Monday, April 5, 2010

A pirate looks at forty

Day 24

--STATS--

Artist: Jimmy Buffet

Genre: Island country

Album: A1A

Released: 1974


Mother, mother ocean, I have heard you call.
Wanted to sail upon your waters since I was three feet tall.
You've seen it all, you've seen it all.
Watched the men who rode you switch from sail to steam.
In your belly you hold the treasures few have ever seen.
Most of them dream, most of them dream.

Yes I am a pirate, two hundred years too late.
The canons don't thunder, there's nothing to plunder,
I'm an over forty victim of fate.
Arriving too late, arriving too late.
I've done a bit of smuggling, I've run my share of grass.
Made enough money to buy Miami but I pissed it away so fast.
Never meant to last, never meant to last.

Now I have been drunk now for over two weeks.
I passed out & I rallied & I sprung a few weeks.
But I gotta stop wishin, I gotta go fishin', I'm down to rock bottom again.
Just a few friends, just a few friends.

I go for younger women, lived with several awhile.
Though I ran them away, they'd come back one day,
& still could manage a smile.
Just takes awhile, just takes awhile.

Mother,mother ocean, after all these years I've found,
my occupational hazard being my occupations just not around.
Feel like I've drowned, gonna head uptown.
Feel like I've drowned, gonna get drunk uptown.




Is there anyone who doesn't love or at least appreciate Jimmy Buffet? It's a shame all of us couldn't live the life of a parrot head. Living off the island, naps in the hammock, walks along the shore, a guitar & bonfire at night. Plus, drinks all hours of the day. Hmm...sounds vaguely like the Wright family camping trips....well, anyways, for most of us that's just not reality. But you can put on any Jimmy Buffet record & feel like your there. That's close enough, right?

Jimmy Buffet has been played by my family since I can remember. I have specific memories, though, of going on fishing trips with my next door neighbor & her family. On the car ride to the lake, her Dad would put Jimmy on. Being that we were young school age children, every time this song would come on, we'd giggle at the bad words & drug or booze references. It was funny to me that someone could actually be drunk for two weeks straight. Now we just call that irresponsible & find them the phone number for the local AA.

Not a Buffet fan? Really? Are you sure? Well, OK, but you might like this one if you don't enjoy the cheeriness of his island grooving music. This one is really mellow & the tones are very sweet. I picked the Jack Johnson version of this song for the video, so you will have to seek out the JB version on youtube yourself. I picked it because not everyone has heard this arrangement before & it's pretty awesome. Plus he features guest musicians Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds. Not many people can pull of a Jimmy remake, but if anyone can, it would be these three. Dave Matthews brings the mellow & wickedly fun aspect to the song with great perfection, & Tim Reynolds steel guitar solos are splendor for the ears. And Jack Johnson is just cool. So yea. Listen for yourself.








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