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Tin Cup Chalice Lyrics

I want to go back to the island,
Where the shrimp boats tie up to the pilings.
Give me oysters and beer for dinner ev'ry day of the year,
And I'll feel fine, I'll feel fine.

Chorus:
'Cause I want to be there,
I want to go back down and lie beside the sea there.
With a tin cup for a chalice
Fill it up with good red wine,
And I'm-a chewin' on a honeysuckle vine.

Yeah, now the sun goes slidin' 'cross the water;
Sailboats, they go searchin' for the breeze.
Salt air it ain't thin,
It can stick right to your skin,
And make you feel fine.
It makes you feel fine.

'Cause I want to be there,
I want to go back down and get high beside the sea there.
With a tin cup for a chalice
Fill it up with good red wine,
And I'm-a chewin' on a honeysuckle vine.


Yes, and now you heard my strange proposal;
Get that Packard up and let's move.
I want to be there before the day
Tries to steal away and leave us behind;
I've made up my mind

And I want to be there,
I want to go back down and die beside the sea there.
With a tin cup for a chalice
Fill it up with good red wine,
And I'm-a chewin' on a honeysuckle vine.

Yea, with a tin cup for a chalice
Fill it up with good red wine,
And I'm-a chewin' on a honeysuckle vine
4 Meanings

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Cover art for Tin Cup Chalice lyrics by Jimmy Buffett

Actually, it is "Packard." J.B. describes in his book "A Pirate Looks at Fifty" about his infamous first trip to Key West with Jerry Jeff Walker and his old Packard, "The Flying Lady."

Cover art for Tin Cup Chalice lyrics by Jimmy Buffett

Pretty straight-forward song about wanting to go back to paradise and leave all the daily grind behind. That's pretty much what Jimmy B is all about.

Cover art for Tin Cup Chalice lyrics by Jimmy Buffett

IMHO, the song refers to Dauphin Island, Alabama, near to where Jimmy is from. It has oysters, shrimp boats, pine trees and honeysuckle vines. All part of the lyrics but only Jimmy knows for sure. It's one of my favorite songs of his, and one day in the distant future it'll be played when my ashes are scattered over the Gulf of Mexico south of Dauphin Island.

My Opinion

@gulfcoaster - 'This was my first Key West song. I was running from a bad marriage and a trail of debt, and wound up at the end of America. Nobody cared about either there, and they took the time to applaud the sunset at the end of the day. It was a place for me to hang my hat for a while.' -- JB.

Cover art for Tin Cup Chalice lyrics by Jimmy Buffett

It's not

"Get that Packard up and let's move"

It's

"pack gear"

@Aristocracker This is clearly not what the song says. The mention of Packard is typical of Buffet who loves for the early-Baby-Boomer age, 1950s TV and so on. In the early 1950s a Packard was on par with a Cadillac. In the early 1970s it was totally passe, which is why Buffett mentions it here. The whole song is about a backward look at a place whose charm is mainly because of how backward the place is. If it's one thing Buffett loves, it's timelessness.

 
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