Jimmy Buffett Day

Every year on my birthday, I go to the ocean. I bring a copy of Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea and read it on the sands of Bryn Mawr beach on Hutchinson Island. On the way to and from there, I listen to A Pirate Looks at Forty, my favorite song. I watch the sun rise over the horizon and think on my place in the world, and like Jimmy’s filibustering protagonist, I do so often with lament that I was born in the wrong place and the wrong time.

As a kid from Kentucky, I didn’t see the ocean until I was 20. But Jimmy’s music, which I discovered as a teen, always beckoned me there.

I was a wreck when he died last year. Absolutely depressed for about a week or so. I don’t know that any musician’s death bothered me so much. I immediately ran out to the local antique stores and bought every old vinyl album I could find, even though I a) don’t have a record player and b) don’t even know who to use a record player.

Jimmy, to me and so many of us, was my link to the ocean—the place I feel I belong. I feel lost out here in Colorado without the water, and though I still have his music I feel somehow lost without him.

I have so many memories tied up with Jimmy. So I thought maybe I’d curate a few for you right here. There’s probably some stuff you know in here, maybe some stuff you don’t. But maybe you’ll listen to them all today as you clean the house or you prepare a meal for your family.

A Pirate Looks At Forty

This is not Jimmy’s most famous song but I feel it is the most poignant tune I’ve ever heard. Who among us has not wondered about why we are here and wondered if we have not missed our time? Of all the songs by all the people this song—this one right here—remains my favorite.

Brown Eyed Girl

This cover of Van Morrison was actually my introduction to Jimmy. I remember singing it to the first woman I ever said a I love you to—a beautiful brown-eyed girl from Puerto Rico—as we danced by the water in Ponce. I was 21 years old.

Stars on the Water

Another cover by Jimmy, this one of Rodney Crowell. I have a weakness for songs that remind me of growing up in Louisiana. This one hits me.

Jamaica Mistaica

In 1996 the man was flying his plane with Bono (yes that Bono) to Jamaica when the country’s national defense mistook him for drug runner and tried to blow him from the sky. Naturally he wrote a song about it.

Creola

My love of Jimmy Buffett ramped up when I met my late father-in-law, John. John was, for a short time, the dude I’d been looking for. He taught me to cook Cuban food. He taught me about wine. And we shared our love of Jimmy. I play this song when I am cooking, usually with a glass of wine in my hand. It reminds me of Louisiana, but also of John.

A Salty Piece of Land

This is not a song that can be found on any streaming service. It was included as a single alongside Jimmy’s memoir A Pirate Looks At Fifty. There’s a lyric that always stuck me:

So I saddled up my seahorse
With a fly-rod in my hand
I was not looking for salvation
Just a salty piece of land

Jimmy’s life worked out for him. He reunited with the love of his life and found peace. I’m uncertain that either of those will ever happen for me, but I like the idea.

Havana Daydreamin’

Remember that part about thinking I should have been born in another time and place? I’m convinced it was Cuba, a long time ago. A Cuban woman destroyed me once (twice actually), but I still dream of the island.

Margaritaville

One of the brilliant things Jimmy did was code a life of remorse in otherwise upbeat songs. It’s devastating artistic device. Margaritaville may be the most soul crushing song I’ve ever heard.

Son of a Son of a Sailor

When I imagine myself living another life—the life I missed—it is this one. The rest of these songs are studio cuts, but I found that the addition of Nadirah Shakoor singing about the lady from Trinidad takes this song to another level.

The Wino and I Know

I didn’t hear this one until about 10 year ago but I always loved the way Jimmy turned the rhyme of The Wino/and I know. Brilliant.

Coastal Confessions

I’ll leave you with this one. One day I will return to the water and I will never leave again.

I went ahead and made this for you. Save it if you like and as I think of other songs that make me think of Jimmy or the water, I’d add them. And if you have a song (or twenty) that we should add, hit me in the comments below.

Yesterday was the first ever Jimmy Buffett Day. I’d planned on having this ready for you then, but I suppose like him I remain on Island Time.

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