Day #18 – A Pirate Looks At Forty
Day #18 – A Pirate Looks At Forty
Ah, this song! It is a bit of a tender anthem for Parrotheads everywhere, especially the ones who have ripened past forty, or fifty, or who are even more ripe. And probably for those who are still far, far away from one of those milestones that life hands us. I mean, I loved this song long before I had even crossed the meridian into my twenties.
But this song has a special connection for me because it’s the song that helped me realize I was a Parrothead, and always will be.
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Original post from 9/19/2023
Day #18 – A Pirate Looks At Forty
“Mother, Mother Ocean, I have heard you call…”
This was first released on JB’s 1974 classic album A1A and was written about a Key West friend who bartended at the Chart Room Bar, a favorite hangout of Jimmy’s, the famous/infamous Phillip Clark. Of course, the lyrics seem to fit Jimmy’s lifestyle a bit (but he was only 27 at the time) and I honestly think it touches on all of us in some ways.
This song was one of “The Big 8” Jimmy almost always played at concerts and it’s a crowd favorite. Even if you don’t listen to much of his music, I bet you might know this one. Jimmy has put this song on multiple albums, both studio and live, and it’s one of his most popular songs covered by other artists. In 1982, Bob Dylan and Joan Baez sang it at a California music fest and when that information trickled to Jimmy’s ears, he was incredibly honored.
The reason I am a Parrothead might be this song, but not because it was my favorite, although I truly love it, but because it was the favorite song of a dear Parrothead friend, Diane Skolrud. In 1993, I started working summers at PGB (otherwise known as the Park Grove Bar and Cafe) for Kim and Larry. I worked several mornings that first summer with Diane and another dear friend, Toots. Anyway, Diane was a huge Buffett fan, and we were discussing a few of Jimmy’s songs, and I knew maybe two or three, and I did not know this one. I kind of ruffled her feathers that day, and she proceeded to go out to her car, that 1973 copper colored Ford Mustang and bring back in her copy of Songs You Know By Heart on cassette tape and made me listen to this song. I admitted it was pretty good and then we listened to the whole tape, front and back, a couple times. That week, I went into Woolworth’s and bought my own copy, and I was hooked. So, thank you Diane; I hope you are finally getting a Jimmy Buffett concert heaven-side.
“Yes, I am a pirate, two hundred years too late…”
Please enjoy A Pirate Looks At Forty. It’s such a wonderful, poignant, beautiful song and I’ve included the link in the comments below!
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Unless you were raised listening to JB’s music in the cradle, and I know that we have probably have at least two generations that have that potential, you have a moment in time or a song where it all just clicks, and you know you are part of a great big world of sand and song, margaritas and memories, that you were not a part of just a moment before. Thanks for taking the time to listen to my moment in time!
Stacy
Please enjoy A Pirate Looks At Forty. I have included the link below. Enjoy!
The link is from Jimmy’s official YouTube channel, which I have no personal affiliation with.
