Why Don't We Get Drunk by Jimmy Buffett

Album: A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean (1973)

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Jimmy Buffett explained: "This song was written as a piece of total satire when I did my first album in Nashville. I was hearing a lot of suggestive country songs - in particular, Conway Twitty's 'Lets Go All The Way.' I figured I would write a song that would leave no doubt in anybody's mind. I thought back to a late-night in an Atlanta diner where I was eating and watched this out-of-focus business man trying to pick up a hooker. That's all the inspiration I needed." >>
Suggestion credit:
Ken - LaSalle, Canada
Jimmy wrote this song, but he used the name Marvin Gardens as an alias, possibly inspired by the Monopoly game property. Parrotheads joined in on the fun and contributed to the myth that Gardens is a real person - or was. Apparently the "legendary entertainer" dropped dead on April Fools' Day in 1989 after hearing a promo copy of Buffett's Off To See The Lizard. >>
Suggestion credit:
Dave - Pomeroy, OH
When talking about the song with rock magazine Zoo World in 1973, Buffett said he was particularly vicious when writing it because he couldn't get anyone in Nashville to listen to his songs.
By the '90s, Buffett saw his fanbase expanding as Parrotheads started bringing their kids along to his shows. That didn't stop him from singing the raunchier tracks in his repertoire like "Why Don't We Get Drunk." He told Rolling Stone in 1996: "I still do that song, and some people don't want their lads to hear it. But when people don't want their kids to hear it, they'll stick their fingers in their kids' ears, and if they don't care, they won't And that's about all the censorship I want."
Although Buffett had his fair share of drunken antics in the '70s (like the time he got soused on tequila and subsequently pummeled by wrestler-turned-sheriff Buford Pusser - an incident that inspired the 1999 track "Semi-True Story"), he mellowed a bit in later years. Not wanting his fans to think he condoned reckless behavior, he altered the lyrics of this tune to discourage drunk driving and promote safe sex.
This was used in the movies The Doctor (1991) and What To Expect When You're Expecting (2012).

Comments: 15

Roger Morton from QldI always hear " snow queen" . IE a sexually frigid woman. Until Karaoke told me it was "snuff queen". What is that ? A woman that loves to snort tobacco.? It will always be snowqueen to me.
AnonymousAwesome song
Carolyn from Knoville, TnSeems to me I saw a video of this and it had a clip of Monica Lewinsky and former President Clinton in it. Does anyone else remember that?
Pat from Albuquerque, NmIn the mid-70s, a bunch of us used to frequent the Gaslight Inn on the South Side of Indianapolis. There were two guys, "Paul and EB," that played acoustic music (that's right, they couldn't afford amps) on Thursdays through Saturdays. They always played "Why Don't We Get Drunk" at least once per evening, with the patrons always singing along. Sometimes a couple would "get lucky" and leave early. Often they'd get serenaded by this song as they went out the door.

Unfortunately, the bar owner was an alcoholic drinking up too much of the profits, and the bar closed by 1980. Too bad--it was a great little bar.
Thomas from Somerville, AlI was fired on the spot for playing this song on the radio. It was worth it. I offended about 3000 Southern Baptists and got my name in the paper. Thanks Jimmy.
Barb from Meadow Vista, CaI used to crank up the stereo and clean house, but when this song came on, I ran to turn it down. Too late. My young son heard and it said yea! Let's get drunk at school, I started to correct him, but thought better of it. Years later saw Utley in Catlina (So Cal), bought his cd and told him the story. Sure enough at the next JB concet I attended, Jimmy made reference to my story. My one and only brush with fame.
Jon Isaacson from Tower, MnI think the lyrics use the phrase "snuff queen," not "snow queen." It's a country musician term for groupies.
Gary from Morgantown, WvFrom the 1978 album, "Live! You Had To Be There," Jimmy said, "...right here in Atlanta, Georgia, where the whole nucleus of this next song came from. Sittin' in the Marriot Hotel one late afternoon, early one morning, I don't know, watching this lady of the evening try to pick up a salesman from Tuskogee, Alabama..."
Darrell from EugeneWhenever I go on a road trip, I always take my 1978 Dodge Magnum, but that's kind of off the topic. Anyway, I have several Buffett albums on 8-track, and on at least one, "Why Don't We Get Drunk" is one of the songs, and whenever I play Jimmy Buffett on a road trip (which is often), "Why Don't We Get Drunk" and "A Love Song from a Different Point of View" (which is basically the same song with slightly different lyrics), Serena (my girlfriend) always substitutes the F-word for "screw". Yes, THAT F-word. Good thing I'm not Christian.
Dennis from Turner, MeAlways loved this satire. But the real meaning of the song and its irreverance hit home when I walked into my brother's memorial service a few years ago and it was blasting from the sound system. Jimmy was one of his favorite performers and this song was a fitting tribute to my bro's love of life.

I just returned from Margaritaville and this is one of my current anthems...
Maggie from Waynesville, OhIts a song obviosly about sex but unlike other songs nobody feels pressured into having sex. Its different then songs of today by liek a Fergie or someone.
Ken from Louisville, KyThis song was used in the movie "The Doctor". William Hurt plays a heart surgeon who has to have a life-saving throat cancer surgery. Just before he goes under anesthesia, the surgeon plays this song, knowing that it is one of the Hurt's charcter's favorites to have on while HE was operating on a patient. Hurt lets out a big laugh when the nurses sing along before he "goes under".
Bosco from Atlanta, GaThis song was written in piedmont park in Atlanta. Jimmy tells us this every time he is on stage in the great ATL.
Shell from Riverdale, Ga"I thought back to a late-night in an Atlanta diner where I was eating and watched this out-of-focus business man trying to pick up a hooker." Betcha a dollar to a doughnut it was The Majestic on Ponce de Leon Ave. It's been there since 1929 and the clientele could best be described as "eclectic". The Clermont Hotel, home of the sleaziest titty bar in Atlanta, the Clermont Lounge, is right down the road and the area used to be ate up with hookers before the yuppification of the area ruined the...uh...ambiance.
Dave from Pomeroy, OhThis was written by Buffett, be the credit went to an alias of his Marvin Gardens

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