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Margarita

Written by: Full band collaboration, no single dominant composer Lead vocals: Tom Petty Length: 3:15 Album: Vol. 1, track 8

Where most Vol. 1 tracks trace back to one member's initial idea, "Margarita" stands out as a genuine group composition from the ground up, credited without the usual lean toward a single primary writer. One retrospective review called it, fondly, the oddest song on the entire album, and that oddness is part of the charm: it's breezy, a little loose at the seams, and entirely unconcerned with sounding like anything else on the record.

Tom Petty takes the lead vocal, delivering the song with the same unfussy warmth that defines his other turns on the album, while the rest of the band fills in around him with the kind of easy, unforced harmony that only comes from a group genuinely enjoying each other's company. It's not a song built to be anyone's favorite Wilburys track. It's a song built entirely for the pleasure of five friends finishing an album together, and it captures that specific, low-stakes joy better than almost anything else on the record.

Previous track: Heading for the Light. Next track: Tweeter and the Monkey Man. Or see the full Vol. 1 tracklist.