One of my favorite travel songs, Kokomo by The Beach Boys. Few songs capture the spirit of what it's like to be at a tropical destination.
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And the big question… WHERE IS KOKOMO?
“Off the Florida Keys, there’s a place called Kokomo…”
“That’s where we want to go, to get away from it all…” (Photo: Akugasahagy)
For years, this tropical mystery has plagued me. The idea of Kokomo sounds so alluring and wonderful, so where is it? How do I get there?
Let’s look at the facts:
~ The song states its located somewhere off the Florida Keys.
~ The song was originally written by John Phillips (of the Mamas and the Papas) and singer Scott McKenzie on Virginia Beach, so it definitely has some sort of Americana beach influence.
~ We also know that John Phillips regularly vacationed on the private island of Mustique in the Caribbean. (This also has lead to the debate on the lyrics,
“Martinique, that Montserrat mystique.” Some claim the line is pronounced the way it is so it sounds like he could be saying,
“Martinique, that Montserrat Mustique.” A play on words since Mustique sounds so similar to mystique.
~ The Beach Boys stated that their inspiration for the song was a beachside bar in Islamorada, which is one of the Florida Keys. (Which doesn’t even make sense, since the Beach Boys didn’t write the song…)
~ Sandals Resorts once renamed their private island of Sandals Cay to Kokomo Island to bank off of the song’s popularity. The name has since been changed back.
And finally, there are six places named Kokomo across America, in Indiana, Arkansas, Colorado, Hawaii, Mississippi, and Texas.
So, what is Kokomo? Simple: It’s a place that once existed off the Florida Keys, that was inspired by the beaches of Virginia or bar in Florida depending on which story you believe, and now exists in six different states across America!
Kokomo is less a place, and more a feeling.
The feeling of pure tropical bliss.