Thursday , March 28 2024
Does simply liking all of Buffett's music make me a parrothead?

Getting My Inner Buffett On

In this world there are very few singers who excite me.  There are very few singers for whom I pre-order an album (or buy one at all), check tour schedules, or madly dial the Ticketmaster phone number as soon as a concert in my area goes on sale.  Sure, I listen to music and there's a lot of music that I like, there's just very little out there that truly inspires me or whom I want to spend my hard-earned money on.

I've only actual ever been to a handful of concerts, and while I've enjoyed every single one I've attended, that's probably because they're the singers I truly love.  Concerts are expensive and good seats are not only hugely overpriced, but incredibly hard to come by.  I'm sure there are tons of people out there who would tell me that I just "don't get it."  That's probably true, but at $100 bucks a pop (which is on the cheaper end, at least where I live) I need to not only "get it," but be enraptured by it too.

So, this year I'm only going to be going to one concert, and I'll only have attended 2 in the past three and a half years.  Who am I going to see this summer?  Who else, Jimmy Buffett.

Oh sure, sit there and laugh and point at me.  You know what you're problem is?  You just don't get it.  Not only is the man a legend, but the songs are fun, the people at the concerts incredibly happy, and the atmosphere lively, but he truly seems to enjoy being there, no matter where "there" is.  The entire experience is infectious, and it's infectious in a way that other concerts I've been to are not (save maybe Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden).  There is an energy about Buffett, be it in concert or on an album, that is hard to duplicate. 

Don't be mistaken, I don't consider myself a parrothead, I'm just a fan.  I may own more Buffett CDs than I do of any other artist, but I certainly come nowhere near owning them all.  My daughter, at the tender age of two, may be able to sing almost all of "Margaritaville," but that's more due to her liking it than my forcing it upon her.

"Margaritaville" is, almost assuredly, the most well-known Buffett song, but I'm not convinced that it's the best one.  Over at UnSpun (where, it is true, I’m also a writer), they currently have a list on the best Jimmy Buffett songs, and as of my writing this, "Margaritaville" sits at number two, just behind "Cheeseburger in Paradise."  Here, take a gander:

I think for my money, I might like "Mañana" best, but then again, maybe my favorite is "Nautical Wheelers."  It's actually something of a hard decision, and I'm thrilled that I need not be pinned down.  Well, not pinned down except for October 21, when I'll be pinned down to my seat at the concert. 

Until then, boat drinks!

About Josh Lasser

Josh has deftly segued from a life of being pre-med to film school to television production to writing about the media in general. And by 'deftly' he means with agonizing second thoughts and the formation of an ulcer.

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