#120 – Jimmy Dreams

by Stacy Loves Buffett · Published October 6, 2025 · Updated October 6, 2025

#120 – Jimmy Dreams

-by Stacy Garwood-

October is a dream-like month, lying somewhere between the glory of summer and the brisk, stillness of winter. What song could fit this month? Every October, Vampires, Mummies and The Holy Ghost comes to mind, but since that has previously been featured in this blog (in a previous October post), something else needed to step forward. There are hundreds of Jimmy’s songs that are worthy of sharing, but as I often do, I left it up a little bit to chance, and a little bit to what is perhaps messages from spirit, perhaps Jimmy himself, and almost immediately, this melody called out. Perhaps, even from “the bright Pleiades…” Jimmy Dreams.

“Take it all in, It’s as big as it seems, Count all your blessings and remember your dreams…”

Jimmy Dreams was released on JB’s 1995 album, Barometer Soup, which reached #6 on the Billboard 200 and was eventually certified Platinum, meaning it sold over a million units. It was both a commercial success and popular with Jimmy’s fan base.

Barometer Soup, features songs of adventure and travel, poignant memories of the past, and even a few quirky, humorous tunes. All songs on the album are credited to the songwriting collaboration of Jimmy Buffett, Russ Kunkel, Jay Oliver, Roger Guth and Peter Mayer. Except for two exceptions, anyway, one of which is Jimmy’s cover of the James Taylor classic Mexico, and a soft, melodic, gentle song credited on the album jacket as being written by a solo Jimmy Buffett himself, which of course, is Jimmy Dreams. In some places on the internet, you will find this song credited to the entire songwriting crew that worked on this album, but I defer to the published album itself.

And Jimmy Dreams encompasses all the beautiful, wordsmithing to a melody that Jimmy Buffett as a songwriter and storyteller is capable of.

The album cover itself, which hints at locations that call to relaxation and naps, leading to dreams. A sepia toned graphic of a man lazing in a hammock in the shade, reading a book and listening to the nearby ocean. Barometer Soup, the song and the album, was in many ways, inspired by Jimmy’s love of Mark Twain’s stories, in particular, A Tramp Abroad. Jimmy Dreams has hints of the kind of imaginative adventure that Twain wrote about and that Jimmy searched for.

“Sound of the low tide, Smell of the rain, Traveling alone on my boat and my plane, Take it all in, It’s as big as it seems, Count all your blessings and remember your dreams…”

But what does Jimmy Dreams really refer to too? What is the meaning behind the song and lyrics?

Is it the starry sky Jimmy refers’ to, or is it his life, or even in a more expansive way, to the lives of us all?

The lyrics in this song are absolutely beautiful and are arguably some the best and the brightest in Jimmy’s repertoire.

Speaking of best and brightest, one of the most etheric and haunting lyrics in the song calls to a notable constellation in the starry sky, The Pleiades.

I was just slightly unsure of this song versus another for this blog post, but last night, out gazing at the nearly full moon, my eyes were immediately drawn to a beautiful constellation. It was the Pleiades, and I knew that was the sign I was looking for. Then, while driving to work, probably about fifteen minutes later, the song again gently drifted from the waves of RadioMargaritaville.

“Jimmy stares, Towards the bright Pleiades, It’s so strange, What his distant eye sees, Who know why you start, Rediscovering your heart, But you do it again and again… “

The Pleiades are mentioned several times in Jimmy’s songs over the years, obviously including Jimmy Dreams. Jimmy was a lover of nature, of the starry sky, and as a sailor, he, like generations of sailors before him, would use the starry night sky to navigate by. The Pleiades first pop up in Jimmy’s song, Desdemona’s Building a Rocket Ship. Desdemona herself, along with her space station and bake shop, we are introduced to Jimmy’s fans in the song Fruitcakes. Desdemona herself makes three total appearances in Jimmy’s songs, including another mention of the Pleiades, in the song Ti Punch Café, from Jimmy’s final studio album, Equal Strain On All Parts.

So, what was it about this constellation that Jimmy found so intriguing that he mentioned it in three songs? I can’t say exactly, and I am not sure anyone else could either, except for Jimmy himself. If there is any interview that discusses Jimmy mentioning the star cluster, I would love it if someone would share the details with me.

“Jimmy dreams, He’s a child to the end, What a joy, When you are your best friend, The world’s such a toy, If you just stay a boy, You just spin it again and again…”

I did find a review of Barometer Soup that referred to Jimmy Dreams as Jimmy having Peter Pan syndrome, meaning he was an adult that refused to grow up. Perhaps a but unfair, considering the empire that Jimmy built, but the song and Jimmy himself often referred to himself as a kid at heart, or at least looking at life with the enthusiasm of a child.

So, maybe we can just look at the Pleiades themselves and see if that helps explain why Jimmy found the pattern of heavenly beacons so intriguing.

The Pleiades, at least is how this constellation is referred to in the Western world, based on the Greek mythos, of the seven daughters of Atlas, a Titan god who was “punished” to “hold up the heavens” by the Olympian god Zeus, and the ocean nymph Pleione. The seven daughters, often referred to as “the seven sisters” were later placed in the night sky, either to place them closer to their father, whom they mourned, or to protect them from the advances of a man. The Greek stories associate this man as Orion the Hunter, another very well-known and noticeable constellation in the night sky, which is quite close to the Pleiades.

In Greek mythos, the seven sisters are named Alcyone, Maia, Asterope, Celaeno, Taygete, Electra and Merope. Merope is sometimes referred to as “the lost sister” because she is fainter and was acknowledged by astronomers far later than the other stars.

Other cultures will have slightly different stories, but usually they stars are referred to as young females who are being pursued by a male figure.

One thing that is quite interesting in much of these stories, across the globe, is that a majority of the time the stars, or “sisters” are referred to as being seven in total, while only six stars are easily seen with the naked human eye. In actuality, the star constellation has many more than six or seven stars in it, it actually contains more than a thousand stars, yet most are faint, even with powerful technology to help view them.

An interesting version of the myth is from the Japanese culture, which refers to the seven stars as “unity” or “coming together” and is known by the name Subaru. Yes, Subaru, like the car company, which actually chose their name and logo based on this star cluster, although they chose to depict only six stars, because only six stars are easily visible. Check out the Subaru logo and it will all make sense. My first car was a Subaru, but I never knew this interesting fact until many years later. Had I known it when I was fifteen, I might have appreciated that little blue car more than I did.

Countless cultures across our planet’s history, at least the history that we know, have stories that explain the stars, their origin or their meaning. The star cluster is mentioned in Chinese culture as far back as five thousand years ago and is mentioned three times in the bible.

Native tribes in North America had explanations for the stars, and most of them referred to the stars as female, including in relation to the legend of Devil’s Tower in Wyoming. (If you have never seen it, my advice is to put it on your bucket list!!!) An exception is the Blackfoot tribes of Montana, who refer to the stars as young boys, who were orphaned and who were placed in the sky so they could always play together.

So, perhaps Jimmy was simply captivated by the constellation, just as it seems humans have been for thousands and thousands of years.

In astronomy, The Pleiades is known as M45, or Messier 45. The Messier system is a catalog of objects noted in the night sky. The Pleiades are approximately 444 light years away and are considered one of the younger star clusters in the Milky Way. They are approximately one hundred million years old, in comparison to our local star system, which currently places our sun at about five billion years old. No matter how young or old, or near or far, it seems that human existence has been captivated by this star cluster for longer than we can find documented references.

To find the Pleiades, it is easiest to first find the constellation Orion, or at least the three very noticeable stars that make up Orion’s belt. If you then look to the right, and perhaps a little above or below, depending on your location on the planet and the time of the year, you will find the constellation Taurus the Bull, which is marked by a bright reddish star called Aldebaran, the ”eye of the bull”. Look again slightly to your right and you will see a bluish cluster of stars, sometimes appearing blurry to the naked eye, and you have found the Pleiades. Or put a sky making app on your phone, to help you find not only the Pleiades, but many other beautiful items in the night sky.

As mentioned earlier, the Pleiades are mentioned in Jimmy’s song Ti Punch Café, a magic little song that is a little history, a little mystery and whole lot of tying up Jimmy’s adventures in life as well as in lyrics. Since this was Jimmy’s “farewell” album, of course with references to Bubbles Up, and Jimmy’s passing even before it was released, have created mentions of Jimmy’s “bubbling up” to the Pleiades. Heck, I have no idea what happens to us when we die, so floating up to a beautiful star cluster in our Milky Way galaxy seems like a rather nice way to cross over.

“Jimmy flies, With no use for disguise, Just escapes, Using mirrors and capes, And the words to the trick, There is no bigger kick, Than just rhyming again and again…”

Jimmy turned his career and lifestyle into a fabulous adventure.

And Jimmy shared his dreams and blessings with the world and showed us the way to have fun and enjoy the journey with love and laughter.

“Take it all in, It’s as big as it seems, Count all your blessings and remember your dreams…”

Stacy

Please enjoy Jimmy Dreams. I have included the link below. Enjoy!

1995 Studio Version: