Margaritaville from Jimmy Buffett is not just a catchy party tune, it’s also got to be the most merchandised song ever.
It has spawned books, beverages, clothing, restaurants, and even the Margaritaville Lake Resort in Lake Conroe in Texas.
But did you know the song has origins right here in the Mueller neighborhood?
Back in 1976, Buffett was at a restaurant called Lung’s Cocina del Sur at the Village Center strip mall on Anderson Lane in Austin where he discovered Margaritas with a soon-to-be ex-girlfriend.
Afterward, Buffett headed to a friend’s Northwest Hills duplex (6109 Shadow Valley Dr.), where he strummed his guitar on the deck and started what we now know as Margaritaville.
Buffett continued working on the song about Margaritas and heartbreak in the terminal of Robert Mueller Municipal Airport (the control tower still stands and it’s less than a mile from the Airbnb) as he waited to board his flight, and finished it in Key West.
The Key West/Jimmy Buffett connection has ties to Austin, as well. Austin’s Jerry Jeff Walker drove Jimmy Buffett to Key West back in 1971 for a visit that has extended to the current day for Buffett.
In an interview with the New York Post, Buffett recalled how he was going to call it “Wasting Away Again in Austin, Texasville,” but he revised the title during his return flight to Key West.
I think he made the right call there. In 1977, Jimmy Buffett recorded the song, which became his highest-charting hit at #8 on the Billboard chart.
So when you come to stay here, and go for a walk or drive along Berkman Drive near the old control tower, you might find yourself humming the tune about nibblin’ on sponge cake and watchin’ the sun bake.
If that happens, Jimmy and his Margarita heartbreak four decades ago at the airport are to blame.