#69 – When The Coast Is Clear
Day #69 – When The Coast Is Clear
Much of Jimmy’s music can be looked at on different levels, and this song is a great example. The “coast is clear” can refer to the end of summer and the quiet, clear beaches that are left in the wake of humans retreating at the end of summer. It can also simply mean the weather is clear, with no storm or clouds on the horizon. In that sense, it’s not just about weather, though, because it can metaphor for safety. Depending on my mood, this song strikes me a little differently each time I hear it, although I always recognize how beautiful it is.
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Original post from 11/9/2023
Day #69 – When The Coast Is Clear
When The Coast Is Clear was released on JB’s 1986 album Floridays.
By the way, I want to point out that this album cover marks the last official appearance of Jimmy’s mustache. It was looking particularly fine before it sailed into the horizon, never to be seen again.
This song was co-written by Jimmy and Mac McAnally, and according to both of them, this was the first song they wrote together. Mac has said they had met, and Jimmy said they needed to get together to write. But according to Mac, lots of people say that, but what he found out about Jimmy, that is if he said it, he meant it, and would make it happen.
They had similar backgrounds, being raised on the Gulf Coast. Jimmy was born in Mississippi and raised just down the coast in Mobile, Alabama. Mac was also born and raised in Mississippi, although northern not southern, and he had been writing songs since he was a child. He came from a musical family and his mother played the church organ and piano, which is what Mac started playing at a young age.
So, they got together and wrote. I’m not certain who wrote what line, or who wrote what notes, but they did a fine job together. This is a beautiful song.
Jimmy’s liner notes talk about the end of summer, when kids are back in school, when the crowds have left the beach, the shorebirds reclaim the tidal pools, and the waters of the gulf turn a darker shade of green, indicating that winter is approaching. That’s what inspired this song and was a favorite time to spend time on the coast.
“Thats when it always happens, Same time every year, I come down to talk to me, When the coast is clear…”
Of course, metaphorically, this song has a much deeper meaning. We all need some quiet time to unwind, away from the bustle and stress of daily life. And we usually have a place or environment that helps us find that inner peace.
And this isn’t just about a pretty view on the horizon, it’s also tied to safety, an internal feeling we all have.
The “coast is clear” is defined as an idiom, which is a phrase that has no clear definition but is tied to a deeper meaning. It’s thought it might have originated with pirates or smugglers along a coastline somewhere, looking for a break for their purpose. It could also be tied to military watching the coast for invasion. Or even to describe a break in the weather. It’s really so old in our language, it’s lost its definition, but not its meaning.
“So tell me all your troubles, I’ll surely tell you mine, We’ll laugh and smoke and cuss and joke, And have a glass of wine…”
Those liner notes on this song also read, “Painting with words can be just as much fun as painting with oils.” Well, Jimmy, your words have painted some beautiful pictures over the years. Thank you!
Please enjoy When The Coast Is Clear. It’s really lovely! I have included the link in the comments below.
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Another way to look at the “coast is clear” is by looking at the water, both quality and clarity, and by how the environments flora and fauna react to the water.
I was far, far away from the Gulf Coast in 2010, but even in Montana, where the Canadian border is closer to me that the nearest international airport, we heard the news about the Deepwater Horizon disaster. It started with an explosion that killed almost a dozen people with a fireball that could be seen from a reported 40 miles away. The immense fire was extinguished, but it was only the beginning of what would become one of the worst documented environmental disasters and the world’s largest marine oil spill in history. Two days after the initial explosion, the remains of the rig sank, and it left the deep well gushing into the Gulf of Mexico.
I mention this not to touch on every detail of the disaster that lasted for months and months, and devastated life along the gulf coast, but to discuss Jimmy’s reaction to this tragedy.
Jimmy was a gulf coast kid. He was born in Pascagoula Mississippi and grew up in Mobile Alabama. This was his home that was being so terribly affected, the waterways and the coast, the animals and plant life, the people that live there and make a living from the waters. It had a huge impact on Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, and I would imagine the Texas gulf coast too.
Jimmy was upset about this disaster, something that most probably could have been avoided and he was vocal about it. When he was asked what he could do to help, he decided to arrange a free concert in Gulf Shores, Alabama. 35,000 free tickets were given out and people came, although there is no official attendance count. Jimmy and the Coral Reefers performed, along with Allen Toussaint and Jesse Winchester, and the concert event was televised on CMT. And people did come, and they spent money on food and hotels and gas and souvenirs, and that influx most certainly helped bring much needed income into the local area that had the tourist season decimated by the oil spill.
Another thing that Jimmy helped with but is much less publicized than the concert was that he also helped underwrite the cost of designing and building rescue boats that could get into the shallow areas of the coastline to help rescue wildlife that was so devastatingly affected by the oil spill. This boat design had a draft as shallow as ten inches. He and his friends, boat builder Mark Castlow of Dragonfly Boatworks and gulf coast outdoorsman Jimbo Meador, dreamed up this project. Design and production began on crafts that could help with rescuing animals and birds along the coast. They are called SWAT (Shallow Water Attention Terminal) Boats, and initially four were built and started with rescue efforts along the Mississippi coast in response to the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
Jimmy Buffett was a man who cared deeply for the environment, and he showed it in multiple ways over the years, but certainly in his response to the devastating oil spill from the Deepwater Horizon disaster that affected the place he grew up. I believe he was a man who would have tried to make a difference if he was a poor fisherman who was pulling oil slicked birds from the water, but since his ability and scope was larger, he was able to help in larger ways. Thank you, Jimmy.
Stacy
Please enjoy When The Coast Is Clear. I have included the link below. Enjoy!
The link is from Jimmy’s official YouTube channel, which I have no personal affiliation with.
