| Grapefruit—Juicy Fruit | |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Jimmy Buffett |
| Album: | A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean |
| A-Side: | Grapefruit—Juicy Fruit |
| B-Side: | I Have Found Me a Home |
| Released: | 1973 |
| Recorded: | 1973 |
| Studio: | Glaser Sound (Nashville, Tennessee) |
| Length: | 02:57 |
| Label: | Dunhill D-4385 (US, 7") |
| Producer: | Don Gant |
| Prev Title: | They Don't Dance Like Carmen No More |
| Prev Year: | 1973 |
| Next Title: | He Went to Paris |
| Next Year: | 1973 |
"Grapefruit—Juicy Fruit" is a song written and performed by American singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett. It was first released on his 1973 album A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean and was his third single from that album. The single reached No. 23 on the Billboard Easy Listening chart in September 1973.[1]
The song appears on Songs You Know By Heart, a greatest hits compilation that includes Buffett's concert favorites ranging from 1973 to 1979. It was often played live, but was not considered a concert staple.[2]
Buffett wrote the song in Key West, Florida at a time when he would play in a bar called Howie's Lounge in the afternoon and work on a fishing boat at night. He would meet young tourist girls riding the Conch Tour Train and take them to the Islander drive-in theater. They would have some purple passion mixed up in a jug, and if mixed correctly the dates would claim they couldn't taste any alcohol, to which Buffett would reply, "That's the point."[3]
On the live album You Had to Be There, Buffett mentions that one of the movies he took a date to see was Payday.
In "The Parrot Head Handbook," which accompanies the box set Boats, Beaches, Bars & Ballads, Buffett says of the origin of the song: "The place was the Islander Drive-In theatre, and the movie was Payday starring Rip Torn. The girl was from St. Petersburg, Florida, and she was running away from a bad boyfriend. The popcorn was salty, and the beer was cold."
| Chart (1973) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Easy Listening | 23 | |
| Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary | 47 |