Gotta think it took a lot to make Jimmy Buffett mad.
The “Margaritaville” singer was the pioneer of laid-back, island life, escaping to a simpler place and time and leaving all your worries behind.
Yet David Allan Coe still managed to piss him off.
Back in the 1970s, Coe actually shared a house in Key West with Buffett and fellow songwriter/poet Shel Silverstein. Buffett had moved to the Florida Keys from Nashville, after trying to pursue a career in country music, and had begun writing songs about his experiences in Key West. And Coe had also moved to Key West from Nashville, having already had hits with songs like “You Never Even Called Me By My Name” and “Longhaired Redneck,” as well as “Take This Job and Shove It,” which was recorded by Johnny PayCheck.
Eventually Buffett released his Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes album, which would contain his breakout hit “Margaritaville.” While the song would go on to become a staple for those who dreamed of living the island lifestyle, Buffett actually intended the song to be a mocking take on Key West tourists, and not long after its release would move out of the states to Saint Barthélemy.
Around the same time, Coe had released his 1978 album Family Album, which included his own version of “Take This Job and Shove It” as well as “Whole Lot of Lonesome” that was co-written with George Jones. But it also contained a song called “Divers Do It Deeper,” a song about having sex in the ocean. And Buffett accused Coe of plagiarizing his song “Changes In Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes” for the melody of “Divers Do It Deeper.”
Now, Buffett never took any legal action against Coe, despite the obvious similarities in the songs, claiming that he didn’t want to give Coe the attention:
“I would have sued him, but I didn’t want to give Coe the pleasure of having his name in the paper.”
But in 1979, Coe self-released an “underground” album called Nothing Sacred at the urging of Shel Silverstein. This explicit album contained lyrics and song titles most of which are too obscene for me to even include here, but it also included a song written in response to Buffett.
In what may be the only Jimmy Buffett diss track in the world, which was simply titled “Jimmy Buffett,” Coe accused Buffett of being inauthentic and took aim at the fact that he had moved away from Key West:
“There’s sailboats and conch shells and palm trees galore
But Jimmy Buffett doesn’t live in Key West anymore
Sister spare change has a bumper sticker on the door
Says Jimmy Buffett doesn’t live in Key West any more
Hey smugglers need those Buffett songs, snitching on the sly
Bringing heat where it’s already to damn hot to die
Son of a son of a son of b—h, what’s all that bull—t for
Jimmy Buffett he don’t live in Key West anymore”
In 1979 Coe released his album Spectrum VII. The album featured a “Land Side” and an “Ocean Side,” and included more of the breezy island melodies he had featured on Family Album. The cover also featured a shirtless Coe standing on the beach, and in the liner notes he took another shot at Buffett:
“Jimmy Buffett doesn’t live in Key West anymore.”
It doesn’t appear that the two were able to reconcile from the feud, although they both went on to become legends in their own right. Buffett passed away back on September 1, 2023 from an aggressive form of skin cancer, and we lost David Allan Coe on April 29, 2026 after the country legend passed away in an intensive care unit.
Maybe one of the most random music feuds I can think of, but leave it to David Allan Coe to feud with Jimmy Buffett.
Here are the songs at the center of the feud:
“Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes”
“Divers Do It Deeper”
(As you can hear, they sound pretty similar).
And here’s Coe’s diss track aimed at Buffett:
