Jimmy Buffett’s Country Song Gone Wrong

Jimmy Buffett photo courtesy of Margaritaville Records.

Jan. 7, 2009 — A number of country songs have been built around not playing specific songs on the jukebox, but none of them ever advocated killing someone over it. That’s apparently the tragic outcome of an incident in Steamboat Springs, Colo., where an Iraq veteran died of head trauma after being beaten by two men, allegedly for playing Jimmy Buffett’s "Margaritaville."

According to The Denver Post, Sgt. Richard Lopez was an Army veteran who had earned at least four medals while undergoing great personal sacrifice in his country’s employ. He was shot multiple times during service in Iraq and Afghanistan, suffering major trauma to his bladder and leg. Sgt. Lopez was drinking with a couple of buddies at the close of New Year’s Day when he picked "Margaritaville" on the jukebox, a decision that didn’t sit well with two other men at the bar. They got into an argument that turned into a brawl outside the club just after midnight. Richard endured severe blows to the head, ultimately dying Monday morning.

No charges have been filed, but police are investigating the death as a homicide, and the soldier’s assailants are considered suspects.

It’s the second time in less than a year that Jimmy Buffett has had a tenuous attachment to a tragedy. A 23-year-old worker had his leg severed in June when a crane fell on him during preparations for a Buffett concert at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park.

The Lopez death is a twisted example of life imitating art. Among the country songs that have taken humbrage at specific jukebox selections: Emmylou Harris & Buck Owens’ "Play Together Again Again" (lyrics: "Don’t play A-7/Don’t play B-11"), Johnny Paycheck’s "A-11" ("If you play A-11, there’ll be tears") and Olivia Newton-John’s "Please Mr. Please" (Don’t play B-17/It was our song, it was his song/But it’s over").