Cheeseburger in Paradise

This article deals with the popular song "Cheeseburger in Paradise" For the restaurant chain named for the song, see: Cheeseburger in Paradise (restaurant).

"Cheeseburger in Paradise" is a song written and performed by American popular music singer Jimmy Buffett. It appeared on his 1978 album Son of a Son of a Sailor and was released as a single, reaching #32 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Cheeseburger in Paradise" has become one of Buffett's best-known songs and was selected as the first track on his greatest hits album Songs You Know by Heart.

1 History
2 Restaurant
3 Lyric Confusion
4 In Popular Culture
5 External links

[edit] History

According to Buffett's Margaritaville web site, the myth of the "cheeseburger in paradise" was inspired by a boat journey Buffett once took in the Caribbean. Buffett states that while subsisting on canned food and peanut butter, he envisioned eating a "piping hot cheeseburger". He reports that upon finally arriving in Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands, he was surprised to find a restaurant serving American cheeseburgers:

...we gave particular instructions to the waiter on how we wanted them cooked and what we wanted on them -- to which little attention was paid. It didn't matter. The overdone burgers on the burned, toasted buns tasted like manna from heaven, for they were the realization of my fantasy burgers on the trip. [1]

[edit] Restaurant

In 2002, Buffett's company Margaritaville Holdings LLC licensed the name of the song to OSI Restaurant Partners as the name of the Buffett-themed Cheeseburger in Paradise restaurant chain. As of 2006, the restaurant has 38 locations in 17 states in the United States.

A Cheeseburger in Paradise is also a menu item at Buffett-owned Margaritaville Cafes located in the United States, Mexico, and the Caribbean.

[edit] Lyric Confusion

According to the lyrics found on the vinyl sleeve, Buffett sings "cheeseburger is Paradise" twice throughout the song. It is unclear whether he is actually saying in or is, but many would speculate that this is simply just an error on the lyric sheet. However, "cheeseburger is Paradise" can clearly be heard during live performances. Whether this is a fact for the studio version remains a mystery.

Also, another lyrical-confusion is in the second chorus, during the line "medium rare with Muenster would be nice". The line is commonly mistaken as "medium rare with mustard would be nice". [2]

[edit] In Popular Culture

The song was parodied twice on an episode of South Park, with "AIDSburger in Paradise" and "CUREburger in Paradise."

On June 3, 2008, this song (along with Margaritaville and Volcano), was made available as additional downloadable content for the music videogame, Rock Band. Buffett himself re-recorded the songs specially for the game, of which he declared is a fan.