Other than his hit song, I never thought about him much until I sailed into Margaritaville Montego Bay after a day of snorkeling on a tourist catamaran. That made me wonder what sort of a person created a place like that.
Well, I can tell you that when I rolled into Key West in a 1953 pick-up in 1980, inspired by Buffett to move there...I came in for a bit of a shock. Any mention of him was greeted by derision. The song by the despicable D.A. Coe: Jimmy Buffett Doesn't Live in Key West Anymore; was wildly popular. When DAC gave a free concert on Duval Street in 1982...when he sang that song...the cheers from the crowd were deafening. I just could not understand why Buffett was so disliked in Key West at the time . I have a better idea now.
I stopped listening to Buffet after his 1983 album. The music , for me, just became inauthentic. Earlier he sang that, if he lived to be an old man he would sail to Martinique (a place I also ventured to during my Key West days) and become a character with a parakeet on his shoulder. In the song: One Particular Harbor, he longs to end his days as a nobody beside a bay on a tropical isle.
So how did he end his days?...in Sag Harbor, Long Island ...with homes in ritzy enclaves all over the world... with his elite pals. He obviously destroyed his immune system with the Jonestown jabs, and required them of folks to get into his concerts.
I'm grateful to Buffett for turning me on to Key West, and occasionally listen to his old tunes, because they bring back happy memories of a nicer age. I was never a Parrot Head...in my humble opinion...that just seems like a plastic-y celebration of an authentic lifestyle that disappeared from the United States decades ago. What saddens me the most...is that a similar authentic lifestyle in the tropics outside the US, is getting harder and harder to find...due to cell phones and the spreading red-tide of American pop-culture. One must get there before it gets "discovered" . I'm sure this will piss off many...so be it...just my two-cents worth. I feel blessed I got to live in Key West before it changed.
I guess authentic lifestyle is relative, but if you mean life largely untouched by the major countries, there are still many in the South Pacific. The heritage is of course very different. The Caribbean islands were developed as a consequence of the slave trade and as such had a lot of people of African descent, and perhaps descendants of people like one of my direct ancestors, a Dutch pirate by the name of Claes Compaan. He was not involved with the slave trade, but rather spent his time and 7 ships, fighting and looting the Spanish, but that's another story. I was in Samoa a few years ago (not American Samoa) and life is still relatively simple. Similarly, the smaller islands around the Cook Islands, Tonga, Niue and others are relatively unscathed by Western/American influence, as are the Melanesians islands. But sadly climate change is threatening their existence. The natives have loved there for centuries.
I guess, as far a Buffett goes, I think he largely lived the life he wanted. As to being disliked, I suspect an element of the tall poppy syndrome. He enjoyed a life that perhaps others were quietly jealous of. If he managed to achieve that without walking over other people, or hurting other people, then good on him. He dared to be different and live the life he wanted. Not many of us do that to the extent that it is noticed. Perhaps we don't want it badly enough.
I think David Allan Coe was very envious of Buffett...but an entire town ******* on him out of jealousy? I heard Buffett bought a house in Key West after I left. I'm thankful I had a chance to live there in the Buffett-free era. Those were exciting times. Drug crime was so out of control from Miami-Key West...it was like the wild, wild West. When they started searching cars for bales at the mainland, we declared our succession from the United States, formed the Conch Republic, and designed our own flag. I had a partial interest in a fishing boat that was stolen to make a weed run to Jamaica. The local cops caught the miscreants unloading bales at a private home dock on Stock Island. I will never forget going to claim the vessel with the main interest holder. Jamaican weed was drifted in piles on the deck like snow (nope, no temptation - I've never used weed - we swept in over the side into the harbor). Even more bizarre were all the Voo-Doo idols we found on the boat.
It was a very happy carefree time in my life ...I only wish I had not been such a sinner...then I would have been even happier. People were much more authentic back 40 years ago...not the comatose zombies people are these days. The most authentic people I ever met were in Key West. They WERE the kind of people who dared to be different and live the life they wanted. Your explanation of why Buffett was so disliked in Key West, simply does not align with the facts. To quote a Buffett album title: You had to be there. Thanks for the tip about your ancestor. I'll look him up online and see what I can dig up.
Wow, that is some story! Sadly I didn't ever get to Key West. I mispelled my ancestor's surname if you a re looking him up. It's Compaen, although some people spell it Compaan. Apparently he was a pretty badass privateer who got sick of paying 90% taxes of everything he plundered to the Dutch government, and turned pirate: https://thechive.com/humanity/travel/10-most-historically-bada-pirates-to-sail-the-seven-seas/
My grandmother won a court case over ownership of a few left behind assets, like flintlocks, which was interesting, because it turned out that she was a direct ancestor with a different surname, while people who still had his surname were more distantly related. Sadly, when one of my aunts got engaged, the guns were given to her fiancée, and while the relationship didn't last, he kept the last of the pirate's treasure that was in the family.
I already looked him up, and noticed the spelling error. Quite a bit about him online. Thanks for the link... I'll take a look. Never, ever entrust family heirlooms to someone who marries into the family...imho. Sorry to hear your family learned that the hard way. It must be fun to have a genuine pirate ancestor.
It is certainly interesting having a family of ancestors like that. Hard to imagine that he was responsible for sinking over 350 ships. Of course the Netherlands was at war with Spain, so it started off with a legitimacy.
As to my aunt's fiancé, I was surprised that he didn't have the decency to return the flintlocks, I just hope that whenever he looked at them, he remembered that he shouldn't be the guardian of those heirlooms. It is rare to have things that have been in a family for hundreds of years.
My grand daughter had a sad experience at school when they were talking about ancestors. She told the class that one of her ancestors was a pirate and the teacher didn't believe her, making her look silly. We set her straight. :)
His legend lives on. Thank you for the videos. I loved the Letterman interview. Jimmy had such a kind essence and disposition. He will be missed. His memory lives on and on…
We used to listen to Jimmy Buffet when we would head out on the four hour drive down to Rocky Point, Mexico for a weekend of R and R camping on Arizona’s beach. Good memories! “I blew out my flip flop, stepped on a pop top”...words a child of the 60s who came of age in the 70s could fully understand.😂 “Fins to the right, fins to the left...”
I’m so sad after learning of Jimmy’s passing. I’ve had the pleasure to see him in concert in Irvine Meadows & Blockbuster Pavilion in CA, Virginia Beach, VA and Portland, OR I cherish each moment and every time I went to Margaritaville in Honolulu I always felt his presence. Sail on Captain and RIP.
Thank you for this. I listened to the words to “Come Monday” on the Letterman tape. I always thought they said “I spent four lonely days with my mind in a haze” but they really said “ brown LA haze”. Music can be timeless or evoke a time or mood. Jimmy Buffet’s songs did all that but this song also was written before government regulations helped clean up the brown haze in LA. A reminder of what was, what is, and what could be.
A reason to smile. We were given the gift of Jimmy Buffett's life and music!
An authentic, courageous and caring musician, who made multiple generations smile and dance. Our 15-year-old granddaughter mentioned him just the other day as one of her favorites! So deeply sad to lose such a treasure of a human being. We know for sure that his music will always be alive and ... remain a joy for future generations. Thank you, Jimmy Buffett, for your songs and ...for your light.
Jimmy Buffett's song is a feel good, foot stomping, hand clapping, just plain great song that makes one smile and have a good time without naked women and cussing. He will be missed.
He played at my company Christmas Party a couple times back in early to mid 90’s. His college roommate happened to be my Boss!! He was a real cool dude! Laid back isn’t the word! He exuded it! Godspeed Mr. Buffett! May the Margarita Mix be just right and your salt perfect!!
I was a Buffett fan until he incorporated his image. Spent hours singing along to his albums* when I was younger.
*round plastic disk that old folks listened to before CDs were born.
I don't know where I'm going to go when the volcano blows. R I P Jimmy your already missed. Thank you for years of music 🎶 that will live on.
Though not a Parrothead myself, nor even a fan of his music, nonetheless he had - and inspired in others - a wonderful, nostalgic laid back "vibe".
I'm actually a Deadhead, so Buffet's music never resonated with me.
Other than his hit song, I never thought about him much until I sailed into Margaritaville Montego Bay after a day of snorkeling on a tourist catamaran. That made me wonder what sort of a person created a place like that.
Well, I can tell you that when I rolled into Key West in a 1953 pick-up in 1980, inspired by Buffett to move there...I came in for a bit of a shock. Any mention of him was greeted by derision. The song by the despicable D.A. Coe: Jimmy Buffett Doesn't Live in Key West Anymore; was wildly popular. When DAC gave a free concert on Duval Street in 1982...when he sang that song...the cheers from the crowd were deafening. I just could not understand why Buffett was so disliked in Key West at the time . I have a better idea now.
I stopped listening to Buffet after his 1983 album. The music , for me, just became inauthentic. Earlier he sang that, if he lived to be an old man he would sail to Martinique (a place I also ventured to during my Key West days) and become a character with a parakeet on his shoulder. In the song: One Particular Harbor, he longs to end his days as a nobody beside a bay on a tropical isle.
So how did he end his days?...in Sag Harbor, Long Island ...with homes in ritzy enclaves all over the world... with his elite pals. He obviously destroyed his immune system with the Jonestown jabs, and required them of folks to get into his concerts.
I'm grateful to Buffett for turning me on to Key West, and occasionally listen to his old tunes, because they bring back happy memories of a nicer age. I was never a Parrot Head...in my humble opinion...that just seems like a plastic-y celebration of an authentic lifestyle that disappeared from the United States decades ago. What saddens me the most...is that a similar authentic lifestyle in the tropics outside the US, is getting harder and harder to find...due to cell phones and the spreading red-tide of American pop-culture. One must get there before it gets "discovered" . I'm sure this will piss off many...so be it...just my two-cents worth. I feel blessed I got to live in Key West before it changed.
I guess authentic lifestyle is relative, but if you mean life largely untouched by the major countries, there are still many in the South Pacific. The heritage is of course very different. The Caribbean islands were developed as a consequence of the slave trade and as such had a lot of people of African descent, and perhaps descendants of people like one of my direct ancestors, a Dutch pirate by the name of Claes Compaan. He was not involved with the slave trade, but rather spent his time and 7 ships, fighting and looting the Spanish, but that's another story. I was in Samoa a few years ago (not American Samoa) and life is still relatively simple. Similarly, the smaller islands around the Cook Islands, Tonga, Niue and others are relatively unscathed by Western/American influence, as are the Melanesians islands. But sadly climate change is threatening their existence. The natives have loved there for centuries.
I guess, as far a Buffett goes, I think he largely lived the life he wanted. As to being disliked, I suspect an element of the tall poppy syndrome. He enjoyed a life that perhaps others were quietly jealous of. If he managed to achieve that without walking over other people, or hurting other people, then good on him. He dared to be different and live the life he wanted. Not many of us do that to the extent that it is noticed. Perhaps we don't want it badly enough.
I think David Allan Coe was very envious of Buffett...but an entire town ******* on him out of jealousy? I heard Buffett bought a house in Key West after I left. I'm thankful I had a chance to live there in the Buffett-free era. Those were exciting times. Drug crime was so out of control from Miami-Key West...it was like the wild, wild West. When they started searching cars for bales at the mainland, we declared our succession from the United States, formed the Conch Republic, and designed our own flag. I had a partial interest in a fishing boat that was stolen to make a weed run to Jamaica. The local cops caught the miscreants unloading bales at a private home dock on Stock Island. I will never forget going to claim the vessel with the main interest holder. Jamaican weed was drifted in piles on the deck like snow (nope, no temptation - I've never used weed - we swept in over the side into the harbor). Even more bizarre were all the Voo-Doo idols we found on the boat.
It was a very happy carefree time in my life ...I only wish I had not been such a sinner...then I would have been even happier. People were much more authentic back 40 years ago...not the comatose zombies people are these days. The most authentic people I ever met were in Key West. They WERE the kind of people who dared to be different and live the life they wanted. Your explanation of why Buffett was so disliked in Key West, simply does not align with the facts. To quote a Buffett album title: You had to be there. Thanks for the tip about your ancestor. I'll look him up online and see what I can dig up.
Wow, that is some story! Sadly I didn't ever get to Key West. I mispelled my ancestor's surname if you a re looking him up. It's Compaen, although some people spell it Compaan. Apparently he was a pretty badass privateer who got sick of paying 90% taxes of everything he plundered to the Dutch government, and turned pirate: https://thechive.com/humanity/travel/10-most-historically-bada-pirates-to-sail-the-seven-seas/
My grandmother won a court case over ownership of a few left behind assets, like flintlocks, which was interesting, because it turned out that she was a direct ancestor with a different surname, while people who still had his surname were more distantly related. Sadly, when one of my aunts got engaged, the guns were given to her fiancée, and while the relationship didn't last, he kept the last of the pirate's treasure that was in the family.
I already looked him up, and noticed the spelling error. Quite a bit about him online. Thanks for the link... I'll take a look. Never, ever entrust family heirlooms to someone who marries into the family...imho. Sorry to hear your family learned that the hard way. It must be fun to have a genuine pirate ancestor.
It is certainly interesting having a family of ancestors like that. Hard to imagine that he was responsible for sinking over 350 ships. Of course the Netherlands was at war with Spain, so it started off with a legitimacy.
As to my aunt's fiancé, I was surprised that he didn't have the decency to return the flintlocks, I just hope that whenever he looked at them, he remembered that he shouldn't be the guardian of those heirlooms. It is rare to have things that have been in a family for hundreds of years.
My grand daughter had a sad experience at school when they were talking about ancestors. She told the class that one of her ancestors was a pirate and the teacher didn't believe her, making her look silly. We set her straight. :)
His legend lives on. Thank you for the videos. I loved the Letterman interview. Jimmy had such a kind essence and disposition. He will be missed. His memory lives on and on…
RIP to the Legend
He will be missed have always loved his songs…
Rest In Peace Jimmy 😢💛
Love ole Jimmy got my parrothead at Key West 15 years ago...way past my youth, but enjoying his paradise!
We used to listen to Jimmy Buffet when we would head out on the four hour drive down to Rocky Point, Mexico for a weekend of R and R camping on Arizona’s beach. Good memories! “I blew out my flip flop, stepped on a pop top”...words a child of the 60s who came of age in the 70s could fully understand.😂 “Fins to the right, fins to the left...”
I’m so sad after learning of Jimmy’s passing. I’ve had the pleasure to see him in concert in Irvine Meadows & Blockbuster Pavilion in CA, Virginia Beach, VA and Portland, OR I cherish each moment and every time I went to Margaritaville in Honolulu I always felt his presence. Sail on Captain and RIP.
Thank you for this. I listened to the words to “Come Monday” on the Letterman tape. I always thought they said “I spent four lonely days with my mind in a haze” but they really said “ brown LA haze”. Music can be timeless or evoke a time or mood. Jimmy Buffet’s songs did all that but this song also was written before government regulations helped clean up the brown haze in LA. A reminder of what was, what is, and what could be.
Here is a clip of Jimmy Buffett in Jurassic Park:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGoU9C8-cRA
A reason to smile. We were given the gift of Jimmy Buffett's life and music!
An authentic, courageous and caring musician, who made multiple generations smile and dance. Our 15-year-old granddaughter mentioned him just the other day as one of her favorites! So deeply sad to lose such a treasure of a human being. We know for sure that his music will always be alive and ... remain a joy for future generations. Thank you, Jimmy Buffett, for your songs and ...for your light.
I think light was his greatest gift to the world, Leni---you're so right!
Jimmy Buffett's song is a feel good, foot stomping, hand clapping, just plain great song that makes one smile and have a good time without naked women and cussing. He will be missed.
An immense spiritual inspiration, in such a way that it made you smile, which is so precious
He played at my company Christmas Party a couple times back in early to mid 90’s. His college roommate happened to be my Boss!! He was a real cool dude! Laid back isn’t the word! He exuded it! Godspeed Mr. Buffett! May the Margarita Mix be just right and your salt perfect!!