#61 – Tin Cup Chalice
Day #61 – Tin Cup Chalice
A chalice is a large cup or goblet, usually ornate and for the drinking of wine. It tends to be associated with people or environments that are expensive and affluent. A tin cup gives the impression of the opposite of what people think of when it comes to fancy drinking glasses, more “salt of the earth” than luxurious or exclusive. Of course, Jimmy saw the juxtaposition and wrote it beautifully into this poignant and soulful song.
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Original post from 11/1/2023
Day #61 – Tin Cup Chalice
Tin Cup Chalice was released on 1974’s album A1A. If you feel like we’ve visited this record several times, we have. This is the seventh of eleven songs that I have shared from this record.
Red wine, a tin cup, a honeysuckle vine combined with a seashore and a sunset sure paints a picture that touches the soul.
This song has been difficult for me to share, probably because I love it so much and it means so much to me. Emotionally, it catches me every time I hear it. If it wasn’t for Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes, this would be my favorite song that Jimmy ever wrote.
This song unites Jimmy’s fans in a special way. When it ended up on a fan vote that led to being included on Songs You Don’t Know By Heart, I was shocked. How do people not know this song? I was actually a bit peeved. But now I’m so grateful because it led to a beautiful interview of Jimmy by his daughter Delaney and a beautiful new album version of this classic song.
In the Directed By Delaney interview, Jimmy talks about how he and Jerry Jeff Walker had drove to Key West in a 1947 Packard. He revealed his interest in Key West was sparked by a Humphrey Bogart when he was a kid. Jimmy speaks of being “enchanted” by the island of Key West, the “crazy, wacky people that I fell in with”, and being inspired by the history of the writers who had called Key West home. And he several times mentions watching the sunset, the people who “went to sunset” and the celebration at Mallory Square.
Mallory Square is a plaza in what is known as “old town”, near the end of Duval Street, facing the Gulf of Mexico. Sunset celebrations had been happening at Mallory Square long before Jimmy’s feet touched the keys, and they still are. It includes street performers, food vendors, musicians, and arts and crafts for sale. As a matter of fact, there is a city ordinance that requires all cruise ships to leave their docking two hours before sunset, so they don’t block the view from the island.
My first Mallory Square sunset was in December of 2000, and it was solid, thick cloud cover… of course! But the plaza was full of people, like a circus of performers and watchers. It was where I seen my first sword swallower and flame eater (the same crazy guy), a man whose dog did impressive tricks and another guy walking a tight rope over the crowd. The next night, I was witness to a glorious sunset in all the shades of red and orange, gleaming off the salty waters to the west.
People applauded when the sun touched the horizon and it felt pretty amazing. People still applaud and hoot and holler at the sunset in Key West, and when I was there in May of 2022, people still appreciate the sunset just as much. It still feels like a circus in Mallory Square. And if you want to avoid the crowds and money traps, you can find beautiful sunsets all over the keys.
In his Parrothead Handbook, Jimmy said of this song, “This was my first Key West song. I was running from a bad marriage and a trail of debt, and I wound up at the end of America. Nobody cared about either there, and they took time to applaud the sunset at the end of the day. It was a place for me to hang my hat for a while.”
Here’s to the song that makes eating oysters and drinking beer for dinner every night of the year feel like a perfect way to end the day. Or, if you prefer, toasting sunset with red wine in a tin cup on the seashore.
Please enjoy Tin Cup Chalice. I am not exaggerating when I say this might be the best song that Jimmy ever wrote. I have included the link in the comments below.
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I can’t explain why this song touches my soul the way it does, but I am grateful for it. Every time I hear it, it shifts me into a different state of mind, and for that, I am also grateful!
Stacy
Please enjoy Tin Cup Chalice. I have included the link below. Enjoy!
The link is from Jimmy’s official YouTube channel, which I have no personal affiliation with.
