#125 – Sea Of Heartbreak
#125 – Sea Of Heartbreak
-by Stacy Garwood-
February always seems like a month that is tied to the concept of romance, most likely because of Valentine’s Day, which is mostly connected to romantic love, deep love, to falling in love, or how we express ourselves in love. Valentine’s Day has become a holiday tied to flowers, chocolates and overpriced greeting cards, which we then use to express our attention or admiration to those we love. But with love, there is always the chance of heartbreak. I would argue that some of the greatest songs in the world evoke the emotion of heartbreak, rather than love, and those are the songs that touch our souls so deeply. Sea Of Heartbreak is absolutely one of those songs.
“The sea of Heartbreak, Lost love and loneliness, Memories of your caress, So divine, I wish you were mine, Again my dear, I’m on a sea of tears… A sea of heartbreak…”
Sea Of Heartbreak was released on JB’s 2004 studio album License To Chill. The album features more duets and more cover songs than any other album Jimmy ever released. This album was recorded in multiple places, including Shrimpboat Sound Studio in Key West, and several locations in Nashville, Tennessee including Blackbird Studio, Sound Emporium, and Seventeen Grand Recording, and Moonee Ponds Studio in Malibu, California. It was released under Jimmy’s label, Mailboat Records and was produced by Jimmy’s friends and longtime Coral Reefer bandmates Mac McAnally and Michael Utley. Forty years into his music journey, this album became Jimmy’s first #1 album, something Jimmy was very proud and appreciative of.
Over the years, in live performances, Jimmy shared the stage and lyrics with many people, including guests as well as bandmates, but he had never recorded that many songs with other artists, with a few exceptions. But this newest was an album of multiple duets, including songs recorded with Alan Jackson, Clint Black, Kenny Chesney, Toby Keith, Martina McBride and George Strait. But how did it all come about, that not-quite-country Jimmy would take to the studio with some of the strongest voices in country music?
“The lights in the harbor, Don’t shine for me, I’m like a lost ship, Lost on the sea…”
The year before, in 2003, Jimmy had a more than slightly popular duet with the great Alan Jackson called It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere, which catapulted Jimmy firmly back into the country music family. The song was almost an instant hit, finally earning Jimmy Buffett a #1 single on Billboard Top County chart, and earned the team of Buffett and Jackson the award Vocal Event of the Year for both the Country Music Academy Awards and the American Country Music Awards. And just like that, Jimmy was either making or reforming connections in the heart of country music, with the biggest names in the business.
Not one to ignore an opportunity, when Jimmy went into the studio the next year, he used those connections to record duets with some of his friends, all admirable country music artists, and Jimmy invited them into the studio with him. And when he did this, he also decided to honor some great country music songs. After all, Jimmy was no stranger to country music, even if he was a bit on the outskirts of mainstream country. What better way to honor several country music classics than singing them alongside some of the most respected and successful artists in country music.
For years, Jimmy had walked almost between music genre’s, not quite country, not quite folk, not quite pop, not quite world, and in the process, developing his own music style. To the point where he is given credit for combining all these styles with his love of the ocean and sailing and unique island beats and gulf coast frequency, creating what has become known as Gulf and Western.
“How did I lose you, Where did I fail, Why did you leave me, Always to sail…”
I was raised in a household that enjoyed music. We listened to music each and every day, so music from the sixties, the seventies and the eighties are part of my path. We listened to music from folk, country, pop and rock, but country was probably the most listened to genre, and that included music from the forties and fifties with my grandparents. With that said, many of these songs that Jimmy chose to cover on this album were not new to me.
Sea Of Heartbreak was first recorded by Don Gibson and released in 1961and it reached #2 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs. Don Gibson’s strong voice brought to life the heartache and heartbreak of lost love. It was an unusual song for Gibson, because he didn’t write it, as he did with most of his recorded songs. And Don Gibson was perhaps one of the most well known and gifted song writers of his era. Gibson wrote Sweet Dreams, covered by both Faron Young and Patsy Cline, and I Can’t Stop Loving You, covered by Kitty Wells. Those songs got him signed to RCA in the late fifties, and from that point he started working with the great Chet Atkins, who served as Gibson’s main record producer for years.
It wasn’t easy for Don Gibson. A more famous story in his early career is how he wrote Oh Lonesome Me right after his television and vacuum cleaner had been claimed by the repo man. It is true, is it not… probably a bit of both, which is something that Jimmy Buffett laced into his songs, as well.
Don Gibson also struggled with alcohol and drugs in his career, which didn’t make his path any easier, nor did his struggles with depression. It does make sense of the moody and emotional lyrics he penned, tied to lost love, faded romance and unrequited love. He was shy and didn’t love the stage, struggled with fame, and banked on his lyrics and voice carrying his career. He slowly faded from country music radio and recordings, but his influence on the genre will never be forgotten. He died in 2003, just before Jimmy put together this album, and I would bet that Jimmy picked this song, both for the play on words with the “sea” of heartbreak as well as an homage to the passing of a valued country artist.
“Oh, what I’d give to sail back to shore, Back to your arms once more, So come to my rescue, Come here to me, Take me and keep me, Away from this sea…”
Even though Don Gibson was a talented songwriter, Sea Of Heartbreak wasn’t written by him. It was written by the writing team of Hal David and Paul Hampton, both of New York City, known more for their pop music influence than country. It speaks to the strength and emotion of a song, when a song writer like Don Gibson jumps all over it and records it. It became a smashing hit, and there is no doubt Gibson knew the potential of the song from the moment he first heard the demo. Nicknamed “Country’s Heartbreak Poet”, Gibson was the perfect fit for Sea Of Heartbreak.
Hal David started his music career in the forties, writing music for Sammy Kaye and Guy Lombardi, with a big band style and Hollywood influences. In the fifties, Hal David started working with famous composer Burt Backarach. The two men penned many songs together in the following years and had great influence on each other’s professional development. Other songs that Hal David has written are Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head, Do You Know The Way To San Jose, What The World Needs Now Is Love, Sweet Love, Walk On By, What’s New Pussy Cat, and To All The Girls I’ve Loved Before are just a few of the songs written or cowritten by Hal David. Artists that have recorded his songs are many, but include Dionne Warwick, Dusty Springfield, Tom Jones, BJ Thomas and Jackie DeShannon.
The other songwriter to have credit in the lyrics of Sea Of Heartbreak is Paul Hampton, who was both a singer and a songwriter. He recorded two albums of his own but also filled the world with many song writing credits over the years. His songs have been recorded by Eddy Arnold, Merle Haggard, Gene Pitney, Sonny James, Johnny Cash and even the late, great King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley.
I am not sure how David and Hampton came to write Sea Of Heartbreak, or how the popular music sound of the song ended up coming to Don Gibson in Nashville, but he jumped on it and made it into a country music hit. A song memorable enough that forty years later, Jimmy Buffett decided to put it on his own album, continuing the song’s history.
And what better artist to harmonize with than the one of country music’s most successful crooners of all time, George Strait. George Strait has been nicknamed the King Of Country Music and it’s hard to argue with that title. Starting in the eighties, George Strait has dominated the country music charts, has sold over 120 million records worldwide, with 33 albums certified platinum. The man is a force in country music. Songs such as Amarillo By Morning, The Cowboy Rides Away and The Chair still stop me in my tracks. His vocals are divine and his presence on stage is gentle and playful at the same time.
George Strait is my first concert experience outside of small local fair performers. I was a freshman in college, eighteen years old, and he came to play at the Metra at Billings, Montana. I was enthralled and entertained the entire concert. My high school friend and I attended, and we both know to this day, that George Strait acknowledged us in that crowd. We were screaming like Beatlemania, so we made out presence known. Ha!
When this album came out, I bought it right away and listened to it repeatedly. I enjoyed all the songs and vocal collaborations, but Sea Of Heartbreak might have been my favorite. It connected two artists that I was a huge fan of, and it tugged at my nostalgic country music heart as well.
George Strait is a country music legend, holding the record for sixty #1 singles, this includes any and all genres of music. It is a record that may never be topped. In 2025, he was inducted into the Hollywood Walk Of Fame, a well-deserved tribute to his career accomplishments.
One of the things that I really enjoyed about Jimmy and George’s recording of Sea Of Heartbreak was that they really respected and honored the original recording. There was no flashy new arrangement, there were no steel drums or island flair, which Jimmy is quite capable of weaving beautifully into his music. This version was so loyal to the mournful, quiet loss in the original melody and lyrics that it really touched me. It felt like they wanted to honor the song as it was, and I think they did a beautiful job.
I hope you enjoy this modern version of a country classic, sung by Jimmy Buffett and George Strait. I hope you have enjoyed or learned a little about the song’s history. I have included the link of the studio version as well as a live version, that was released a couple years later.
“The lights in the harbor, Don’t shine for me, I’m like a lost ship, Lost on the sea… A sea of heartbreak…”
Stacy
Please enjoy Sea Of Heartbreak. I have included the links below. Enjoy!
2004 Studio Album version:
2007 Live Album version:
The links are from Jimmy’s official YouTube channel, which I have no personal affiliation with.
More links that may be of interest:
Story Behind the Song:Alan Jackson, ‘It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere’
BBC – Music – Review of Jimmy Buffett – License To Chill
Jimmy Buffett – License to Chill | Teen Ink
Don Gibson, ‘Sea of Heartbreak’ – Rolling Stone Australia
Vol. 23: “Sea of Heartbreak” Don Gibson – McConda.comMcConda.com
Hal David Knew the Way to San Jose – San Jose Rocks
