Floridays

Growing up in Florida, Jimmy Buffett songs were part of my upbringing. I knew what he was singing about, the salt air sticking to your skin, the mystery of the ocean - “in your belly you hold the treasures few have ever seen..” -  fruitcakes everywhere; basically the origin of Florida man. 

Most don’t know that Jimmy was born and raised in Mississippi, went to study journalism at Southern Miss, but ended up as the voice of Florida beach life and all folks wanting to experience something tropical even if only in their minds. 

He was also an author; years ago I read “A Pirate Looks at 50” and “Where is Joe Merchant?”. I highly recommend both to get inside his creative mind in a longer form than a song. 

My Top JB songs and why in no particular order:

• Tin cup chalice - I grew up “sucking on honeysuckle vines” and dreaming of the ocean. When I’ve been far away from Florida, this brought me back. 
• School Boy Heart - this was played as ‘my part’ of our wedding slideshow.
• Banana Republics - if you’ve lived (not just been a tourist) in a banana republic, you’ve seen the characters described in this song. 
• Jimmy Dreams - listen to it if you haven’t and you’ll know why.
• Floridays - I was born and raised in Florida; the first 30 years of my life were shaped by living in perpetual warmth, gators, snakes, beaches, black water creeks, making fun of (and being thankful for) tourists; I didn’t see snow fall until I was in the 7th grade!  
• That’s what living is to me - I read Mark Twain’s “Following the Equator” based on the intro to this show song. “Be good and you will be lonesome” which is also the intro to the book.  
• A Mile High in Denver - not for the double entendre in the title, but it reminds me of the first time I went to Colorado. As a lifelong east coaster and flatlander seeing those whitecaps in the summer along with a timberline, I was in awe. 
• Little Miss Magic - never had a daughter (3 boys), but this reminds me of my oldest niece when she was a little one. 
• Trying to Reason with Hurricane Season - growing up this was an annual anthem in my head.

The “Songs You Know By Heart” list of songs didn’t make the list although I can listen to “He Went to Paris, Captain and the Kid, Son of a Son of a Sailor, Come Monday, and a Pirate Looks at 40” on repeat. Jimmy’s songs brought me home whether I was in the North Carolina mountains for a winter in college, the peace corps in Nicaragua, freezing during “snowmageddons” in DC, working in the mountains of Dominican Republic, the beaches of Esterillos Este, and here in Raleigh for the past 11 years.

What is interesting - at least to me - is my parents sold the house I grew up in the same week as his passing…my connection to Florida is no longer by an address, but only in memories, in which Jimmy’s music was the background for much of life. 

If you feel so led, comment on your favorite Buffett songs.

Thank You Jimmy.