Jimmy Buffett’s big song is in the Library of Congress? He reveals where he wrote it

Jimmy Buffett has been chosen for entry into the Library of Congress.

Buffett’s 1977 recording “Margaritaville” joins 24 other recordings to make up the selections of the 2023 National Recordings Registry of the Library of Congress.

The Library made its announcement Wednesday of “audio treasures worthy of preservation for all time based on their cultural, historical or aesthetic importance in the nation’s recorded sound heritage,” said Librarian of Congress’ Carla Hayden in a statement.

Buffett’s South Florida-baked song, his sole hit to barge into Billboard’s Top 10 on the Hot 100 singles chart dated July 2, 1977, joins classics including: John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s 1971 composition, “Imagine”; Led Zeppelin’s 1971 album rock staple, “Stairway to Heaven”; Bobbie Gentry’s 1967 Gothic story song, “Ode to Billie Joe”; W.C. Handy’s 1922 composition “St. Louis Blues”; Madonna’s 1984 chart topper “Like a Virgin”; and Mariah Carey’s seasonal perennial “All I Want for Christmas Is You.”

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For Buffett, who says he is currently recording vocals for his next album at his Key West Shrimp Boat Sound studio, the entry is particularly sweet, he told the Miami Herald in an email interview.

Loves the Library of Congress

“My favorite places to visit in D.C. since I was a kid, and to this day: the Air and Space Museums (both of them), the Vietnam Memorial, the Library of Congress, and Crisfield Crab House in Bethesda. In days past when I was working on the ‘Don’t Stop the Carnival’ musical with Herman Wouk at his house in Georgetown, I frequented all of them, but the Library took the cake,” Buffett said.

“Herman introduced me to Jim Billington, who ran the Library of Congress back then. He gave me my first tour. I have always loved books, reading and libraries, a gift from my mother. The Library of Congress is a monumental treasure, you don’t have to dig up; you just walk into the door of American history. ‘Margaritaville’ in the Library of Congress. I have to just giggle, but with pride. I haven’t received many awards in my profession, but I am OK with that. I think the best reward for a performer is to please the audience. But, of course I am truly honored as a writer, by this award and my sincere thanks to the Library.”

Buffett’s song is another entry with clear ties to South Florida. Five years ago, Gloria Estefan & the Miami Sound Machine’s “Rhythm Is Gonna Get You” was selected for the 2018 Recordings Registry.

(One could make an argument for Miami claiming loose ties to two other 2023 Registry entries: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s “Déjà Vu” album and John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” song. David Crosby and Denver were two folkies who were a part of the Coconut Grove and Coral Gables coffeehouse scenes in the 1960s before they became national superstars.)

Buffett’s ‘Margaritaville’ story

Buffett’s “Margaritaville” was completed about 66 miles from Miami south along U.S. 1 from the birth of Estefan’s number.

“I started writing it on napkin in a Mexican restaurant in Austin, Texas, with a friend who was driving me to the airport, to fly home to Key West. On the drive down the Keys, there was a fender-bender on the Seven Mile Bridge, west of Marathon, and I found myself sitting on the sidewalk, starring out overlooking Pigeon Key, one of my favorite landmarks in Florida,” Buffett recalls.

“What better place to sit and try and finish Margaritaville. Road cleared in and hour and I had a new song! And learned it on the drive to Key West,” Buffett marveled. “That night, I played it for the first time in Crazy Ophelia’s on Duval Street. The small crowd in the bar asked me to play it again. And I did. So, I guess it is a pretty good three-minute song, that has stood the test of time.”