Jimmy Buffett Lyrics Quiz


Gavin Thagard

6 Min Quiz

"Wastin' away again in Margaritaville/Searchin' for my lost ___."

Jimmy Buffett opened a chain restaurant named after his popular song, "Margaritaville." He opened the first of these restaurants in 1985 in Key West, Florida.


"Cheeseburger in paradise/Heaven on earth with an onion slice/Not too particular, not too precise/I'm just a ____."

A popular Jimmy Buffett song, the title of "Cheeseburger in Paradise" was used for the name of a restaurant that opened in 2002. The restaurant was founded by OSI Restaurant Partners who purchased the rights to the title from Jimmy Buffett.


"Yes, I am a pirate, 200 years too late/The cannons don't thunder, there's nothing to___"

"A Pirate Looks at Forty" has been one of Jimmy Buffett's most popularly covered songs. Artists from Ian McNabb to Bob Dylan and Joan Baez have covered the song since it was released in 1975.


Headin' up to San Fransisco/For the Labor Day weekend show/I've got my hushpuppies on/I guess I never was meant for glitter ___."

Released in 1974, "Come Monday" was one of Jimmy Buffett's first big hit singles as a musician. In fact, the song became so popular, it reached No. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100.


"I just bought a ___, it's filled up for me an' you."

Jimmy Buffett used the pseudonym, Marvin Gardens, when he wrote the song, "Why Don't We Get Drunk." He got the name from the original Atlantic City version of the "Monopoly" board game.


"This morning/I shot six holes in my freezer/I think I got ___."

Jimmy Buffett was stuck in Boston during the winter of 1979 when he came up with the song, "Boat Drinks." The song describes how he was homesick and wanted to return to a warmer climate.


"I wish I had a pencil thin mustache/The "Boston Blackie" kind/A two-toned Ricky Ricardo jacket/And an autographed picture of ___."

Andy Devine was an actor who became well-known for his roles in Western films. Some of his most popular work includes "Stagecoach," "How the West Was Won," and "A Star is Born."


"He went to Paris/Looking for ___."

"He Went to Paris" was the final single from the album, "A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean." The song was about a Spanish Civil War veteran named Eddie Balchowsky who later became a musician and poet.


"As a dreamer of dreams and a travelin' man/I have chalked up many a mile/Read dozens of books about heroes and crooks/And I learned much from ___."

"Son of a Son of a Sailor" was the name of the eighth studio album released by Jimmy Buffett, which came out in 1978. The album became so popular, it reached No. 10 on the Billboard 200 album chart.


"Grapefruit/A bathin' suit/Chew a little Juicy Fruit/Wash away ___"

"Grapefruit-Juicy Fruit" was written during the early years of Jimmy Buffett's career when he worked on a fishing boat. The song describes tourist girls he would pick up and take on dates where they would have drinks where you couldn't taste the alcohol.


"You got fins to the left, fins to the right/And you're the only ___."

Jimmy Buffett rewrote the song, "Fins," in 2009 for the Miami Dolphins of the NFL. The altered song plays during home games after the Dolphins score a touchdown.


"I think about Paris when I'm high on ___/I wish I could jump on a plane."

"Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes," released in 1977, became the best-selling studio album of Jimmy Buffett's career. The album transformed Buffett from a regional star into a household name.


"Lava come down soft and hot/You better lava me now or ___."

Jimmy Buffett wrote "Volcano" with Keith Sykes and Harry Dailey. The song quickly became a fan favorite and is played at nearly every Jimmy Buffett concert.


"But this watch is never wrong/And if I have trouble the warranty said/Breathe in, breathe out, ___."

"Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On" was written in 2006 as a tribute to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, a deadly hurricane that tore through New Orleans, destroying parts of the city and leaving thousands homeless throughout the Mississippi and Louisiana Gulf Coast.


"We'd be so sad if you told us goodbye/And we promise not to shoot you ___."

Jimmy Buffett's song, "Jamaica Mistaica," was about an incident where Buffett's plane, Hemisphere Dancer, was shot by authorities in Jamaica who believed it as being used to smuggle drugs. At the time, the plane was carrying Buffett and U2's lead singer, Bono.


"Pull it together and it comes undone/Just one more candle and ___."

Released in 2004, "Trip Around the Sun" featured Jimmy Buffett and Martina McBride. McBride was an established country star by then with several major hit singles of her own, including "The Time Has Come" and "Safe in the Arms of Love."


"The limo's here, ___, the list is by the phone/Me and Snake will watch your place and treat it as our own."

While performing "Gypsies in Paradise" during concerts, Jimmy Buffett famously plays a prerecording about men who were left behind to watch castles while the knights were away. Buffett then starts to play the song, which describes two men who are left behind to watch a wealthy man's house.


"I want you to go back over there tonight/And tell them I'm feeling right/You tell them I love each and every one of them/Like ___."

"God's Own Drunk" was a song based on a monologue by Lord Buckley, a stand-up comedian during the first half of the 20th century. Buffett had to stop playing the song after he was sued by Buckley's son, Dick Buckley Jr., for copyright infringement.


"Let those winds of time blow over my head/I'd rather die while I'm living than ___."

"Growing Older But Not Up" was released on the 1981 album, "Coconut Telegraph." The album was another success for Buffett, reaching No. 30 on the Billboard 200 album chart.


"Most mysterious calling harbour/So far but yet so near/I can see the day when ___/And I finally disappear."

Jimmy Buffett wrote "One Particular Harbour" with Bobby Holcomb, a Hawaiian musician known for Polynesian tunes. "One Particular Harbour" became Holcomb's most popular song in the United States, giving the country a glimpse of his talent.


"There's a cowboy in the jungle/And he looks so out of place/With his shrimp-skin boots and his cheap Cheroots/And his skin ___."

"Cowboy in the Jungle" was a song on the album, "Son of a Son of a Sailor," which was initially released by ABC Records. In 1979, ABC Records was bought by MCA Records, which released several of Buffett's future albums.


"I never used to miss a chance/To climb upon his knee/And listen to the many tales of ___."

Jimmy Buffett released three versions of "The Captain and the Kid" throughout his lengthy career. The first version was released in 1970 on the album, "Down to Earth."


"Come on and dance with me/Nautical wheelers/I want ___."

"Nautical Wheelers" was released in 1974 on the album, "A1A." The song title refers to shipbuilders​ who work on the hulls of ships using a technique called wheeling.


"Constantly amazed by the blades of the fan on the ceiling/The clever little glances she gives me can't help ___."

Jimmy Buffett recorded songs like "Little Miss Magic" with the Coral Reefer Band. The band formed in 1974, though most of its members have changed throughout the years.


"Oh Jolly mon sing/Oh make the music ___."

Jimmy Buffett wrote a children's picture book based off the "Jolly Mon Song." The book, "The Jolly Mon," included a prerecording of Buffett reading the book with his daughter, Savannah.


"Who's the blonde stranger who entered my life/Makin' me over in the moonlight/This side of Texas is all new to me/Who's the blonde stranger who ___?"

"Who's the Blonde Stranger" was the first song on the album, "Riddles in the Sand." Released in 1984, the album marked the first time that not a single song was written solely by Buffett.


"I want to go back to the island/Where the shrimp boats tie up to the pilin'/Give me ____ for dinner every day of the year/And I'll feel fine, I'll feel fine."

In 2008, an American Thoroughbred racehorse won the "OTB Big Apple Triple" which included the Mike Lee Stakes, the New York Derby, and the Albany Stakes. The horse was named after Jimmy Buffett's song, "Tin Cup Chalice."


"I sat there on the coast of Marseilles/My thoughts came by like ___ through my hand."

"Coast of Marseilles" is one of only two songs on the album, "Son of a Son of a Sailor," that was not written by Jimmy Buffett. Both it and "The Last Line" were written by Keith Sykes, who worked with several other country artists, including The Judds and Rosanne Cash.


If necessity is the mother of invention/Then I'd like to kill the guy who invented this/The numbers come together in some type of a third dimension/A regular ___."

The song, "Math Suks," was criticized by national organizations that represented math teachers. Critics believed the song projected a negative view of math that was harmful to children.


"When I signed up, I was ready to go/But they didn't call my name for an hour or so/Damn if they didn't make me wait too long/I was in no kinda shape to sing a ___ song."

Jon Bon Jovi was the lead singer of the American rock band, Bon Jovi. The band found fame in the 1980s with songs like "Runaway" and "Livin' on a Prayer," and though the band has taken several hiatuses, they continue to tour.


I once knew a poet who lived before his time/He and his dog Spooner would listen as he rhymed/Words to make you happy and words to make you cry/And then one day the poet suddenly ___"

Jimmy Buffett has said that he wrote the song, "Death of an Unpopular Poet," after hearing about the death of Kenneth Patchen. A member of the San Fransisco Renaissance, Patchen never found fame during his lifetime but garnered more attention after his death.


"Who's gonna steal the ___/I'll get the can of sardines/Runnin' up and down the aisle of the Mini Mart/Stickin' food in our jeans."

"Peanut Butter Conspiracy" was part of the first successful album, "A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean," of Jimmy Buffett's career. The album was produced by Don Grant, with whom Buffett would work on his next two albums.


"She and old Cougie, my what a pair/Doin' the Rhumba as no one else dared/Slidin' and glidin' across Hollywood floors/But they don't dance like ___."

Jimmy Buffett based his song, "The Don't Dance Like Carmen No More," on Carmen Miranda. Born in Portugal, Miranda was a Brazilian samba singer and dancer who also found success in film and on Broadway where she was known for her fruit hats.


"Oh, I took a wrong turn, it was the right turn/My turn to have me a ball/Boys at the shop told me just where to stop/If I wanted to ___."

"Door Number Three" was released on Side A of the album, "A1A." The album was named after Florida State Road A1A which runs through many of the towns along the Atlantic Ocean.


"Big blue hole out in the ocean/Where I dive straight down until I cannot see/Feel my way through a bevy of solutions/There I realize the answer ___."

Jimmy Buffett took a break from creating new music after releasing "Off to See the Lizard" in 1989. He came back in 1994 with the album, "Fruitcakes," and released several more albums throughout the mid- to late-1990s.


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About This Quiz

In a world filled with various styles of music, few musicians have been as entertaining or fun to listen to as singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett. His style of music revolutionized not only the country music genre but American music as a whole. 

From songs like "Margaritaville" to  "A Pirate Looks at Forty" to "Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes," Buffett's music has been played by beach-goers and adventure-seekers all over the world. How well do you know his catchy lyrics and comforting tunes? Here's a quiz where you can find out! 

Starting in 1969, Jimmy Buffett helped usher in a new era of country music that emphasized oceanic folklore and islander escapism. His music discussed drinking rum on the beach, sailing the open seas, and dancing the night away. Though Buffett could pull at your heartstrings occasionally with songs like "Coast of Marseilles," he became better known for emphasizing a good time and his concerts followed this tone. 

Will you be able to recall lyrics from the most popular Jimmy Buffett songs, many of which date back decades? If you think you're capable, get started with this Jimmy Buffett quiz and prove you're an expert when it comes to this legendary country singer! 

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