I have long felt that life is like a series of links in a chain. You might be driving down the road and you hear a song on the radio, or see a picture, and you feel a memory….
Something triggers within you that reminds of a different time and place than where you are right now. You reflect and discover the attached memories, perhaps a totally different time in your life.
Perhaps you lived in a different place. Perhaps you were surrounded by different people. Perhaps a different job or completely different friends. You recognize those memories were constructed like frozen moments in time. They became individual links in the chain in your life. That song on the radio takes you back to that link.
We never actually realize, in the immediate moment, when one link closes and another link begin. But when we look back, we can clearly see distinct points where things changed, the link closed, and a new link began. You see, the links are only visible in reflection.
No singer, songwriter or musician is as deeply embedded in the links of my life, as Jimmy Buffett. This one hurts.
[SOURCE]
In the video below, Jimmy Buffett is wearing my shoes.
.
The historic Sanibel Lighthouse survived Hurricane Ian, albeit with damage last year.
The lightkeepers house was totally destroyed as were all the buildings around the Southern tip of the Island, but the Lighthouse remained standing. There’s a metaphor and a message in that outcome.
Since 1884, every twelve seconds the Sanibel lighthouse beacon blinked twice, creating a sequence of four navigational alerts per minute.
Ask me how I know that, and I will show you the clock of my childhood.
I learned how to read a sextant on the front porch of the Lightkeepers house.
I traded Mr. Brennan 4 fresh trout from Dixie Beach flats for the lessons, there were two (one day and one night), on using a sextant. From that moment at the age of around ten, I was known as “Trout” when I came back. It wasn’t funny.
Long before there was a ‘city glow’ on the eastern shore, the Sanibel beacon remained my waypoint in life. Twelve seconds, blink twice, four per minute. I spent tens of thousands of minutes with the comforting beacon at my six. I was always safe when I could see it and I never strayed beyond its reach.
My first bull shark took me for an almost 1,000 blink-long tour of the back bay inlet during a particularly memorable night.
I also ‘caught‘ my first Silver King within reach of the beacon at sunrise. Recording the moment by removing (then laminating) the trophy scale which to this day sits in an old cigar box filled with buttons, wire, ribbons, weird metal bits and mysterious childhood treasures.
That particular morning was exceptionally memorable because I proclaimed myself a ‘king fisher.’ Unfortunately, it was a short-lived moment of ego quickly deflated by an unusually furious mom – because I was going to be late for middle school. “King Fisher” shouts I, dashing out the door, while hearing “fisher fool” chasing my ear from behind.
Yup, Jimmy Buffett is attached to more of my memories than any other artist.
… always will be.
That was a beautiful tribute. I share your sentiments.
May he Rest In Peace.
Very nicely said. I’m with you.
Funny. As soon as I saw the headline the first of Jimmy’s tunes that came to mind was “A pirate looks at forty.” That song is a beautiful anthem for my own experience. Listening to it in the provided video brought a tear to my eye. Fair winds and following seas in God’s kingdom, Jimmy!
One of my fav’s as well but my #1 is “One Particular Harbour” as my wife & I lived 20 years in Huron Ohio at Sawmill Creek on the shores of Lake Erie now within a 20 min boatride to the Sanibel Lighthouse. And yes our home was flooded by Ian but it’s still our “Particular Harbour”
Have a Blessed Day y’all
I remember a day when it didn’t matter what your politics, religion, or sex life entailed. Friends are united by other, more important, interests, like great music. Grew up listening to the icon JB and emulating the lifestyle, sans bear. So many wonderful memories associated with his music. My deepest condolences to his family, and all of us who loved him.
There was once a time when you could easily maintain peaceable relations across ideological lines. The problem is that at some point, one side became very ugly about it all and decided to begin canceling, in some form, everybody across the aisle.
Politics is a much more important interest than great music!! All the great music in the world won’t help what politics is doing to our once greaat country!!!
Mr Buffet wasn’t the problem.
God’s own Drunk was a staple in our college years. I’m listening right now
I am just trying to reason with hurricane season, while livin’ and dyin’ in fhree quarter time.
Hear the bells ring as the tight tigging sings its a son of a gun of a chorus!!
Son of a son of a sailor. Thank you, Brother. life well done!
Many people go through their whole lives and never see the beauty of it all. Jimmy made a living just trying to show them.
Jimmy’s early album White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean album was a favorite of mine in college. I turned a lot of friends into fans of his with that one. It was some of his best music — simple, pure and heartfelt — not as commercial and goofy as some of his later stuff… and forget the parrothead thing — a gimmick for dummies.
Interesting. Never heard of him.
You certainly heard his music, does the song “Margaritaville” ring a bell?
No, actually it doesn’t. Based on the sample in the video above, wouldn’t have been my kind of thing.
How old are you? Anybody who breathed air in the 1980s knows who Jimmy Buffett is…
For context, I graduated High School in 83. I enlisted. I didn’t have a big interest in music. I was busy with other things. I also spent most of the decade overseas.
I got married in 1972, and we were living in Florida in 83, so perhaps my awareness of the beach culture and music in the Caribbean was more developed than yours. But Buffett was a national and international phenomenon.
Well, again, I wasn’t into music, and certainly not this type of music when I did listen. I grew up FAR from any beach, never liked the beach, still don’t like the beach, don’t like the ocean, and I’m sure there are “international phenomena” I can name of which you wouldn’t be aware. The problem is people assign a universality to things well-known within their own social circle and project it on the whole of the world. Now, in truth, I’ve always avoided the popular culture because since early on, I saw it as mostly a tool of subversion. The moment a performer talks politics, I’m out, and if their political agitation is particularly offensive, I’m an active buycott guy. Have been all my life. Since I was a kid.
What kind of music do you like? Which groups appeal to you?
In the 80s I was travelling all over the world working on Cold War weapons research. I know whereof I speak when I say Jimmy Buffett was well known and generally liked in the UK, Europe, and most of Asia. I suspect you just didn’t pay much attention to the culture surrounding you, which is okay.
Well, I am married to a German woman I met while overseas in the 1980s. She just got back in, and I asked her if she knew who he was… She said “No, but I heard he died on the radio while driving home.” So apparently, I paid enough attention to the culture I was visiting to wind up married, but that culture didn’t involve Mr. Buffett. She likes classical, jazz, and some opera. I prefer rock and roll, if any. Groups that appeal to me? Hmmm. Boston is probably the only one to which I paid much attention. After all these years, I’m trying to teach myself to play guitar without too much success, as yet. It’s one heckuva chore at my age. I’ll keep on picking along.
I saw the magic of picking a guitar in a small group of familiar folks at a boy scout camp fire with my son’s troop one year more than a decade ago. Off and on, I’ve thought about trying to learn at least one song, or even just the intro to Hotel California. But then I watch what it takes, and I just don’t start.
Good luck. May you succeed in playing the first song you’ve always dreamed of. Because if you do that, odds are good you’ll play more and more. And many that know you will appreciate that.
Well thank you Jim. I’m a long way from a whole song, but I’ve managed to learn the first 16 notes of “More Than a Feeling.” I’ve got a looonnnnggg way to go…LOL
Start.
I got so burned out on all thing Buffett I moved out of Key West to Panama City Beach in ’82. Now 3 blocks from my house is PCB’s version of Margerittaville. Now where do I go? Since he just croaked maybe his footprint won’t be so invasive! Wondering as I walk by on MY beach as I see these 14 HIDEOUS houses that sprang up bearing his namesake if the owners had to get jabbed to qualify for the sale? FJB and RIP
Xavier, out of curiosity, I went to Youtube and found that song, “Margritaville,” and listened to a bit of it, basically as much as I could stand. It doesn’t do it for me, and I don’t have any recollection of it, so if I have heard it, it either didn’t make an impression or it caused similar reaction previously: Change the channel.
Give his Come Monday a listen.
DaPicayune, thanks, I gave it a listen via youtube. It’s definitely not my cup of tea. Nothing personal. I’m sure the few bands whose music I find appealing doesn’t strike everybody the way it hits me. That’s music though. My wife listens to things most of which I can’t stand. We have some musical likes in common, but very little. We share more musical dislikes than likes. She was listening when I played this and her face said she found it even less appealing than I did. Neither one of us enjoys country music, although over the years, I’m sure I’ve heard a few country songs I found somewhat appealing. The thing is, I can probably count all the times I’ve spent listening to any music this year on one hand, unless it had to do with me trying(struggling really) to learn guitar. But thanks nonetheless! Just does not suit my tastes.
What a great song. Rest in Peace, Jimmy.
It’s five o’clock somewhere?
Don’t bother with these “holier than thou types’. They likely hate sailboats and salt water too.
then add him to the list of innumerable great artists of whom you are unaware.
I would, but a.) I’m now aware, and b.) based on the samples I’ve heard this evening, “great artists” seems generous. But that’s me.
How nice for you.
Yes, I am a friend of Jesus.
I liked his music – disagreed with his political views. He hated Trump – and in 2021-2022 made everyone attending his concerts either have proof of vaccination or a negative test within 48 hrs of concert. I just can’t get past that kind of thinking. I personally wished these entertainers and musicians would just keep their political beliefs to themselves.
Then he has blood on his hands. Karma strikes again!
What great memories/moments Sundance, thank you for sharing. Although it comes with perils at times, there’s nothing like living near water.
RIP Jimmy!
Meh, he was marginal at best as a musician. He smuggled drugs in to fund his billion dollar house. He was certainly no model for anyone.
Sorry, no loss from my perspective
It was probably the vax that did him in. His music conjures up memories, that’s all.
I read where he had skin cancer that morphed into lymphoma. Fast acting cancer has been in the news as being caused by the vaxx. Always a chance the vaxx caused it, but the skin cancer was diagnosed four years ago, according to article at Daily Mail.
I don’t know anything about him, never heard of him before this post, but given what I’ve read about him from commenters here, I’m not surprised that I’ve never heard of him, and I’d have avoided him like the plague if I had, assuming all these assessments of his politics are accurate. I have dropped my favorite movies for less on the part of actors. There’s a reason I don’t do much pop-culture. My utter disdain for most of the people in HollyWeird and Music is the primary reason.
Yes. They achieved fame and fortune by selling their souls to the same people that are destroying the Country today. As someone above stated Buffett hated ’45 and was vehement in his hatred for what ’45 represents. I am suspicious that his fortune reached heights it did because (like the Hollywood people) he was owned by the same. His support of the vax seemed out of place. I often wondered how on earth actors and musicians amassed the kind of wealth they did. Knowing now that ‘famous’ people were involved with child trafficking, Satan worshiping, and the evil that entails, I cannot help but believe that Buffett was “one of them.”
I’m not buying any of that. You’d have had to live in a sensory deprivation chamber for four decades to have never heard Jimmy Buffett’s music. There’s music everywhere in life. Bits and pieces of this and that as you wander in and out of stores, ball games, television being on in a room as you pass through. Don’t know what message you’re trying to convey, but it ain’t legit.
So, civil, respectful, and intelligent discourse is not your forte, eh?
Getting old? // checks calendar, Yup…
I was in Uncle Sam’s Yacht Club, somewhere other than here, when his White Coat and a Pink Crustacean album hit the PX overseas… Bought it and spun up the album through the ole Sansui Quadrophonic. Before you knew it, the swabs within ear-shot on that old flat-top were singing along with Jimmy. Good memories.
Sorry to see this news.
Fair winds and following seas Jimmy.
Saw him at the Main Point where he performed for a crowd of about 150. We had no idea who he was. I do not think he was known then. Must have been at the very early part of his career. Truthfully, I forgot we even saw him until a buddy told me we went to see him.
Funny story.
I vacationed Christmas eve to New Years last year at Margaritaville in Key West.
One morning late I’m doing my thing at the outdoor bar when this lady came up to me all excited asking, are you Jimmy Buffett?
No, I said, but if I were, what next? She was a little embarrassed… so was her husband.
Lol. A sad day this morning when I read the news.
Cheeseburger in Paradise
Fair Winds ~~~~~
and
Following Seas ~~~~~
Jimmy Buffett
1946-2023
Love the Picture You
Posted , Sundance , of
Jimmy in his Boat ⛵💘🌴
I like mine with lettuce and “tamata”… Jimmy’s music always seemed to put me in a carefree mood (which is saying a lot as I can be a rather uptight person). That was the secret to his success IMO.
RIP
Get a haircut and get a real job.
Sundance 🦜
I definitely understand.
I group up on the coast listening to Buffett back in the 70s, 80s..
treepers, politics were not involved at the time. It was beach music.
The memories, the sand, the water all come flooding back with his music.
No, it’s not great music….it’s the escape…to the coast, sailing, fishing, etc ..when you hear it.
It is salt water, sail boats, fishing and working at something you love to do…entertain.
Saw him at his Halloween concert in the USF Sun Dome in Tampa in 1982. Loved the music. Thought the fake beach on the stage looked like a lot of fun to set your poor tired bare feet into.
RIP, Jimmy. You made an impact.
They do now. They didn’t then.
Dang it! His music reminds me of MY youth! I didn’t know his politics or give a hoot. I just like thinking about all that great music when I was young.
Wow, do you live your life through politics or what!
Jeeeeeez, take a fricking chill pill.
Nowadays, we all live our lives through politics, whether we want to or not. I can’t think of a single aspect of my life that hasn’t been made worse by politics, none of which I’m able to avoid. I understand the contempt.
Over the years I’ve met many Parrot Heads, mostly briefly. The briefly part of is was not important because it doesn’t take long to know that a person is basically good, happy and enjoying life.
To all Parrot Heads please accept my condolences.
I’m more of a casual fan but I am non the less a fan of Jimmy Buffet’s music and style.
This song is for all the people that’s been reviewing our records and say we sound a lot like Jimmy Buffet because we live in Key West and use Congo drums in our songs. For all those people that live in Key West and are under the misconception that Mr. Buffet live in Key West….
Thanks for that. Otherwise, I was thinking his name was pronounced like the menu option at Gold Corral.
Verse 3:
Now Jimmy’s moved to Malibu with all those other stars
He’s not down at in Duval Street hangin’ out in bars
All them God damned tourist, got to be a bore.
Jimmy Buffet doesn’t live here any more
; )
wealth and fame changes people. Next up, Bruce Springsteen
He actually lived in Palm Beach down the road from President Trump.
Oh yeah, how long ago?
I always assumed the name of his beautiful girlfriend/wife was Monday. I fell in love with her the first time I saw the video Come Monday.
Unfortunately, I get the sense from the concert videos from the last half-year or so that “his body was finally turning against him.” I hope that the Sailor was able to take leave of that failing body, and return at Peace to the Sea.
Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,
But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.
Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;
For tho’ from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crossed the bar.
Sundance, you are right. This one hurts.
Since seeing your article posted. I have watched a bunch of videos and listened to a bunch of songs. It was a nice escape from everything going on in the world right now.
I was brought back to a summer in the early 90’s when I drove up the west coast from San Diego to San Francisco along the coastal road. My future wife and I made a few stops along the way and listened to Jimmy Buffet as we enjoyed the scenery.
While it still hurts. It was nice escaping for a while. Come to think of it, isn’t that the point.
Well done, Jimmy. Well done.
Treeper/Parrothead
Sundance, you paint such magnificent visions with your words. I can see you as a boy. Barefoot and windswept, with eyes all aglow from one adventure to another. Never realizing the gift you were receiving in that moment. And I’m reminded of my own “magnificent” childhood. Yes, it was grand! If I could give my grandchildren one thing…it would be this.
The boomer years are 1946-1964, so you are a late boomer—Jackass. Nobody is setting the man on a pedestal. I despised him when I found out he had fundraisers for Hilary Clinton, and his dope head lifestyle was not appealing to my crowd, but he was a great song writer & entertainer and became a pop culture icon of the 20th century. We are talking about the music that was the background of our lives. Did you have a life? BTW I am 63 also, and my parents taught me how to behave a lot better than yours obviously did.
Respectfully, not every person has music in the background of their lives.
I think he did cocaine too so add that to your reasons to hate.
“Come Monday” makes me cry and ache almost every time I hear it…”I just want you back by my side.”
I can’t imagine my 20’s and 30’s (and beyond) without the music of Jimmy Buffet… weekends out at sea, singing and dancing on someone’s deck on the water – or on a boat in the harbor or in the keys- at outdoor oyster bars overlooking the water. Listening brings back so many memories – different memories for different songs …. many I wish I could relive beyond only in my mind. I know we never go back and it would never be the same even if we could – so I will continue to cherish the memories and remain thankful for them.
What ever music is playing when you are coming of age yet still innocent will always be special.
We all feel loss for a time in our life when we could simply enjoy the music, without any deep analysis of message or artist.
The music is memories of broad pieces of life, distinct and personal belonging to no one else. Even if you don’t care for the artist or the music you can’t not remember.
Spent my Navy years at sea listening to Jimmy. Made my homesickness bearable. I could say more but I’m grieving in our collective loss.
Med cruise 1978 USS Forrestal CV-59
Some more ‘FJB’ please
De mortuis nil nisi bonum. RIP.
He was a Southern embassador.
Resquiat in pace.
Jimmy Buffett Says “Come Monday” Saved His Life | Letterman
I love this song.
WOW. What a bunch of vile comments here on this thread.
Sundance wrote a very touching eulogy about a musician whose songs were woven into the fabric of his life and, for all intents and purposes, is holding a Memorial Service for Jimmy Buffett here and now.
Who goes to a Memorial Service and trashes the dearly departed and those who cared about that person?? How low do you have to be to be to trash Sundance, Jimmy Buffett, and those who care about the both of them??
If you don’t like Sundance, Jimmy Buffett and those who care about the both of them then do not enter into this message board and trash everyone attending this Memorial Service.
Ugh!! Yuck!!! It’s completely Low Class, Inconsiderate, and Vulgar. How do you think Sundance feels reading these comments after his beautiful eulogy???
I wish that I could call Security and have all of you thrown out. 86’d. Trespassed. Go learn some manners.
😂👍…I was thinking the exact same thing…👏👍…I am astonished at the negative comments ..what low class some here exhibit 👎…
RIP JIMMY..🙏👍
🇺🇸💪😀👍
Yeah, these are people who pride themselves at being MAGA Trump supporters but do not have the class to SHUT UP and say nothing if you have nothing nice to say.
They think that Jimmy Buffett was the “bad” person when their rude comments show what utter, low class people hang around here.
I would rather have Mr. Buffett for a friend than these people. He would still be polite.
Sorry he was still bad person
You are very thick headed. Your backhanded “sorry” means nothing.
To quote “Funhorsegirl” below you, you “now resemble the vicious liberals” you “claim to detest”.
“Just incredible. I would like to say piss off to all naysayers on this thread. You are clearly too simple and uneducated to appreciate a brilliant lyricist, poet, and lover of life. Go somewhere else.”
I did,… and Jimmy was not only fun, but also polite,… our neighborhood’s adults raised us that way.
His performance of Come Monday, just above with Letterman, captures the JB that I knew and liked.
We all have our foibles, but Jimmy was true to his character as far as I could tell, for all of his life.
The stage persona of the famous often masks their real nature,…. Come Monday reveals Jimmy’s accurately,.. IMHO.
Thanks again, Sundance for this lovey remembrance.
Dantes, Bless you. I have been deeply offended by the low class trashy comments in my usually beloved Treehouse. These negative comments are deeply disturbing. Thankyou for writing a very necessary response to these people, who now resemble the vicious liberals they claim to detest.
Just incredible. I would like to say piss off to all naysayers on this thread. You are clearly too simple and uneducated to appreciate a brilliant lyricist, poet, and lover of life. Go somewhere else.
Well Said Dantes. Thank you for saying what many of us are feeling
Stable people realize they can express a condolence while not agreeing with the political affiliation.
Unstable people, generally driven by an overaggressive ego and narcissistic tendencies, have to politicize every granule in order to reconcile their need for blame casting against the world around them.
I have deleted and blacklisted some unstable people in this thread.
Thank you for self-identifying.
I’m not a crier but these nasty comments about Mr. Buffett made me burst in to tears. How dare they interrupt a memorial board so that we can express our sorrow for your loss and for our loss and the loss to the world of a pretty upbeat, happy, fulfilled man in Jimmy Buffett.
Me too Dante. I’m shocked. I thought conservative people were better than that.
It truly is appalling. Even PDJT says that he wants to be president for EVERYONE. He does not attack democrat voters. He himself got the vaccine.
I am disgusted with these commenters. I need to take a shower to wash the stench of poor breeding off of me.
I would have thought that MAGA people would have had much more class than what is being exhibited on this board. They act completely ill bred with enough class to fill a thimble.
👏👏👍👍
🇺🇸💪😀👍
Excellent explanation Sundance, of the psychosis that those unstable naysayers just displayed for all to see on this thread.
How small and weak, and as I said simple, they are, to not understand the deep brilliance of Jimmy Buffett.
I am a conservative through and through, and I love JB for all of the wonderful things he imparted to me, and to humanity through his fabulous lyrics, magical sound, and ability to rhythm .
I am so very thankful to have been able to see him in Key West in February
Thankyou Sundance for the wonderful tribute/memorial. I was so thrilled that you too were a Jimmy fan. When I opened the Treehouse today at 5:30 and found your tribute, I cried. Yes, This One Hurts.
TY, gracious Host,… My Naval Officer Dad used to put us in our place if any of his nine kids acted up rudly, especially in public which is a reflection on the Parents, with this cogent comment that applies well to some negative types here,….
“The higher the monkey climbs, the more you see of his behind!”
That was from a humble, highly successful man/father who was portrayed by Henry Fonda as Mr. Roberts.
Like so many of The Greatest Generation, he never spoke of his WWII experiences and eschewed notoriety or fame. His is the America most here miss and strive to save and keep.
What a great example he was to us kids,.. and Yes, he liked Jimmy Buffet all of his life and was an influence on his formative years in our neighborhood.
💯 Thank you 🙏
I think Margaritaville is the original sing along bar song. When Garth Brooks hit it big with “Friends in Low Places,” suddenly every singer on the planet wanted a Buffett or Brooks sing along song, one everyone knew the words to and sang at the top of their lungs, especially if they flocked to concerts to do that. Queen did something very similar with “We will Rock You” after figuring out concert goers wanted to participate in the experience. And that participation is a huge part of the connection.
When you’re 20 and drunk and having what seems like the best time of your life, you remember the songs… and the song remembers when (Credit to Trisha Yearwood and whoever wrote that song). There’s something about songs that connect us to emotions, often from long ago, and take you back just as described by Sundance. Churches use it to connect with kids in Sunday school because it lasts for as long as your memory survives with the emotions connected intact.
So, the songs by themselves absent some meaningful event and emotions, aren’t necessarily any better than the many others someone unfamiliar with Buffett and lacking any emotional connection has heard. But hear them when you’re creating a memory you will never experience again… well…
And that was Buffett’s genius. He sang songs people liked to hear about things people experienced that were often raw and honest emotions at a time when the fans were most open to the emotional attachment. And it connected with hundreds of millions of people.
It was when I noticed in the late 90’s that Buffett hadn’t had a hit song in 25+ yrs that I began to try to figure out what his mystical grip on people was. I guess where I landed was that he figured out how to create the myth that he lived the live we all dreamed of… even if it wasn’t always so perfect. And that, to me, is quite a feat.
Last night, I was taking a 100-mile drive roughly 9-10 pm CST. I was overcome with a sense of loss, that my life lacked connectivity through the years, mostly because I had not put enough effort in maintaining relationships for decades. I had been thinking of going to more live band performances, often cover bands, and could not think of anyone that would share my connections with the songs… but I wanted to think of the memories with a bit of a buzz, taking them in for the joy they were at the time… despite the disconnect from who I am today in many respects.
I’m not sure exactly what time Jimmy passed, but a part of me thinks it was while I was having those thoughts, like he was still trying to teach me something important.
Links of chains in life. Yes, I’d have to agree 100% with that.
I turned 60 in June. I’ve watched lots of my favorites pass. But, yes, this one hits home more than most.
Back in my yout’, the ole tavern just off campus at the locale University had the most boisterous responses to both Why Don’t We Get Drunk… And DAC’s rendition of You Never Even Called Me by My Name…
Misspent youth… aka the good old days.
I’m not sure how I flubbed the reply, but your mention of-> “But hear them when you’re creating a memory you will never experience again well…” was the notion to which my reply above was directed.
Oh well, old, fat fingers and iddy biddy, pseudo keyboards in schmart phones do not work so well together.
I remember my first visit to Nashville, alone. I was day drinking listening to some live music and wishing my musician brother and friend were there to share it. Incredible sense of lonely rootlessness.
The band and song are irrelevant.
Long ago and oh so far away I worked sailboat charters in the Virgin Islands, with his music all around; poignant memories for me today…
He wrote some books which I read, and one of them (a novel I believe) had a list of lessons for life. Today I can only remember a few : You do not want to go to jail (listed more than once) and the other was “Assholes are born that way and they never change..”
Finally, I always got a kick out of the song about not knowing where to go when the volcano blow — sorry everyone, I’m not experienced with all the links for info and such…
Brother Jimmy:
R.I.P.
A.E.K.D.B.
Buffet’s music a lyrics meant a great deal to me. “A cowboy in the jungle” was an anthem to me. The message in the music struck a cord with me. Went to way to many buffet concerts. Sometimes on consecutive nights. The best one was listening to the show from a boat on the ohio River outside the venue, watching a girl I loved dance to the music.
Then I grew up, started hearing the things Jimmy would say in interviews. Turned away.
Still think about that girl.
BTW, he’s also wearing my favorite shoes. Maybe that’s part of why I don’t get sick…bare feet in the grass, dirt, sand and sea… first thing I do when I come inside is shed my shoes… AND my socks!
I’m very privileged to have been able to sit down with Jimmy for over 20 years & have long discussions re flying. We were in the same Club together on the west coast. Every July we’d get back together & pick up where we left off a year earlier.
Consummate gentleman. Good friend.
Jimmy, my friend, has gone west.
You will be missed.
I can, and do, appreciate his music…he was an icon of my younger days and many of his songs are truly odes to a simpler age that unfortunately is no more!
However, as a believer in salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, I simply cannot acquiesce to the idea that someone whose music I liked, but who never, to my knowledge made any profession of faith, in any way, shape or form, is in the presence of God, simply because he wrote sweet, fun, touching music!
Sundance’s tribute was both poignant and uplifting and I mourn alongside of him for a talent that was both unique and uplifting. I can leave aside the politics, as I do with many of the performers and bands which I still love, but I do draw a line at the idea that everyone goes to Heaven just because they gave someone joy while they walked the Earth. I do sincerely hope that in his final months or days he thought about eternity in a way that maybe he hadn’t before…