Jimmy Dreams
...ew up on his music, it was like an institution in my house. My father installed Buffett’s values in my sisters and I from the very beginning. Certain songs can bring you to another place and time in your life and his songs do that for me. I guess you could say that Buffett songs actually chronologically order some of the events in my life. This may sound crazy to you but as I grew older I realized the importance of his music. “Margaritaville isn’t just a place, but a state of mind,” or at least that is what Parrotheads believe. The untrained ear hears a balmy, tropical, and sometimes French Creole or Reggae infused song. At surface value this is only musically pleasing for the length of the song. It is when you listen on a deeper level, experience the lyrics, and let yourself drift away in the beat that you come to understand his music as a state of mind. When it has been snowing for what seems like forever, I put some Buffett on and pretend I am at the beach with the sun beating down on my face where there are no worries on my shoulders. I love to listen to him during those first days of spring when it is just starting to get hot. I drive down the road with my windows down and turn up the volume because it reminds me that summer is coming. As one Parrothead once said, “It can’t be summer without Buffett, but Jimmy brings the summer wherever he goes.” His music takes me back to my childhood when I was surrounded by innocence. My dad would take us to Florida during Spring Break and on the long road trip there all I heard was the enchanting sound of tropical freedom coming out of the speakers. It was Chandler 3 always cold when we left Louisville but when we got to Florida it was a different story. It was kind of like an icebreaker for spring because when my dad would start playing Jimmy Buffett again it meant that Spring Break was approaching shortly. Even now, when it’s been years since I have gone on vacation with my dad, Buffett’s music is still a tradition for me. I listen to his music on the way to Florida with my friends now, instead of my family. It still reminds me of those exciting vacations that my sisters and I would look forward to every year, especially when Buffett started to play at our house. Even though he is a very talented singer who has written almost all of his songs, there are still many more accomplishments under his belt. He has a line of clothing that has branched out to selling anything from shirts to tire covers and recipe books. His catalog is called The Coconut Telegraph after a song he wrote in 1980. He also has an online store at www.margaritaville.com. In addition to his merchandise, he opened a chain of clubs called Margaritaville. The first one went up in Key West. Plus, he started restaurants called Cheeseburger in Paradise and Margaritaville. As if that wasn’t enough for him, he started writing fiction books. Some were for children and the rest were chapter books that landed him on the book bestseller lists. These accomplishments just go to show his wide variety of talents. I am not the only one who thinks very highly of Buffet. Parrotheads go without saying but there are also books written by other people about Jimmy Buffett. Thomas Ryan says in his book, The Parrothead Companion: An Insider’s Guide to Jimmy Buffett, “Buffett is obsessed with telling us how much better it would be to waste our lives chasing down dreams instead of wasting our dreams while plodding through life.” I Chandler 4 couldn’t agree more with Ryan. Buffett just wants to live his life to the fullest and have a good time doing it. As he once sang, “If we couldn’t laugh we would all go insane.” He doesn’t believe that everyone should quit their jobs and mov...