Gone to Texas”

A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean (1973)

Quintessential Buffett Song(s): “He Went to Paris,” “Why Don’t We Get Drunk,” “Grapefruit – Juicy Fruit”

My Personal Favorite Buffett Song(s): “Great Filling Station Holdup,” “Peanut Butter Conspiracy,” “I Have Found Me a Home,” “They Don’t Dance Like Carmen No More”

(This is the first but not the last album where I just wanted to list every single song. This album is perfect. So, yes, I’m already cheating and including four when I said I would limit myself to three. And I wanted to include more. Like, it’s killing me to not have “Death of an Unpopular Poet” or “Cuban Crimbe of Passion” on this list…forget it, I’m putting them on my playlist.)

Living and Dying in 3/4 Time (1974)

Quintessential Buffett Song(s): “Come Monday,” “Pencil Thin Mustache,” “The Wino and I Know”

My Personal Favorite Buffett Song(s): “West Nashville Grand Ballroom Gown,” “Ballad of Spider John,” “Saxophones”

A1A (1974)

Quintessential Buffett Song(s): “A Pirate Looks at Forty,” “Nautical Wheelers,” “Tin Cup Chalice”

My Personal Favorite Buffett Song(s): “Life Is Just a Tire Swing,” “Migration,” “Trying To Reason With Hurricane Season”

Technically a Cover So It Doesn’t Count Towards My Limits: “Stories We Could Tell”

Havana Daydreamin’ (1976)

Quintessential Buffett Song(s): “Havana Daydreamin’,” “Kick It In Second Wind”

My Personal Favorite Buffett Song(s): “Woman Goin’ Crazy On Caroline Street,” “This Hotel Room”

Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes (1977)

Quintessential Buffett Song(s): “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes,” “Margaritaville”

My Personal Favorite Buffett Song(s): “Wonder Why We Ever Go Home,” “Tampico Trauma,” “Miss You So Badly”

Covers: “Lovely Cruise,” “Banana Republics”

Son Of A Son Of A Sailor (1978)

Quintessential Buffett Song(s): “Son Of A Son Of A Sailor,” “Cheeseburger in Paradise,” “Manana”

My Personal Favorite Buffett Song(s): “Cowboy in the Jungle,” “Livingston Saturday Night”

Volcano (1979)

Quintessential Buffett Song(s): “Fins,” “Volcano,” “Boat Drinks”

My Personal Favorite Buffett Song(s): “Treat Her Like a Lady,” “Chanson Pour Les Petits Enfants,” “Sending the Old Man Home”

Coconut Telegraph (1981)

Quintessential Buffett Song(s): “Coconut Telegraph,” “The Weather is Here, Wish You Were Beautiful,” “Incommunicado”

My Personal Favorite Buffett Song(s): “Growing Older But Not Up,” “It’s My Job,” “Little Miss Magic”

Somewhere Over China (1982)

Quintessential Buffett Song(s): “I Heard I Was In Town,” “When Salome Plays the Drum,” “On a Slow Boat to China”

My Personal Favorite Buffett Song(s): “Steamer”

One Particular Harbor (1983)

Quintessential Buffett Song(s): “One Particular Harbor,” “Honey Do,” “We Are The People Our Parents Warned Us About”

My Personal Favorite Buffett Song(s): “California Promises,” “Twelve Volt Man,” “Distantly In Love”

Covers: “Stars on the Water,” “Brown-Eyed Girl”

Riddles in the Sand (1984)

Quintessential Buffett Song(s): “Who’s the Blonde Stranger?,” “Ragtop Day,” “Knees of My Heart”

My Personal Favorite Buffett Song(s): “La Vie Dansante,” “She’s Going Out Of My Mind”

Last Mango in Paris (1985)

Quintessential Buffett Song(s): “Gypsies in the Palace,” “Last Mango in Paris,” “Jolly Mon Sing”

My Personal Favorite Buffett Song(s): “Frank and Lola,” “Please Bypass This Heart,” “If The Phone Doesn’t Ring, It’s Me”

Floridays (1986)

Quintessential Buffett Song(s): “Creola,” “Nobody Speaks to the Captain No More,” “No Plane on Sunday”

My Personal Favorite Buffett Song(s): “First Look,” “When the Coast Is Clear,” “If It All Falls Down”

Special Honorable Mention: “I Love The Now” (co-written by Carrie Fisher – YES THAT CARRIE FISHER)

Hot Water (1988)

Quintessential Buffett Song(s): “My Barracuda,” “King of Somewhere Hot,” “That’s What Living Is To Me”

My Personal Favorite Buffett Song(s): “Bring Back the Magic,” “Pre-You,” “Smart Woman (In A Real Short Skirt)”

Covers: “Great Heart,” “L’Aire de Louisianne”

Off to See the Lizard (1989)

Quintessential Buffett Song(s): “Take Another Road,” “The Pascagoula Run,” “Changing Channels”

My Personal Favorite Buffett Song(s): “Off to See the Lizard,” “Boomerang Love,” “That’s My Story And I’m Sticking’ To It”

Boats Beaches, Bars, and Ballads (1992 – Compilation Boxed Set with Unreleased Tracks)

Quintessential Buffett Song(s): “Love and Luck,” “Domino College”

My Personal Favorite Buffett Song(s): “Take It Back,” “Christmas in the Caribbean,”

Fruitcakes (1994) – I WOULD INCLUDE THE ENTIRE ALBUM IF I COULD

Quintessential Buffett Song(s): “Fruitcakes,” “Frenchman for the Night,” “Delaney Talks to Statues”

My Personal Favorite Buffett Song(s): “Lone Palm,” “Love In The Library,” “Quietly Making Noise”

Covers: “Uncle John’s Band,” “Sunny Afternoon,” “She’s Got You”

Barometer Soup (1995)

Quintessential Buffett Song(s): “Barefoot Children,” “Remittance Man,” “The Night I Painted the Sky”

My Personal Favorite Buffett Song(s): “Bank of Bad Habits,” “Diamond As Big as the Ritz”

Covers: “Mexico”

Banana Wind (1996)

Quintessential Buffett Song(s): “Jamaica Mistaica,” “School Boy Heart,”

My Personal Favorite Buffett Song(s): “Bob Robert’s Society Band,” “Happily Ever After (Now and Then)”

Christmas Island (1996)

Quintessential Buffett Song(s): “Ho Ho Ho and a Bottle of Rhum”

My Personal Favorite Buffett Song(s): “Merry Christmas, Alabama”

Beach House on the Moon (1999)

Quintessential Buffett Song(s): “Semi-True Story”

My Personal Favorite Buffett Song(s): “Permanent Reminder of a Temporary Feeling,” “Math Suks”

Far Side of the World (2002)

Quintessential Buffett Song(s): “Far Side of the World”

My Personal Favorite Buffett Song(s): “Tonight I Just Need My Guitar”

License to Chill (2004)

Quintessential Buffett Song(s): “Coast of Carolina,” “Coastal Confessions”

My Personal Favorite Buffett Song(s): “License to Chill,” “Simply Complicated”

Covers: “Scarlet Begonias”

Take The Weather With You (2006)

Quintessential Buffett Song(s): “Party At The End of The World,” “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On”

My Personal Favorite Buffett Song(s): “Bama Breeze,” “Reggabilly Hill,” “Hula Girl At Heart”

Buffett Hotel (2009)

Quintessential Buffett Song(s): “Big Top”

My Personal Favorite Buffett Song(s): “A Lot to Drink About”

Songs from St. Somewhere (2013)

Quintessential Buffett Song(s): “Too Drunk to Karaoke”

My Personal Favorite Buffett Song(s): “Einstein Was A Surfer”

Covers: “Somethin’ ‘Bout a Boat”

‘Tis the SeaSon (2016)

Quintessential Buffett Song(s): “Santa Stole Thanksgiving”

My Personal Favorite Buffett Song(s): “Twelve Days of Christmas (Parrothead Version)”

Life on the Flip Side (2020)

Quintessential Buffett Song(s): “Down at the Lah De Dah,” “Book on the Shelf”

My Personal Favorite Buffett Song(s): “Cussin’ Island”

Equal Strain on All Partys – To Be Released (2023)

Quintessential Buffett Song: “Bubbles Up” (first single)

Once again, here is the playlist if you’d like to listen along: LINK.

And if anyone reads this list and listens to these songs and becomes a Parrothead now…. well, perhaps Jimmy was on to something with this song he wrote 50 years ago: “He was just a poet who lived before his time.“

Fins up forever, Parrotheads. Let’s keep the party going like our Captain would’ve wanted.