The chorus was written when I was a child, and I was always fond of it. I decided to take this and finish the song, adding lyrics about a shipwrecked Robinson Crusoe character.

The line "Everyday is a victory, Every meal's a feast" is a paraphrased reference to Lt. Apone's patriotic speech from Aliens (1986).

When recording Coconut Joe, I felt that it needed an accordion on the track. I put out a request for a nearby accordion player on a Busker's forum. Someone responded (Marianne Smith), and I traveled to Hayling Island that weekend to meet them in a pub car park where they had spent the night in their camper van. We rehearsed the song a few times, then I set up a microphone inside her van, and monitored the recording from outside.

The song was almost included on Years, but I felt it didn't fit thematically with the rest of the songs on that record.