Gentle Reader, I don’t know if you are a Jimmy Buffett fan or not but please allow me to go on the record – from now until the end of time; yours truly, Evil Chicken, is a Parrot Head.
Yes – the truth can finally be told.
I don’t know if you have discovered the joys of MP3’s of WMA files but if you were to look at my hard drive you would soon see that I have about 836 Megabytes, 302 files in about 19 folders of Jimmy Buffett music. I have close to 24 hours of Buffett music kicking around on my hard drive. You could say I’m a bit of a Phan. In the hallowed halls of the Chicken’s Nest – where I sit and type these diatribes at the pleasing of the four winds; if you were to look at my bookshelf (on the second tier, mind you) you would find titles such as, “Where in the World is Joe Merchant”, “A Pirate Looks at Fifty”, and “A Salty Piece of Land”, all by Mr. Jimmy Buffett; of course these tales are next to Herman Wouk’s, “Don’t Stop the Carnival”. Of course those tomes are located next to my editions (one of them signed) of “Weird NJ Volume One” and “Weird NJ Volume Two” – but THAT is for another blog.
Please… let’s stick to the topic.
My attraction to Mr. Buffett is the fact that he tells stories; he paints pictures, he invents realities; places that you just want to go to and stay for a while – maybe even a lifetime. Do you know what I mean – that one particular harbor, so far and yet so near? Well, that’s what Jimmy Buffett music does for yours truly. It transports me to that place; you know the one – where the children play on the shores each day and the mainland disappears?
Yeah. That’s where I would like to be.
Another thing that draws me to this guy is his appreciation for great authors. “Barometer Soup”, which BTW, is one of my favorite albums, is based on several short stories from other writers. Including Mr. Samuel Clemons (Mark Twain). The song, “Remittance Man” is based on one of his books – it makes me misty every time I hear it.
Jimmy Buffett music usually elicits thoughts of living in ¾ time – island time and, quite frankly, that’s what it should do. It is an escape. It needs to take you out of that box that you are living in and put you somewhere else. I can’t tell you my all time favorite Buffett song but I can give you my top bakers dozen of cuts for your listening pleasure – hey, why not?
1. “A Pirate Looks at 40”
2. “Nautical Wheelers”
3. “Love in a Library” – (it reminds me of Mother Hen)
4. “Boats to Build”
5. “One Particular Harbor”
6. “Coast of Carolina” – (it reminds me of Mother Hen)
7. “Remittance Man”
8. “Tree Top Flyer”
9. “Window on the World”
10. “The Weather is Here, I Wish You Were Beautiful”
11. “Semi-True Story”
12. “Trying to Reason with the Hurricane Season”
13. “Mexico” – (What a great cover of a James Taylor song)
What can I tell you? Check the man out for yourself. I hope you enjoy him as much as yours truly does.
Phins Up!
2 comments:
Treetop Flyer is a wonderful song. I have seen Stephen Stills sing it numerous times over the years.
As for Buffett, I like Why Don't We Get Drunk and Come Monday.
Yeah, they’re all good songs. “Come Monday” is a beautiful piece too. There’s such a library to choose from. One of Buffett’s recent songs, “Breathe In Breathe Out Move On” (I think that’s the official title) was released after hurricane Katrina. Great lyrics – great song.
“I bought a cheap watch from the crazy man
Floating down Canal
It doesn’t use numbers or moving hands
It always just says now
Now you may be thinking that I was had
But this watch is never wrong
And if I have trouble the warranty said
Breathe in breathe out move on”
I’ve got to track down that album.
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