Which 1988 Beach Boys song is named for a fictional place off the Florida Keys? The answer is “Kokomo.”
The Beach Boys released “Kokomo” in July 1988 as part of the soundtrack to the film Cocktail. The song was written by John Phillips, Scott McKenzie, Mike Love, and Terry Melcher, and produced by Melcher. Its lyrics portray Kokomo as a romantic island destination somewhere off the Florida Keys.
The place in the song is fictional, although the name is also associated with Kokomo, Indiana. The lyric places the imaginary resort among real locations and destinations, including Aruba, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Martinique, Montserrat, Key Largo, and Bermuda. That mixture of real geography and invented setting is why the song can sound like a travel itinerary without identifying an actual island.
“Kokomo” became a major late-career success for the band. It reached No. 1 in the United States and Australia and became the Beach Boys’ first U.S. number-one single. Listeners sometimes assume it refers to the Indiana city, but the song explicitly frames its Kokomo as a fictional tropical getaway.