Category: More Monday Music

#123 – Happy Xmas (War Is Over)

Happy Birthday Jimmy Buffett! I did not want to let this holiday season pass without wishing you a big, beautiful, happy heavenly birthday. And it only seems fitting to share a song from one of Jimmy’s two Christmas albums, and honestly, the song came easily to me. It’s become a Christmas classic with a subtle message of love, peace, and nostalgia. Happy Xmas (War Is Over) is the perfect song to share for this occasion.

“So this is Christmas and what have you done, another year over, a new one just begun…”

#122 – Big Top

What comes around once a year? It’s not a riddle, although that could be a great riddle. Many things come around once a year, actually. To name a few, dates like birthdays and anniversaries, seasons, and actually the earth’s rotation around the sun perfectly describes something coming around once a year. Events like rodeos, concerts, circuses and fairs are often annual.  Other things that come to mind are holidays, such as New Years, Easter, the Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, which is fast approaching. Of course, that major winter holiday brings to mind the idea that Santa also comes around once a year, tied to a world full of diverse celebrations at Christmas. Which happened to be Jimmy Buffett’s birthday. A Christmas Day baby was little baby James William Buffett!  

So the riddle is… what Jimmy Buffett song connects Santa, circuses, Jimmy’s birthday and his extravaganza traveling show…well, that answer is Big Top.

“Just like Santa, I come around once a year, Time to break out all of your party gear, There’ll be a jump up out on the lawn, Just look for all your friends, Singing along with your favorites once again…”

#121 – Nobody Speaks To The Captain No More

November is here. The veil is thin. It’s time to share a song. What to do? What to feature? What to focus on? What song fits this time of year?

There is a song that has been softly humming to me for months, many months actually. It has softly insisted on grabbing my attention, but the time never seemed quite right. I am not sure if the time is right now, either, but I can ignore the whispered lyrics and the haunting melody no longer. And so, Nobody Speaks To The Captain No More gets its chance to shine.

#120 – Jimmy Dreams

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.

#119 – Who Gets To Live Like This

This weekend marks an anniversary that I have not been looking forward to. It is Labor Day weekend in the United States, and most people are celebrating by potentially taking a day or two off from work, possibly camping this weekend, or at least having a barbeque with friends or family. It was also a weekend that Jimmy never missed in concert, entertaining the masses, or at least his quirky collection of fan(atics). Jimmy enjoyed his life, enjoyed his career, enjoyed his fans, and as he said so perfectly, “who gets to live like this.”

#118 – Love In The Library

It’s summer, and it’s warm, and while Montana’s August heat and mild humidity cannot compare to the sweltering summer heat of the gulf coast, it’s probably a given that most everyone can appreciate quiet and cool, such as in sheltered libraries or because of the gentle night breeze and midnight drive that brought this song to my attention last night. One of Jimmy’s more gentle songs, as sweet as it is surreal and sublime, hiding in a cool corner with a good book and a good song, seems quite appropriate. Love In The Library is the song that is calling out to be shared this month.

#117 – Captain America

Happy July! Summer is here, having just rolled past the summer solstice a couple weeks before, and then the 4th of July, with songs by Jimmy Buffett rolling through my mind. The “Fourth” holiday always brings to mind very American things, such as flags and fireworks and fun, as well as the enjoyment and relaxation of a summer picnic celebration. Captain America is a song that touches on comic book hero’s and the innocence of a bygone era, similar to lazy summer days in the sun. This song is also a reminder of how the world feels a lot differently than it did back when it was written, or even five years ago.

#116 – Take Another Road

What does it mean to take another road? How many roads are there that can be taken? Limitless, probably. No end to the roads we can take, or the alterations we can make in our lives. It is up to us what road or how we choose, although at times life seems to divert or detour us in a way that we did not see or cannot possibly understand. I guess life makes a “course correction” for us in these cases, and we are left to have faith that it’s part of a great plan on our life’s map. But for the most part, it’s our choice to step forward, choosing the roads before us, such as staying on the same path or offering us a way to Take Another Road.

#115 – Everybody’s Talkin’

This song has been waving at me for a little while, wanting to have it’s turn to in the sunlight, but the timing never seemed quite right. And yet, today seems like the perfect day to share it. There is a northeast wind blowing and rain is falling from the sky, and I am thinking about places where the sun keeps shining and warm ocean breezes, and the gentle vibe of this soft rock/folk song seems like it was designed for a day like today. Everybody’s Talkin’ is a song that paints a picture of a certain mood, and I would guess that almost everyone has heard at least one version of this song, although it may not have been Jimmy’s version.

#114 – Kick It In Second Wind

This month, we are traveling back to the seventies, to “classic” Buffett, to the Key West days and the music that was part of Jimmy’s transition from folk/country to creating his own sound, which would later be termed Gulf and Western. The song we are highlighting is one of those songs that not only connect to the life that Jimmy was living at the time, as a new artist making a living touring honky tonks and beach bars and a few hotel lounges, along with the party-hard-until-you-drop mentality that came with it. Kick It In Second Wind is funny, truthful and a little bit rowdy, and captures Jimmy’s life at that time in lyrical detail.