"Life is a journey that's not measured in miles or years."

September 2, 2023 4:35 AM

Jimmy Buffett, 1946-2023.

The singer-songwriter built a business empire including restaurants, hotels, and resorts.

posted by box (120 comments total)

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posted by wannabepre at 4:39 AM on September 2, 2023

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posted by Mitheral at 4:42 AM on September 2, 2023

My wife and mother-in-law are both lifelong fans and had tickets to see him last Spring when he suddenly canceled due to illness. We’ll be spinning the old vinyls today in tribute.

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posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 4:43 AM on September 2, 2023 [5 favorites]

Inexplicably, my just-turned-30 DIL is a huge parrothead, and went to several Buffet shows. I never knew exactly what to think about the guy, myself.

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posted by Thorzdad at 4:44 AM on September 2, 2023 [4 favorites]

Oh wow. My parents had a box set of his CDs when I was little, and I went through a phase at 9 - 10 where I just listened to it incessantly.

🦜
posted by the primroses were over at 4:46 AM on September 2, 2023 [1 favorite]

Has a cheeseburger entered paradise?
posted by eustatic at 4:55 AM on September 2, 2023 [8 favorites]

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posted by caviar2d2 at 4:55 AM on September 2, 2023

a business empire including restaurants, hotels, and resorts.

And a quickly growing group of senior living communities.

This one was truly a shock. Never the biggest fan but he made a LOT of people happy.

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posted by JoeZydeco at 4:56 AM on September 2, 2023 [4 favorites]

I never knew exactly what to think about the guy

?

Maybe there are Buffet skeletons I haven't come across, but this guy is nothing, if not 'what it says on the tin'.

It's important that we don't overthink beach life and drinks with straws. Can we have a conversation about privilege? Sure. But basically any leisure activity that uses time bundles privilege. Let's just have a nice send off.
posted by Reasonably Everything Happens at 5:06 AM on September 2, 2023 [38 favorites]

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posted by condour75 at 5:11 AM on September 2, 2023

I have no particular strong feelings for Buffett either way, so I’m very surprised at how this is hitting me. He just seemed kind of… immortal?

He brought millions of people tons of utterly harmless fun. Can’t be mad at that.

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posted by obfuscation at 5:16 AM on September 2, 2023 [22 favorites]

Like him or not, the songwriting skills he displayed in his best work are at the highest level.
posted by Miko at 5:39 AM on September 2, 2023 [17 favorites]

Not only did Jerry Jeff Walker write and perform a whole boatload of great songs, but he's also the one that introduced Jimmy Buffet to Key West back in the very early '70s. For better or worse, but that's how a piece of popular music history was made.

I couldn't stand Buffet's music until the summer of '87. I was in a deep depression, couch surfing in the middle of Michigan's lower peninsula, no job, motorcycle barely running. One night, my friend Ellen (may she finally be finding the peace she desired) said, "hey, let's go to my parent's house and I'll have my dad take us out on Lake Michigan on his boat." So, we tumbled into her car and she drove us down to the Muskegon area. The next day was a perfect summer day on the mitten-shaped paradise; sunny and tiny bit too hot. We boarded early in the day and took off for an entire day of crusing around Lake Michigan, diving off the boat and swimming when I couldn't handle the heat of the sun, grilling, drinking beer, and listening to Jimmy Buffet. It was one of the greatest days of my life and while I never turned out to be a parrothead, a deep appreciation of his music was deveolped on that day.
posted by NoMich at 5:44 AM on September 2, 2023 [78 favorites]

I hope he finds the shaker of salt.
posted by chavenet at 5:50 AM on September 2, 2023 [19 favorites]

This hits hard, as he was the same age as my dad. My second concert was a Jimmy Buffett show at the College of William & Mary back in 1990 — my dad got tickets for the two of us, and I remember being amazed at how much of a party scene it was in the crowd. Buffett was also an entertaining fiction writer.

Loaded, too. Net worth around $1 billion.
posted by emelenjr at 5:53 AM on September 2, 2023 [3 favorites]

This one was truly a shock. Never the biggest fan but he made a LOT of people happy.

This sums up my reaction perfectly. A lot of people are feeling a real loss from this, and I am sorry for that.
posted by Dip Flash at 5:53 AM on September 2, 2023 [5 favorites]

The inescapable "Margaritaville" explosion hit in the middle of my high school years. I didn't know that he had been working for several years before that, and had had a recognizable hit in Come Monday in 1974. Knew that melody, didn't know it was him.

I found that video on YouTube, then as a follow up, the YT algorithm feeds me "Deacon Blues" by Steely Dan. Quite the pairing--hats off to you, anonymous suggestion bot!
posted by gimonca at 6:02 AM on September 2, 2023 [3 favorites]

Lyle Lovett called Buffett one of his songwriting heroes. The depth, nuance, and cleverness of a lot of Buffett's lyrics were overshadowed by the party image.

That said, I have never met friendlier people or experienced more amazing tailgating set-ups than at Buffett concerts. I am decidedly not the typical demographic for Parrotheads, and I always felt absolutely welcome in their spaces. I had a blast at the concerts and his music brought me a ton of comfort and accompanied me on tons of adventures over the years.
posted by TwoStride at 6:09 AM on September 2, 2023 [14 favorites]

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posted by mikelieman at 6:11 AM on September 2, 2023

Let me add that Jimmy Buffett at Great Woods was where I learned to wear hiking boots instead of sandals to his shows.

And previously:

ICYMI, last year, YouTubers Eddy Burback and Ted Nivision took a road trip. They each issued a report: I ate at every Rainforest Cafe in the Country yt [Eddy, 36m], I Drove to Every Rainforest Cafe in North America yt [Ted, 30m]. Well, they've done it again! I ate at every Margaritaville in the Country yt [Eddy, 58m], I Drove to Every Margaritaville in the USA yt [Ted, 46m]. Madness comes in many forms, but chain restaurants are often involved.

posted by mikelieman at 6:16 AM on September 2, 2023 [1 favorite]

Some of his songs hit harder than Jim Croce at his most maudlin but without the try-hard and if that’s not a testament to songwriting skill I dunno what is. Buffett took the skills he was given and made the world a happier, better place for a lot of people.

I feel like he should have lived longer. 76 is a bit young.
posted by seanmpuckett at 6:17 AM on September 2, 2023 [20 favorites]

Lovely tunes, apparently a nice culture. I always had a side eye on the whole business empire aspect but hey whatevs, can't take it with you and no doubt there is now another line of privileged nouveau riche descendants to live on that huge pile of cash. So hooray for them!
posted by Meatbomb at 6:18 AM on September 2, 2023 [1 favorite]

I just got a waterbed n it’s filled up with Elmer’s glue….
posted by seanmpuckett at 6:19 AM on September 2, 2023 [4 favorites]

🧂
posted by brachiopod at 6:23 AM on September 2, 2023 [9 favorites]

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posted by Faint of Butt at 6:24 AM on September 2, 2023

I high school I hated him. One day I was in LA for work, away from my young family, something like the 200th day that year. Got I the rental car as come Monday came on and it hit hard. Didn't even know it was him, just the words. A year later I quit my job and we loved to Florida where we we're lucky enough to have a small pool. I put a little speaker by it and as a joke put on margaritaville. I don't think we turned it off for the entire 8 years we lived there. I literally left it playing when the house was being shown for sale. I had ever intention to get to show someday. I never did.


Hopefully he's getting surfing lessons from Einstein.


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posted by chasles at 6:26 AM on September 2, 2023 [6 favorites]

My family is from the coast of NC, and Jimmy Buffett’s music was a big part of the soundtrack to my Gen X youth. His voice reminded me of every sunburned uncle I ever loved. I agree he was an underrated songwriter, because his sound became THE sound of hanging out on (especially Southern) beaches, drinking and enjoying the little bit of vacation time any of us seem to get. I hope that son of a son of a sailor rests easy on an eternal summer shore.
posted by little mouth at 6:37 AM on September 2, 2023 [8 favorites]

He opened for The Eagles on the Hotel California tour when they came to town and completely outshone the main act.

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posted by tommasz at 6:39 AM on September 2, 2023 [2 favorites]

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posted by oozy rat in a sanitary zoo at 6:49 AM on September 2, 2023

For some reason I think of him now largely in connection with MBMBaM, where they'd initially make fun of him when he came up on the podcast for some reason, then Justin admitted to being a Parrothead, so the other two brothers would make fun of him for that, then Buffet came on the podcast and was a great and charming guest, and then they "celebrated" their 400th episode by doing a live red carpet (actually blue carpet) podcast at the premier of "Margaritaville" on Broadway, and then during one later episode, when they were saying what "interesting fact" they say about themselves in a corporate icebreaker situation, Justin blurted out, "Jimmy Buffet calls me sometimes!" Like, he just came across as a genuinely nice guy who loved songwriting and performing and never stopped doing those things while he was able (while stretching a seventies-era novelty-song hit into a business empire, somehow.)

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posted by Navelgazer at 6:50 AM on September 2, 2023 [16 favorites]

Folks who only know his hits should definitely hear his early records, like 1970's Down To Earth, which has smart, catchy country-folk-rock singer/songwriter grooves with alternately sarcastic, pointed and hippie lyrics. Try "A Mile High In Denver" or "Captain America" (top 5 song about comic books, for sure) to start.

Lookin' for the cloud with a styrofoam lining
Hopin' that the sun will keep on shinin'
Leading me to distant peace that waits so patiently
Need a little love to try some givin'
Try a little love and then start livin'
Things I feared so long ago
When everything was wrong

I'm about a mile high in Denver
Where the rock meets timberline
I've walked this ground from town to town
Tonight I'll call it mine
Tonight I'll call it mine

Sittin' on a pocket full of hard earned wages
Lookin' at the world through magazine pages
I heard a lot about the mountains and the Colorado range
Need a little time to try some livin'
Try a little love and then start givin'
Things I feared so long ago
When everything was wrong...

and

Captain will help anyone a friend or a stranger
Now number one without a gun he's bypassed the lone ranger
He's a do do good who loves apple pie and kisses little babies
He'll guard you against everything from atom bombs to rabies

Captain America we love you, Captain America you're grand
Oh Spiro Agnew eat your heart out Captain America's our man

I had a mistaken impression of Buffet for a long time. Glad I corrected it. His early stuff is excellent, and Miko's comment that "the songwriting skills he displayed in his best work are at the highest level" is spot on.
posted by mediareport at 6:51 AM on September 2, 2023 [11 favorites]

We said our farewells much too soon...

Growing up in Florida in the 1970s, I have fond memories of my dad playing the Changes in Latitudes album a LOT. I love all of the songs on it. I always enjoyed Jimmy's wordplay in his lyrics:

I'm staying in a Holiday Inn full of surgeons
I guess they meet here once a year
They exchange physician stories
and get drunk on Tuborg beer
And then they're off to catch a stripper
with their eyes glued to her G
But I don't think that I would ever let em cut on me

(it's possible he didn't write that one - didn't confirm, just wrote em out as I was singing, but he sang it so well)

It's been a lovely cruise...
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posted by sundrop at 6:52 AM on September 2, 2023 [5 favorites]

Id never heard of Jimmy Buffet until 10/2001, when I went to a blood drive at the university of Michigan. Straw hats on the phlebotomists, stuffed parrots on the nurses’ shoulders, combined with post-9/11 tension. It was the weirdest blood drive theme I’ve ever encountered, for sure.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 7:02 AM on September 2, 2023 [10 favorites]

It's funny, Jimmy Buffett just came up in conversation with someone for the first time in over a decade and I had to confess, I only knew him as a novelist. Somehow as a teenager, maybe 15, I stumbled upon Where Is Joe Merchant? and I was hooked completely. It wasn't until my 30s that I discovered he was a musician and, amazingly, it was in a group conversation where someone was conflating him with Warren Buffett. I interjected about how there's no way this goofy author was the same guy and the whole conversation turned into a comedy vaudeville act - people all explaining to each other about parrotheads and Berkshire Hathaway and how there were separate Buffet millionaire/billionaire philanthropists. Turns out several people there had made the same mistake! Even so, it emerged from the chaos that I was alone in my specific ignorance. To this day, the only Tales from Margaritaville I know is the collection of short stories. Guess it's time to finally put an album on.
posted by foxtongue at 7:03 AM on September 2, 2023 [20 favorites]

I can't say I ever got into his music, but he co-founded the Save the Manatee Club, which does great work!
posted by lisa g at 7:08 AM on September 2, 2023 [11 favorites]

Allmusic has a good quick review of Buffett's 2nd album, A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean - "much closer to Nashville than Key West":

Buffett himself was a Nashville outcast almost from the beginning, and his southward migration began with this album. "I don't want fame that brings confusion," he sings in "My Lovely Lady," and declares his desire to get out of the Music City rat race for the more temperate climes and crab meat of the Florida Keys. Once there, the songwriting ingredients drifting through White Sport Coat and other early LPs caught the Caribbean breeze and really took off. This is highly recommended for Buffett completists and those interested in his more introspective side.

(foxtongue, that story is fucking hilarious, and now I want to see it in a movie.)
posted by mediareport at 7:09 AM on September 2, 2023

Whenever anyone says "Don't yuck someone else's yum", Jimmy Buffett is the yum I think of. I never minded his songs, but I can't imagine how someone goes so hard into fandom of them that they become a Parrothead, but it also seems like, hey, they're enjoying it, so... cool.
posted by Etrigan at 7:09 AM on September 2, 2023 [11 favorites]

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A staple during my childhood summers on the Florida Gulf Coast. While his music is not my thing, I think it's cool that he made people happy. Also, let's be real: his cameo in Jurassic World was the BEST part of that film.
posted by Kitteh at 7:23 AM on September 2, 2023 [11 favorites]

There's really only one way to celebrate his passing. Get drunk and screw.
posted by nestor_makhno at 7:31 AM on September 2, 2023 [17 favorites]

A good friend of mine C grew up in Florida, so his Buffett following is sort of genetic. C and his girlfriend had a New Year's Eve party one year when one of my cousins also lived in New York, and cousin Mike was at loose ends that year so I dragged him along; Mike is a brilliant musician, so when he got there, he noticed the instruments hanging on the wall. He kept glancing at them while making the get-to-know-you small talk, and finally gestured at them and asked "so who's the guitarist?" C's face lit up, and he pulled the guitar down; and then he beamed even bigger when Mike asked if there was a second guitar so they could jam. They both had a whale of a time for the next little while, digging through C's sheet music and playing old Eagles and Queen covers.

After about an hour of that, C pulled out the sheet music for "Margaritaville." "How about this next?" He eagerly said. Mike just stared at him for a long moment. C finally sighed and started putting the music away, putting the Eagles music back. "I grew up in Pensacola, in my defense," was all he said.

I told him later I would have wanted to hear that. Although - I would have greatly preferred a different song.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:35 AM on September 2, 2023 [3 favorites]

My wife has our XM Radio fixed to Margaritaville in the car. Buffet's music is nothing but consistent and fun, and I appreciate that. Keeps us in sync.

We also got tickets to see him at Pine Knob in October 2021, and it was a marvelous performance. Wife got me a tour hat, titled "Life on the Flip Side". It's just a great phrase these days.

Thanks Jimmy!

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posted by JoeXIII007 at 7:46 AM on September 2, 2023 [1 favorite]

Back in the early 00s I had a coworker in my department who was in his late 40s. I was in my late 20s. All of us in the department would share music together back then by burning CDs. One day he gave me a CD of Jimmy Buffett songs. I politely listened to it, but found the music sad. "It's like he wants to leave his entire life and be by the ocean all day. I mean, I love the shore but I love my regular life too!"

"You'll get it someday," he replied.

A few years later my then-husband chose to start working working overnights. It was a 7 days on, 7 days off schedule starting on Mondays. I was terribly lonely during those 7 days on and found "Come Monday" on the list of songs I had by then put on my iPod.

"Come Monday, it'll be alright. Come Monday, I'll be holdin' you tight."

As the years moved on and the then-husband became the ex-husband and life became, well, lifier the melancholy songs clicked and the fun songs became more joyous as I learned how to have more fun in my off time. Much of that involved driving to the Jersey shore and watching the ocean as I crawled through Jimmy's catalog. I had become the over-40 victim of fate. :)

During the pandemic I listened to Radio Margaritaville often to try to keep myself buoyed amidst the back to back storms of one terrible situation after another. I swore that I'd go see Jimmy when things calmed down. This year was going to be that year, but Jimmy got sick at the beginning of the summer and only publicly surfaced once in July looking very thin. And I kind of knew. He was my dad's age. (he was my dad's age?)

I'm pretty gutted but as others have said, it's been a lovely cruise. And thank you, Peter G, for sharing that CD with doofy me all those years ago. You have no idea.
posted by kimberussell at 8:00 AM on September 2, 2023 [32 favorites]

If I only had a pencil-thin mustache
Then I could solve the mystery, too!
posted by Rash at 8:00 AM on September 2, 2023 [8 favorites]

He made a lot of people happy, and helped them escape their problems for a while. That’s a pretty good legacy.

He was also one helluva businessman, and I never saw anything to indicate he wasn’t a decent guy. Gonna put on my flip flops and have a margarita in his honor today.
posted by MexicanYenta at 8:08 AM on September 2, 2023 [12 favorites]

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posted by gentlyepigrams at 8:17 AM on September 2, 2023

Nyacht.
posted by St. Oops at 8:31 AM on September 2, 2023 [4 favorites]

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posted by MonsieurPEB at 8:32 AM on September 2, 2023

• Damn it.
posted by bz at 8:39 AM on September 2, 2023

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posted by May Kasahara at 8:47 AM on September 2, 2023

A man who, as he put it in his liner notes one time, never in a million years imagined that he could become family entertainment.

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posted by delfin at 8:47 AM on September 2, 2023 [2 favorites]

"Headin' up to San Francisco
for the Labor Day weekend show."
posted by thecincinnatikid at 9:00 AM on September 2, 2023 [5 favorites]

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posted by Silverstone at 9:04 AM on September 2, 2023

Whatever my feelings about the Buffett brand and some of his lazier songwriting since that took wind, he was indeed a very good songwriter back in his day.

I really like West Nashville Grand Ballroom Gown, which tells the tale of a guy from Tennessee who picks up a hippie burnout hitchhiker who ran away from her old money Nashville family. She sends a note with him to mail to her mom.

She said, "Mama, I'm fine, if you happen to wonder
I don't have much money, but I still get around
I haven't made church in near thirty-six Sundays
So fuck all those West Nashville grand ballroom gowns"
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:06 AM on September 2, 2023 [3 favorites]

Oh fuck. He died from skin cancer.
posted by MexicanYenta at 9:07 AM on September 2, 2023 [8 favorites]

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posted by griffey at 9:09 AM on September 2, 2023

I grew up in the Florida of the 70’s and 80’s and his music always reminds me of that period. It was when the state was hot and sticky and weirdly the South and not. It was real estate scams and seafood in the side of the road out of pickup truck beds and too much tacky cheesiness around Spring Break.

It was Walkin Lawton and not Desantis.

It was a good time with just a whiff of desperation and sadness to push the darkness away and his music reflected that with the hope that if I could just get further South or out to sea then all that shit could wash away.

Damnit, I’m going to miss the idea of catching another of his shows.
posted by drewbage1847 at 9:12 AM on September 2, 2023 [8 favorites]

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posted by shiny blue object at 9:15 AM on September 2, 2023

Buffet was a fixture in the high school party crowd of my late 80s high school days. I never went to the shows, it wasn't exactly my musical thing. But I liked him his radio hits and his general vibe. An American Legend.
posted by Liquidwolf at 9:18 AM on September 2, 2023 [2 favorites]

Jimmy Buffett is the soundtrack of road trips with my mom. We listened to him on cross country moves, on the way to see grandma in Florida, visiting colleges I might apply for. I never went to see him perform, but I have such a soft spot for his music.
posted by Akhu at 9:20 AM on September 2, 2023 [1 favorite]

So my FIL is Jamaican, and we go down there pretty often to see his family. When we're in or around Montego Bay visiting, we go to a public beach, Doctor's Cove. There's a Margaritaville right there, and we were hungry, and wanted to watch World Cup games back in November. So we ended up on the rooftop, and my FIL jokingly ordered Oxtail Soup and Curry Goat, some of his favorite foods down there. And the waiter just nodded and turned to the next person (these items are not on the menu). We stepped in and explained that he was joking, and the waiter mentioned the "locals" menu, which has these fairly good Jamaican recipes. Just FYI if anyone ends up down there.

We were also told some story about how someone else started this restaurant chain and Jimmy Buffett had to come in and claim IP and they settled and everyone was happy, but I can't find any corroborating evidence for that.

I went to a few shows in HS and maybe early university, and they really were fun! A great party atmosphere, just a bunch of drunk people pretending they were at the beach. And the decorated cars! And the outfits! Sad to loose a good songwriter.
posted by Snowishberlin at 9:33 AM on September 2, 2023 [3 favorites]

Like others here, I grew up in South Florida in the 1980s and 1990s. My dad would play Jimmy Buffett, both his albums and on the guitar. We would sing along. It was particularly fun to get to sing the "AND SCREW" part as an eight-year-old. So, his songs are a part of my DNA, a reminder of the few joyful parts about being trapped in so-called paradise as someone who yearned for life up North in the big city.

Unlike Jimmy, I was made for glitter rock and roll.

So, even in college when I reinvented myself as a hipster snob who only liked the coolest bands possible, I still would play Buffett songs while sitting alone. When I moved up to Boston, his songs would remind me of my loved ones back in the state that was no longer my home. I tried to convince my first girlfriend to give him a shot.

She did not. None of my crushes ever got him, maybe that will be the sign to settle down or maybe I'm like a Buffett narrator and settling down is not in the cards for me. I've made my peace with that. When I turned 40, one of the first things I did was listen to "A Pirate Looks To Forty," one of Bob Dylan's favorite songs, and felt every word.

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

I don't know when I'll take a trip to Florida again. I don't know when I'll feel safe to visit considering the pandemic and the current political climate. Maybe it's a permanent exile, I don't know, but I'll have Jimmy Buffett's songs and they will bring me back to the joyful parts of my childhood.
posted by HunterFelt at 9:38 AM on September 2, 2023 [22 favorites]

I came across Jimmy Buffet and john Prine about the same time. I have always loved a rhyming smart ass with a guitar.

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posted by conscious matter at 9:46 AM on September 2, 2023 [20 favorites]

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What I really love about the videos of live performances I've seen posted is that Jimmy Buffet seemed like he was having a fantastic time, even though he had performed those songs millions of times. In a way I hadn't before, I kinda get what drew people to his concerts. Rest well Jimmy Buffet.
posted by bluesky43 at 9:58 AM on September 2, 2023 [4 favorites]

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posted by Gadgetenvy at 9:58 AM on September 2, 2023

I've never been into his music, but his restaurants - specifically the Landshark Bar & Grill - have saved the day for grumpybearbride and I on more than one occasion when we were on the verge of calamitous, world-ending hanger.

The year is 2021, and we are taking a weekend sojourn to Atlantic City from Philadelphia via one of the true wonders of public transportation, the dedicated Philadelphia to Atlantic City train. We arrive late and the threat of inclement weather looms. It is still the pandemic, so our need for release is strong. We don't want to eat indoors, so we head for the Landshark across the boardwalk from Resorts World, because we know they have an outdoor deck and, usually, available seats. I should mention at this point that there were no snacks to be had at 30th St. Station, so we are starving. We get there, and the waitress leads us to a two-top right next to the deck railing, with beautiful evening views of the Steel Pier.

We order fruity cocktails and food and wait. The inclement weather starts to roll in, and it is a massive thunderstorm. Rain pours down in sheets and enormous forks of lightning arc across the sky, shaking the tables with the subsequent thunderclaps. The DJ, previously spinning a wide variety of top 40 jams, has transitioned to songs explicitly about rain. "Umbrella", "Here Comes The Rain Again", etc. It is the sort of subtle but slick maneuver one comes to expect from the DJ at a JB joint. The rain is now so fierce that it is running off of the canopy and backwards onto our table like tentacles trailing behind a jellyfish. The waitress, who has still not delivered our drinks or food, moves us to a table far from the edge. I am, at this point, not upset about being unfed, because the music and the thunderstorm are so intense that it is filling me with glee. CRASH! I am elated. KRRRRACK! I am in the throes of existential bliss. I hoot and holler with each subsequent thunderclap. At one point I decide to film the storm, because it feels that memorable and, while I am shooting, a man who is there with his children suddenly yells "TURN IT UP, DJ!" This man and I, we are cut from the same cloth. That video clip is in a folder on my phone labeled "kismet." When he gets up to leave, he stops by our table and we exchange a knowing high-five. We are living. In this moment, at this Landshark Grill, we are well and truly alive.

Our drinks and food finally arrive, almost like an afterthought, and we are sated. Having been delivered the catharsis we needed, we are ready to have a kick-ass night at the Tropicana.

Thank you, Jimmy Buffett, for providing food when we needed sustenance, drinks when we needed release, and thunderstorms when we needed a thrilling reminder of our own mortality. I sincerely hope your legacy lives on forever and ever, and that you are having an endless margarita in the sky.

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posted by grumpybear69 at 10:07 AM on September 2, 2023 [27 favorites]

My dad used to rip cassette tapes from coworkers, and he gave me the ones that weren't his thing. So I listened to Rain Dogs on side A and Songs You Know By Heart on side B. Thus my aspiration to be a hobo pirate.

We've got a lot to drink about today.

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posted by credulous at 10:08 AM on September 2, 2023 [1 favorite]

Navelgazer: "For some reason I think of him now largely in connection with MBMBaM, where they'd initially make fun of him when he came up on the podcast for some reason, then Justin admitted to being a Parrothead, so the other two brothers would make fun of him for that, then Buffet came on the podcast and was a great and charming guest, and then they "celebrated" their 400th episode by doing a live red carpet (actually blue carpet) podcast at the premier of "Margaritaville" on Broadway, and then during one later episode, when they were saying what "interesting fact" they say about themselves in a corporate icebreaker situation, Justin blurted out, "Jimmy Buffet calls me sometimes!" Like, he just came across as a genuinely nice guy who loved songwriting and performing and never stopped doing those things while he was able (while stretching a seventies-era novelty-song hit into a business empire, somehow.)"

"I had a case of the Mondays!"
posted by Rhaomi at 10:09 AM on September 2, 2023 [4 favorites]

The thing about Jimmy's live shows was that he had a core setlist, classics that every concert-goer came to hear, that got performed at every single show. Many an artist would kill to have that rock-solid of a musical foundation, and simply coast on that for decades.

But Jimmy never remained still for very long. There were always new songs, there were always oddities dug out of the vault, there were new artists that he supported, all sorts of ways in which you knew precisely what to expect when you saw him _and_ you knew that he could surprise you as well.

If all you know are the hits (he called his first Greatest Hits album "Songs You Know By Heart" for a reason), go dig up Gyps**s in the Palace, Jamaica Mistaica, The Great Filling Station Holdup, Peanut Butter Conspiracy, Elvis Imitators, I Don't Know (from the Fast Times at Ridgemont High soundtrack, not the chorus of Volcano), Tin Cup Chalice, Twelve Volt Man, We Are The People Our Parents Warned Us About, Havana Daydreamin', The Pascagoula Run, Coconut Telegraph, or just about any other song title that sounds interesting.
posted by delfin at 10:23 AM on September 2, 2023 [3 favorites]

Wait... so nobody's linked the Parrothead parody clip from 30 Rock? Here you go.

("Wait... so Jenna's Jimmy Buffet rip-off is actually a thing?")
posted by fuzzy.little.sock at 10:28 AM on September 2, 2023 [3 favorites]

Michael Corcoran has a good writeup on Buffet's Austin connections, including his first margarita.
posted by swift at 10:48 AM on September 2, 2023 [1 favorite]

Pop-top

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posted by filtergik at 11:04 AM on September 2, 2023 [3 favorites]

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I went thru a serious parrothead phase in my 20's, had a great time (at least the parts I remember) at several of his concerts. I should pull out some of the old CD's, maybe give a friend or two a call, it's been too long.

What I think gets missed in a lot of both tributes and pans of Jimmy, his music and concerts, is that he created one of the most positive and powerful examples of tribalism in recent decades. His music is one of the few things I can imagine that gracefully bridge the cultural gap in the US today. That is a hell of a legacy and I hope it lasts.

At least one margarita will be drunk in his honor tonight. Thanks, Jimmy.
posted by sapere aude at 11:22 AM on September 2, 2023 [7 favorites]

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posted by The Ardship of Cambry at 11:28 AM on September 2, 2023

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posted by Splunge at 11:33 AM on September 2, 2023

Dang. Hard to believe such an amiable fellow was mortal after all. Rest in power, Jimmy and thanks for all the great music.
posted by Lynsey at 11:41 AM on September 2, 2023 [1 favorite]

Summer 1997. Carter Finley Stadium. Front row seats, tickets of which I purchased the day before the concert as an apology for ruining one of my boyfriend's (now spouse) favorite shirts. I had no idea they were front row, I just called and asked for the best seats available.

A bad thunderstorm came up. Concert was stopped, equipment covered, we debated whether to stay or go. Fans around us encouraged us to stay, he would finish the show.

We stayed. Storms passed. Soaked to the skin and then some. Buffet and the Coral Reefers came back. They closed with Carolina on My Mind as the stars came out.

Time to see the world.

🧉🍹
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 11:55 AM on September 2, 2023 [7 favorites]

And the best damn margarita outside of Mexico I've ever had was at the Fin Bar and Chill in the Margaritaville Island Hotel in Pigeon Forge, TN.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 12:01 PM on September 2, 2023 [1 favorite]

In southern Massachusetts we just drove past a five foot-tall cement manatee holding a suburban mailbox. I like to believe there's a Parrothead at that house.

My college roommate turned me on to Buffet in 1991, and he's always been a fond listen since then.

Buffett was a keen businessman, but his music -- and fans -- are mellow, genial, and mildly buzzed. It's not a terrible ethos, honestly.
posted by wenestvedt at 12:14 PM on September 2, 2023 [7 favorites]

Growing up in the coastal South, as others have noted, he was the inescapable soundtrack. In the Charleston of my late 70s/early 80s teens he was rumored to hang out at (the long departed) Captain Harry's Blue Marlin Bar, where I also occasionally hung out - in those days 16 year old girls could get into all kinds of places and trouble they probably should not have been able to get into.

I saw him in 1987 at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Maryland. We went to see Little Feat; it was a double bill. I was way too cool for Jimmy Buffett by then (but not Little Feat?!? I was weird in my 20s) but I still had a soft spot; my friends were like, no, this is cringe. Or however we expressed the idea of cringe in 87. The Parrotheads were a revelation. I had no idea there was a specific Jimmy Buffett fandom, or that they were all, uh, middleaged and dressed in khakis and hawaiian shirts. We stood out a bit; I suspect we were all wearing black like the good little art students we were. The Parrotheads were not impressed. They were probably younger than I am now and they were having a good time.
posted by mygothlaundry at 12:38 PM on September 2, 2023 [2 favorites]

Son of a Son of a Sailor
Jimmy will greatly missed by the international sailing community.
He crewed aboard the legendary Ticonderoga back in 1980. That was post Margaritaville which was recorded in 1977. Lot of Mountgay being raised in toasts today.
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posted by adamvasco at 12:40 PM on September 2, 2023 [5 favorites]

Have a very fruitful day.
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posted by MtDewd at 12:57 PM on September 2, 2023 [2 favorites]

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posted by kathrynm at 1:16 PM on September 2, 2023

It's great to read the anecdotes and feel the love in this thread for the man.

I'm a sailor, I like beach time, so you'd think I'd be a fan...It's pleasant music, acceptable sonic wallpaper at a happy hour, but I confess I haven't been a real fan, and letting my hair down in public and just getting into the tribal thing with strangers is against my loner nature, so I'd never be a happy Parrothead... But it's inescapable that the music and the following have brought a lot of pleasure to a lot of people. There's a lesson in that that I need to learn.

Anyway, gone too soon. The comments here inspire me to dig into Jimmy's back catalog, and read some of his books. And I could totally see myself in one of his retirement communities, if any of the hype is true (and there's an inexpensive marina within walking distance).

I promise to wear my Landshark Beer tshirt all day tomorrow.

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posted by Artful Codger at 1:25 PM on September 2, 2023 [4 favorites]

My father (of whom I have mentioned before I have a fraught relationship) was a Parrothead. Songs You Know By Heart was a regular on drives, Margaritaville was a button on the XM, he got margarita glasses and learned how to make the drinks by hand to “do it right”, and he got items specifically to safely beer can chicken on the grill.

I haven’t spoken to him since coming out, but I’m sure he’s in mourning today.
posted by mephron at 1:52 PM on September 2, 2023 [7 favorites]

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posted by rhiannonstone at 2:23 PM on September 2, 2023

i know people were pretty shocked when the guild of calamitous intent named buffett as the next sovereign after bowie died, but you've got to admit that he really rose to the occasion — the scope and quality of villainous activity during his sovereignty has been absolutely unparalleled. not bad for an old dude from florida with a pop-top in his foot and a rubbery human mask over his literal parrot head. not bad at all.

i know it's too early to be talking seriously about who'll next rise to sovereign power, so i'll just leave it at 🌴🐚🏝️🌞🐬🌅🌴🦩🕶️⛵🧂

_{tilda this time, right? right??}
posted by bombastic lowercase pronouncements at 2:24 PM on September 2, 2023 [7 favorites]

🍔
posted by jquinby at 2:29 PM on September 2, 2023 [5 favorites]

Despite growing up in Florida, my exposure was minimal, but I really enjoyed this Tumblr thread about Buffetts's cameo in Jurassic World (which I haven't seen), fleeing from pterodactyls with a margarita in each hand. Includes bonus young person learning about a well-known figure for the first time, and a summary of Buffett's various "controversies" (per Wikipedia, since excised), which include things like swearing in front of children and bringing a heroic quantity of ecstasy into St. Tropez.
posted by wreckingball at 2:46 PM on September 2, 2023 [4 favorites]

I wonder what David Allan Coe has to say about Mr. Buffet’s passing.
posted by TedW at 3:12 PM on September 2, 2023 [2 favorites]

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Not much to add that hasn't already been said except for the fact that Jimmy Buffett had a cameo in the movie Repo Man. Yes, that Repo Man...
posted by Gronk at 3:44 PM on September 2, 2023 [5 favorites]

I don't listen to jimmy buffet, but being able to come here and read these heartfelt stories is a big part of why I love metafilter.
posted by Gorgik at 3:52 PM on September 2, 2023 [5 favorites]

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posted by kabong the wiser at 4:01 PM on September 2, 2023

a summary of Buffett's various "controversies"

His controversies are absolutely astounding.

I haven't listened to Buffet in a long time, but I have nothing but warm feelings for him.
posted by Literaryhero at 4:55 PM on September 2, 2023 [1 favorite]

Jimmy, some of it's magic, some of it's tragic
But I had a good life all the way
posted by indexy at 5:25 PM on September 2, 2023 [4 favorites]

Looking through the controversy section really puts a marker on how wholesome and surprisingly conservative his hedonism was. (I’m sure there’s a bunch of stuff in the past that wouldn’t fly today that would have in the 70’s)

And it’s thanks to him that I found Steve Goodman and then John Prine and so on.

When he was on he painted a great damn story.

“She claimed in a loud voice to be a dancer
But I don't think she's cut a rug in years
Listens to the jukebox for her answers
Slowly guzzles 25 cent beers”

And he got the Oak Ridge Boys to sing “My Head hurts, my feet stink and I don’t love Jesus. That counts for something, right?
posted by drewbage1847 at 5:34 PM on September 2, 2023 [8 favorites]

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The first song Siri played for me today was “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.” Just beautiful and brilliant.
posted by BeeDo at 5:58 PM on September 2, 2023 [4 favorites]

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When I was 23 (and later), I dated a guy who was 43 (and older), and he was a big Parrothead, so I learned the entire back catalog (at that time). I liked the songs they played on the radio well enough, but the deeper cuts meant more to me. As a girl who never once drank (or did anything irresponsible, or really ever even let down my Type-A hair), it amused my friends how much Buffett's music meant to me. I guess I lived vicariously through his happy music, and I felt nostalgia I was too young to understand when I listened to the sad stuff.

I felt a tremor of shock when I heard the news of his passing last night and realized, I refuse to believe he's dead. As far as I'm concerned:

"He went to Paris."
posted by The Wrong Kind of Cheese at 6:46 PM on September 2, 2023 [7 favorites]

Do think it was very cool that a super rich rock star would buy a funky antique seaplane, get it running, and bop around the islands.
posted by sammyo at 7:05 PM on September 2, 2023 [2 favorites]

I wrote the following five years ago here:
I lived on the gulf coast in Florida in the mid-1970s. Clearwater Beach. Buffett's songs felt exactly how it felt to live there. Living in Florida as a carpenter during those years was almost a certainty of starving, and that is what I did, but it didn't cost anything to get sand on your feet, the sun in your eyes and on your shoulders and arms.

I didn't own any of his records then -- pretty much the only music I owned was a ratty case of 8 track tapes that I stole out of a car with an open back window -- but I bought them in the early to mid-1980s, five or six of them, all from the 1970s. Jimmy Buffet absolutely was not just some novelty act, he wrote some damn fine songs. I sortof love him. Playing those records took me back to the good parts of my Florida years, the sand on my feet sun on my shoulder parts, that good tired that comes at sunset, walking on sand, in and out of the salt.

I've not owned nor listened to any of his later records. I don't want to. I've never seen him play. The 70s records are what I want, they are what I think of when I think of Jimmy Buffett, when I want to feel that time.
posted by dancestoblue at 9:59 PM on February 8, 2018
posted by dancestoblue at 8:16 PM on September 2, 2023 [14 favorites]

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posted by bryon at 8:48 PM on September 2, 2023

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posted by Quietgal at 9:02 PM on September 2, 2023

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posted by riverlife at 9:55 PM on September 2, 2023

I was never a huge fan of Jimmy Buffett's music in my earlier years. It wasn't like offensive or anything, it just seemed kinda mediocre and uncool. However, when Harmonix released the Jimmy Buffett pack for Rock Band I gained a real appreciation for his work. It's just super fun stuff to play on a guitar shaped plastic toy, especially while wearing a tacky "Hawaiian" shirt. The shirts were easy to come by since I had a closet full of them at the time.
posted by wierdo at 12:21 AM on September 3, 2023 [4 favorites]

🦜
posted by terrapin at 5:35 AM on September 3, 2023 [2 favorites]

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I grew up in the US Southeast loving his music and still do. Gave up on caring what other people think is cringe many years ago. But I want to put in a plug for his donation to good progressive candidates in Florida (god knows they need all of that they can get) and his work for marine conservation, especially Save the Manatee.
posted by hydropsyche at 5:38 AM on September 3, 2023 [9 favorites]

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posted by tdismukes at 6:20 AM on September 3, 2023

“Come Monday“ was such a formative influence on me, and I didn’t seem able to remember who it was by till long after “Margaritaville” came out. He was so amazing with making words flow: “I spent four lonely days in a brown LA haze” just always sounded so perfect to me; “I blew out my flip-flop, stepped on a pop top” was genius. As a writer I couldn’t admire that ability more.
posted by kitten kaboodle at 10:38 AM on September 3, 2023 [3 favorites]

As I wrote on FB:

A rodeo cowboy turned me on to Buffett when I was maybe 13.
Living close enough to the Gulf that I could smell saltwater in the biggest storms that blew our way, I recognized a lot in his music, and heard a poet who was trying to process his own contradictions.
To quote him, "can't believe the old man's gone".

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posted by pt68 at 11:07 AM on September 3, 2023 [2 favorites]

It seems that so many wonderful people are leaving this world, and now Jimmy Buffett is one of them. I’ve known Jimmy for some time and found him to be one of the kindest and most generous people.

I remember once on holiday when I had forgotten to bring my guitar and was itching to play. He said he would get me one of his, but I said, ‘I’m left-handed’. So, Jimmy had his roadie restring one of his guitars which he loaned me for the duration of the holiday. He then followed this act of generosity by giving me my own beautiful left-handed guitar that had been made by one of his guitar-making pals. It’s a beautiful instrument, and every time I play it now it’ll remind me of what a great man Jimmy was.

He had a most amazing lust for life and a beautiful sense of humour. When we swapped tales about the past his were so exotic and lush and involved sailing trips and surfing and so many exciting stories that it was hard for me to keep up with him.

Right up to the last minute his eyes still twinkled with a humour that said, ‘I love this world and I’m going to enjoy every minute of it’.

So many of us will miss Jimmy and his tremendous personality. His love for us all, and for mankind as a whole.

Last, but not least, is his songwriting and vocal ability. If someone made an interesting remark he repeated it in his gorgeous Louisiana drawl and said, ‘That’s a good idea for a song’. Most times it didn’t take too long for that song to appear. I was very happy to have played on one of his latest songs called ‘My Gummy Just Kicked In’. We had a real fun session and he played me some of his new songs. One, in particular, I loved was the song, ‘Bubbles Up’. And I told him that not only was the song great but the vocal was probably the best I’ve heard him sing ever. He turned a diving phrase that is used to train people underwater into a metaphor for life when you’re confused and don’t know where you are just follow the bubbles - they’ll take you up to the surface and straighten you out right away.

So long, Jim. You are a very special man and friend and it was a great privilege to get to know you and love you.

Bubbles up, my friend.

Love, Paul

— Paul McCartney Official, Facebook, 02 September 2023
posted by ob1quixote at 11:09 AM on September 3, 2023 [19 favorites]

Short Twitter thread from someone who was working in the New Orleans Margaritaville restaurant when Katrina hit. Excerpt:

Margaritaville cut us all $3,000 checks immediately after the storm, no questions asked. That money saved lives. They also let employees know that if any of us could get to ANY other Margaritaville, there was a job waiting for us.
posted by mediareport at 12:02 PM on September 3, 2023 [22 favorites]

I had a cheeseburger and a cold draft beer today, and I played a few old albums.

Like most eastern seaboard 1970/80s kids who spent a lot of time around water and boats, I found myself listening to Jimmy Buffett unintentionally a lot during my childhood. His music was just present. By the time I was a teenager, I was something of a casual fan.

Then came the 4th of July weekend of 1988. I don't remember the circumstances that led to me, my cousin and my (frequently high) uncle to end up at Kings Dominion on that fine summer afternoon, with a cooler full of cheap beer and tickets to the Buffett show that night, but...

Imagine spending a day in an amusement park with 15,000 parrotheads in it, at a time when it was fully expected that you'd sometimes leave the park, go back to your car to {drink a beer, smoke a J, do a line, cook a burger}, and then show your hand-stamp and re-enter the park (the 80s seem like another planet sometimes). Then, shortly before the sun sets, you all file into the adjacent concert venue to see the headliner.

The entire day was basically a wildly friendly tailgate party with roller coasters -- and at least half of the park's population that day was there for the concert. This was a crowd that likes to have a good time, and since the show is at an amusement park, you might as well arrive early and make it an extra fun day of it.

Yeah. The whole scene kind of blew my 15 year old mind, and I knew that I needed to be a part of it. After that day, I was more than a casual fan (though, not really a die-hard). For a bunch of years, whenever Jimmy Buffett was in town, I'd try to make it to a show. Eventually, I just had other things to do, and when I started seeing less live music in general, his shows were one of the first to fall off the list. It's been 15+ years since I last saw him live, but I always kind of thought that I'd see him one more time again. (To paraphrase a James Taylor song that Jimmy covered better than James ever sang it).

In my life, I've seen many hundreds of concerts. At least half of them (maybe more) involved just three singers: Jerry Garcia, John Prine, and Jimmy Buffett. All of them are gone now. While I'm glad that I got to experience them when I did, I'm very sad to know that I'll never get to do it again.

I hope that the man is somewhere enjoying a boat drink, smoking some grass with Captain Tony, and maybe smuggling some things over/under/through the pearly gates. Rest easy, sailor.
posted by toxic at 9:27 PM on September 3, 2023 [7 favorites]

Honestly, the fact that he recently did a song called "My Gummy Just Kicked In" - and the fact that Paul McCartney played on it - makes me very happy.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:11 PM on September 3, 2023 [4 favorites]

I can't even remember the number of Jimmy Buffett concerts I have been to over the years. Many times I didn't have tickets, would just hop in the car, drive a couple of hours and buy a ticket from somebody in the parking lot. No mark up, sometimes for half price, sometimes a guy in a Hawaiian shirt and straw hat would hand me a ticket and say HAVE FUN! Parrotheads are the nicest people. I love his music and I love his philosophy of life. I sure am going to miss him.

And there's that one particular harbour
Sheltered from the wind
Where the children play on the shore each day
And all are safe within

Most mysterious calling harbour
So far but yet so near
I can see the day when my hair's full gray
And I finally disappear
posted by pjsky at 7:58 AM on September 4, 2023 [5 favorites]

From President Biden: (both the Clintons had reactions as well)

"A poet of paradise, Jimmy Buffett was an American music icon who inspired generations to step back and find the joy in life and in one another.

We had the honor to meet and get to know Jimmy over the years, and he was in life as he was performing on stage – full of goodwill and joy, using his gift to bring people together.

Jill and I send our love to his wife of 46 years, Jane; to their children, Savannah, Sarah, and Cameron; to their grandchildren; and to the millions of fans who will continue to love him even as his ship now sails for new shores."
posted by drewbage1847 at 9:20 PM on September 4, 2023 [2 favorites]

I love how Biden made it sound like Buffett had boarded a ship to the Undying Lands.
posted by Kitteh at 5:29 AM on September 5, 2023 [5 favorites]

♪
posted by Gelatin at 6:34 AM on September 5, 2023 [1 favorite]

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posted by mcbeth at 1:46 PM on September 5, 2023

For anyone needing some close in Buffett, he and Delaney (his daughter) sat down during COVID lockdowns and recorded a series of sessions of him explaining the stories behind some lesser known songs (as requested by fans). Just him, her and an acoustic guitar.

Jimmy Buffett - Songs You Don't Know By Heart
posted by drewbage1847 at 9:42 PM on September 7, 2023 [5 favorites]

“Producer Told LEGEND Song was A TERRIBLE Idea…Became a BILLION DOLLAR Enterprise!”—Professor of Rock, 15 September 2023
posted by ob1quixote at 11:58 AM on September 16, 2023

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Coming into this late, but Buffett was really really important to me in 1985 - 1992.
After hearing a chunk of Songs You Know By Heart in the stereo of my step-mom's brother's car during a long car ride after my dad's car broke down, I was as big a Parrothead as one could be when one was too broke and too young to actually attend concerts. A lot of weekends when I had some cash, I was hitting the Sam Goody and the other records stores to find more Buffett.
I watched Michael Nesmith's Television Parts when it aired, and was super excited when he aired the video for "La Vie Dansante"
During my heavy gaming phase in my middle teens, I was staying up late playing Autoduel on the C64, and just flipping the tapes for Coconut Telegraph and One Particular Harbour as the "driving soundtrack". I miss those hours a bit more than I should.
I had been really really bummed to miss the '89 (I think) concert tour with the giant stage prop of a plane named "Margaritaville Clipper" landing. But that summer I also saw what I think was the only airing of "Homemade Music" on MTV, at about midnight, as Saturday gaming night was breaking up. ("He just ripped his moustache off!")
But the albums from Fruitcakes onward grabbed me less and less. The songs just didn't seem as punchy, to me, so I fell away from the faith. (But I will still, from time to time, mutter, 'The Cosmic Bakers took us out of the oven a little too early.')

It looks like this week, Arlo and Janis comic strip artist Jimmy Johnson is letting his Parrothead flag fly:
18 Sept the "Great Filling Station Holdup" reference surprised a cackle out of me.
19 Sept
20 Sept

I hope Mr. Buffett's at peace. I hope his family is okay.
posted by Mutant Lobsters from Riverhead at 2:32 PM on September 20, 2023 [3 favorites]