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DEATH OF AN UNPOPULAR POET

From the album:

A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean (1973)

Songwriter: Jimmy Buffett


Song Lyrics:

I once knew a poet
Who lived before his time
He and his dog spooner
Would listen as he’d rhyme
Words to make you happy
Words to make you cry
And Then one day the poet suddenly did die

But he left behind a closet
Filled with verse and rhymes
And through some strange transaction
One was printed in the times
And everybody’s searchin’
For the king of underground
Well they found him down in Florida
With a tombstone for a crown

And Everybody knows a line
From his book that cost four ninety-nine
I wonder if he knows he’s doin’
Quite this fine

’cause his books are all best sellers
And his poems were turned to song
Had his brother on a talk show
Though they never got along
And now he’s called immortal
Yes he’s even taught in school
They say he used his talents
A most proficient tool

But he left all of his royalties
To spooner his ol’ hound
Growin’ old on steak and bacon
In a doghouse ten feet ’round
And everybody wonders
Did he really lose his mind
No he was just a poet who lived before his time
Yes He was just a poet who lived before his time

Jimmy’s note about “Death of an Unpopular Poet”:

A lot of people ask who the man was in The Death of An Unpopular poet. It’s not one particular person, it’s a lot of people. People who never got their rewards financially. They payed a lot of dues but never stayed around long enough to spend it.