Nibblin' on spongecake
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 beginning to boil

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 it's nobody's fault

Don't know the reason
I stayed here all season
With nothing to show but this brand new tattoo
But it's a real beauty
A Mexican cutie
How it got here, I haven't a clue

Wastin’ away again in Margaritaville
Searchin' for my lost shaker of salt
Some people claim that there's a woman to blame
Now I think, 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

Wastin’ away again in Margaritaville
Searchin' for my lost shaker of salt, salt, salt, salt
Yes it's, 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
And I know it's my own damn fault


Lyrics submitted by Brock256, edited by coaster6, BoulderJ

Margaritaville song meanings
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54 Comments

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  • +4
    General Comment
    This song is about a guy drinking his problems away. This isn't a happy song like many mistake it to be. Also, it's "wastin' away" not "wasted away" per vinyl sleeve lyric sheet.
    GeekyRandyon September 30, 2011   Link
  • +3
    General Comment
    wow people. u kno ur all making this harder then it really is? its not about cocain its not about wasting urself and hiding from ur problems its not happy-go-lucky vacation song either its about finding a state of mind where nothing seems wrong. Margaritaville is aparently wat jimmy calls his "happy place." everyone has a little escape in their head weather we want to admit it or not. urs may not have a name like buffet's, but u do have that one place where ur mind goes when u just want to get away from it all. so yea..not that hard to figure out ppl.
    musicismyboyfriend33on January 24, 2009   Link
  • +3
    Song Meaning
    This song is pretty much about a guy who's wasting away on some beach, forever drinking margaritas to get over his pain. He's an alcoholic who now spending his days just watching the waves roll in. Some of his friends think a woman drove him away, until he's by now he's pretty sure it was his own arrogant self that has wound him up where he is now. It's his own damn fault.
    degree7on September 07, 2009   Link
  • +3
    General Comment
    i can definitely hear the subtle anguish. you can almost hear it on his voice on the original album version--the jaded weariness. maybe it's just me. but this song definitely appears bittersweet. if you've ever been lonely and drunk, you know what i mean. things may seem great, but underneath the drunken haze there lies some sadness, some paranoia, some anguish. i mean, according to the song, he dismisses the idea that a woman is to blame for his troubles. he concludes that it is his own fault, that he is sitting in margaritaville drinking all day. while it may have since become a feel-good anthem, and while it is definitely extremely effective as a chill pop song, there is still profound songwriting here.
    danielzhangon May 18, 2009   Link
  • +2
    General Comment
    JIMMY BUFFETT IS FUCKING AWSOME. ANYBODY THAT DOESN'T LIKE HIM NEEDS TO BE PUNCHED SEVERAL TIMES.
    PoOp HeAd MoFoon January 14, 2007   Link
  • +2
    General Comment
    Went to his concert a few years ago. In the parking lot I saw some Huge salt shakers with signs that read "Lost salt shaker found". It was a funny moment.
    Envy337on February 16, 2008   Link
  • +2
    General Comment
    this song is kind of sad, but he is jimmy buffet and he doesn't want to make it sound that way. At the beginning of the song everything is wonderful... he has been on vacation for god knows how long, drinking and laying out in the sun. He may of got out of some kind of relationship, "some people say that theres a women to blame" the first verse he says that "it is nobodys fault." Then in the next few verses his vacation starts to go bad. He is forced to go back home, but still goes for the booze that helps him hang on. He is still trying to drown away his problems with alcohol, but he realizes as the lyrics state "that it's my own damn fault."
    robomaster88on December 10, 2008   Link
  • +2
    General Comment
    It's a fun song. A drinking song. No problem unless it's excessive.
    harrycallahanon February 10, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment
    There is no sadness to this song. It is about being in a place in your mind. Where nothing is THAT serious, so long as you have booze in the blender. At the end of the song, it is by self admission that it really IS, "His own damn fault". But he certainly doesn't sound too bent out of shape about it. I take it that, while things in the world may be wrong, and life can be littered with strife, right NOW everything is jes' fine.....
    kkhx3on March 19, 2003   Link
  • +1
    General Comment
    Margaritaville is about a guy whose life is withering away from alcohol and is too stupid to realize it. It has been embraced by people whose lives are withering away from alcohol and are too stupid to realize it. Margaritaville is a song so mellow it may as well not exist, about a guy so mellow he may as well be dead. It's an addiction song, pure and simple, but one without any balls. It wants to be a song of celebration, but it isn't; it's about that time long after the party is over and you just feel dead.
    Kimnon July 11, 2005   Link

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