"It's My Job" by Jimmy Buffett

Song#:  0502
Date:  02/21/1981
Debut:  87
Peak:  57
Weeks:  8
Genre:  Soft Rock



Pop Bits:  Throughout the 80s, Buffett basically pumped out an album a year and supported them with tours (his real money maker). Although his albums consistently hit the Top 100, supporting singles were becoming more infrequent, lower-charting fare. This single from his album "Coconut Telegraph" almost made it halfway up the chart, but it would prove to be his last solo chart song. Buffett would get back on the chart a few times in later years, but in collaborations or guest spots, like the #17 "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" (2003) with country star Alan Jackson.

ReduxReview:  When I think of Buffett, I usually think of mid-tempo, breezy, slightly comical, island-y songs. A pop-country ballad doesn't come to mind. But here we are. Written by country artist (and soon to be a member of Buffett's band, The Coral Reefers..get it?) Mac MacAnally, it seems this was kind of a stab at a message song and it just seems odd coming from Buffett. This song probably would have worked much better as a straight country song by another artist. Regardless, I'm not really buying what this song is selling and it's still not going to make me a Parrothead (thankfully).

ReduxRating:  4/10

Trivia:  Music was not the only money-making venture for Buffett. He has opened restaurant chains (Margaritaville and Cheesburger in Paradise), became part-owner of two minor league baseball teams, and created his own beer (Land Shark). He also became a writer and has had three books hit #1 on the New York Times bestseller lists. Two were fiction books and one was non-fiction. By hitting #1 on both book charts, he became only the eighth author to accomplish this feat, putting him in the company of Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, Dr. Seuss, and Mitch Albom.

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