Margarita

‘Margarita’ is the eighth song on Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1.

It was primarily written by Tom Petty, with lead vocals by Bob Dylan with Petty and Jeff Lynne.

The ‘ching, ching, ching’ on ‘Margarita’ – it’s back to my roots. It’s skiffle really. But also, I was trying to think of a song that would feel a bit like a Bob Dylan tune, so I got on the chord D – all the guitar players will know that – and you go ‘ching, chinga-ching ching…’ That was that, really, and after half an hour we knocked it into shape.

‘Margarita’ was the b-side of the Traveling Wilburys’ debut single ‘Handle With Care’. It was released on 17 October 1988.

‘Handle With Care’ was a top 10 hit in Australia, Belgium, Canada, and New Zealand. In the US it peaked at number 21 on the single chart, and in the US it peaked at 45 on the Billboard Hot 100 and 39 on the Cash Box Top 100.

I think [the synthesizer part] was Dhani’s idea. He would only be about seven or eight.