Defining Terms: Jimmy Buffett
In previous posts, I’ve identified a couple of themes for my trip through the south. First, rediscovering southern food, as it exists today, in all of its amazing forms. And using food as a vehicle to reconnect with the south, its people and its culture.
But its time to confess that there’s another, far more subversive theme. It’s Jimmy Buffett.
Now, I’m conscious that most of my non-American friends won’t know who Jimmy Buffett is, so, like my earlier posts defining biscuits and grits, I wanted to give a little background. Otherwise, some of what you’ll see over the next few days will seem even madder than usual.
Jimmy Buffett is an American musician. He started in country, but during the 1970s, he developed his own musical genre, which he originally called “drunken Caribbean rock’n’roll.” He later came to call it “Gulf & Western,” a play on Country & Western, and expressing the influence the island and gulf coast lifestyle has on his music. He’s released more than 30 albums over the years, and is one of the strongest, most consistent concert draws in the U.S. HIs devoted legions of fans call themselves “Parrotheads”. He’s also a best selling author, and one of only a handful to have bestsellers in both fiction and non-fiction.
If you live outside of the U.S., the songs you’re most likely to have heard include “Margaritaville,” “Come Monday,” and “A Pirate Looks at Forty”.
I first encountered Jimmy Buffett in school, and found some real poetry in his lyrics. Much of his writing sticks with me these many years later. You’ll be seeing some of these lyrics in the next few days as I explore the gulf coast.
This part of my itinerary has Buffett laced throughout, and his songs and lyrics helped shape the itinerary.
Start with New Orleans as an example.
He loves the Big Easy, having spent time busking there before he got his first record deal. One of my favourite references to the city is in his song “The Wino and I Know.” He says:
“The coffee is strong at the Cafe Du Mont, where the donuts are too hot to touch. But just like a fool when those sweet goodies cool, I eat ’til I eat way too much. Because I’m living on things that excite me, be they pastry, or lobster or love. “I’m just trying to get shy, being quiet and shy in a world full of pushing and shoving.”
I first heard this shortly after I visited New Orleans for the first time, and I remember burning my fingers on those amazing beignets. (As I did again on my recent visit.)
Gulfport, Biloxi, and Mobile, where he grew up, all feature in various songs, as well. Later, I’m spending a night in Cedar Key, Florida, partially because it’s the opening line of “Incommunicado,” one of my favourite Buffet songs.
And tonight, in Biloxi, I’m staying at the Margaritaville Resort which, I admit, is entirely crazy of me. But I needed a place to stay in Biloxi, it’s pretty cheap, and there’s Buffett everywhere. So I’m lovin’ it.
So, if you don’t know Buffett, take a few minutes and listen to a couple of songs. Here’s a big Spotify playlist, but I’d start with these six:
Margaritaville
Pirate Looks at Forty
Boat Drinks
Changes in Latitudes
He Went to Paris
Cheeseburger in Paradise
It’s very likely that by the end of these songs, you’ll be ready to fly to St. Somewhere and lose yourself in a world of margaritas and cheeseburgers. I urge to give into that instinct, and I look forward to seeing you soon.
By the way, even at this level of fandom, I’m not sufficiently zealous to count as a parrothead.