Living and Dying in Three Quarter Time

And now for something completely arguable. There are some who will say that the best single side of an LP (I’m really dating myself here I know but those younger can substitute a song cycle) is side 2 of Abbey Road. And then the argument begins. Name a band or artist and pick a side. Here’s my offering: side 2 of A1A by Jimmy Buffet.

Now I’m no Parrothead and I lost track of Jimmy Buffet sometime soon after Margaritaville, but this side of this album still does it for me. First the songs and a little lyrics from each, for I believe Mr. Buffet was at his peak songwriting here:

PIRATE LOOKS AT FORTY
Yes, I am a pirate two hundred years too late.
The cannons don't thunder there's nothin' to plunder
I'm an over forty victim of fate
Arriving too late, arriving too late.

MIGRATION
Well now, I might have joined the merchant marine,
If I hadn't learned how to sing.
And on top of that I got married too early,
And it cost me much more than a ring.
But those crazy days are over,
You've just got to learn from
the wrong things you've done.
I came off the rebound, started looking around,
Figured out it's time to have a little fun.

TRYING TO REASON WITH THE HURRICANE SEASON
Squalls out on the Gulfstream,
Big storms coming soon.
I passed out in my hammock,
God, I slept way past noon.
Stood up and tried to focus,
I hoped I wouldn't have to look far.
I knew I could use a Bloody Mary,
So I stumbled next door to the bar.

NAUTICAL WHEELERS
Nautical Wheelers who call themselves sailors
Play fiddle tunes under the stars.
Petticoats rustle, working shoes scuffle,
Hustle on down to the bars.
Where the jukebox is blastin'
and the liquor is flowing
an occasional bottle of wine.
That's cause everyone here is just more than
contented to be living and dying in three quarter time.

TIN CUP CHALICE
'Cause I want to be there,
I want to go back down and lie beside the sea there.
With a tin cup for a chalice
Fill it up with good red wine,
And I'm-a chewin' on a honeysuckle vine.

And if you carefully read those lyrics you’ll see a story that spans the five songs. And that’s a story for quite a few men (and women,) this one included. So 30 years after first listening to and falling in love with this nautical mini-epic, I find myself still singing it in over-voice accompanied by that perfect sound (a Caribbean soul he can barely control and some Texas hidden there in his heart) with the windows down and the sunroof open and the river at my right and the feeling that thirty years later after a maelstrom of marriage and the aftermath I’m now chewing on a honeysuckle vine.

Note: I have never attended a Jimmy Buffet concert but when I discovered he’d be playing at Fenway Park this September I knew the time had come. The tickets have arrived and barring hurricanes and hangovers we’ll be there in the left field boxes. I know I’ll enjoy it but it’s ultimate score will depend upon how many of the five songs listed above ole Jimmy plays.