t’s interesting to look over this history of Jimmy Buffett and his hit Margaritaville. After all, he was a guy hanging out in the Caribbean and supposedly wrote this song that resonated amongst all the sad yuppies of the world. The song in its imagined state implies a laid-back lifestyle. But if you look at the lyrics, it’s more about a marginalized alcoholic “wasting away” in the bottom of a margarita glass, who is wandering aimlessly and slowly realizing that he fucked up his life and there is no coming back.

The thing is, Buffett was no fool. Soon as this song was a hit amongst middle-class, middle-aged people who belly up to tiki bars, yell “Whooo” to everything and drink too much, he came out with positive rather than negative songs about aimless oblivious wandering, Cheeseburger in Paradise being one of many. So his legion of “parrotheads” find their nirvana being a barside stool, a credit card and a couple of days off.

Look, if you want to fuck up your life, it’s yours to fuck up. If your idea of satisfaction is a cruise ship to some privatized corporate-owned island somewhere, it’s your doing. There are no laid back songs of being a writer, or a cyclist commuter, or simply sitting in a coffee shop and chatting with a barista. There are long-term friends to make, places to visit, experiences to embrace. Oh, and blogs to write.

But if that is your goal, to sideline yourself and wallow in pudgy, sunburned, low-IQ pleasure, that’s your lookout.

Me, I’ll embrace the life I create, and not some cartoon of island living.

>>>AND I’LL KEEP SELLING BOOKS, RIGHT DOWN THIS LINK<<<

P.S. I did find a missing verse that was removed from the original “aired” version to make it more radio-friendly. See what you think.

Cruisin’ the gift shops,
Checkin’ out chiquitas, down by the shore
They dream about weight loss,
Wish they could be their own boss
Those three-day vacations can be (or “become”) such a bore