“Some folks spend their lives climbing the corporate ladder, chasing the next big thing, and stressing over inboxes that never hit zero. But Parrotheads? We’ve cracked the code. We know that the real measure of success isn’t in the bank, it’s in the number of sunsets we’ve watched with a cold drink in hand.
“We’ve mastered the fine art of doing absolutely nothing and making it look like a well-thought-out life choice. Our dress code? Flip-flops and Hawaiian shirts. Our philosophy? If it’s five o’clock somewhere, that’s good enough for us. We turn traffic jams into car concerts, turn Mondays into Margaritaville, and understand that a bad day with a beach mindset is still better than a good day in a suit.
“Parrotheads are the coolest people around because we live like Jimmy taught us, embracing the breeze, loving the people around us, and never taking life too seriously. So grab a drink, put your feet up, and let’s toast to this beautifully laid-back existence. Because let’s face it, stress is highly overrated. Cheers, my friends!”
He gave us more than just songs; he gave us an escape, a way to embrace life’s chaos with a smile, a margarita, and a little island philosophy. From “Margaritaville” to “Pirate Looks at Forty,” his words remind us to celebrate the small joys, cherish the people we love, and maybe not sweat the lost shaker of salt too much.
I wish I could have known Jimmy. When one listens to his recordings, and maybe even read one of his books, Tales from Margaritaville and Where Is Joe Merchant? I had a chance to meet him once. Amy Lee, who played sax for Jimmy for years, invited me to a concert in Atlanta.
Amy Lee, a fine, fine sax player in Buffett’s band… and a good friend!
I went to it, but wasn’t ready for the 5,000 happy, stoned and loud parrorheard that filled the hillside above the stage. When it came time to go backstage after the concert and meet him, I declined, wanting to simply get out of there as fast as I could. Too bad. I missed out on my chance to meet the man who became a legend to millions.
An old friend of mine, Sandy Fuller, used to fly his plane down to a small island just off the coast of Florida, spending a few leisurely days at a hotel one of his friends owned. One afternoon Sandy was sitting outside the hotel, enjoying a cool one with his friend, who was telling him that Jimmy Buffett might fly in for a day or two, and that Jimmy didn’t want people to notice him, or bother him.
He was right in the middle of his explanation when a seaplane flew overhead, very low and very loud. “Ah, there’s Jimmy now,” the hotel owner said.
“Yeah,” Sandy replied with a wry grin. “I can see he doesn’t want to be noticed.”
Steve Johnson wrote – “I’ve never cried at a concert, but I have, every time, felt so very lucky to be there, to be able to hear the music, to share with a few hundred, a few thousand other people this “thing” that takes us out of ourselves.
“And I like being transported. Who doesn’t? And it happens when you’re exposed to great art…to music. (and come to think of it, I think I have shed a tear watching a music video on my ipad of a song that hit, as Jimmy might have said…that “One particular harbor” in my heart.
“Anyway, The song with the perfect first line is “A Pirate looks at 40”, and the line I missed….
“Mother, mother ocean, I have heard you call
Wanted to sail upon your waters since I was three feet tall
You’ve seen it all, you’ve seen it all”
“Yeah, great line. This song, a plaintive (to me anyway) look at who we are and when we are and how we are as we get older. Timing, as the song goes on to say is part of it.
“I bet Jimmy Buffett would tell you now, if he could, just how lucky he was, how lucky we are. The fact we have his music, the fact we live when we do, that we have time for this joy, and even the sadness.
“A little nostalgic regret is always there, for what we aren’t, and haven’t and won’t. How often does the adult who wanted to be an astronaut, or fire fighter, or whatever… get a little regretful, which is so…so…human.
Anyway…the first line is great, but I like this one….
“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”
“Thanks Jimmy… for sharing.”
Steve Johnson
Top 10 Jimmy Buffett Quotes
1. “Breathe in, breathe out, move on.”
• A simple but powerful mantra for resilience and letting go of the past.
2. “Wrinkles will only go where the smiles have been.”
• A reminder that a life well-lived is one full of laughter and joy.
3. “If life gives you limes, make margaritas.”
• His classic twist on making the best of what you have.
4. “I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.”
• A lesson in adaptability and perseverance.
5. “We are the people our parents warned us about.”
• A playful take on living freely and embracing the unexpected
.
6. “Some of it’s magic, some of it’s tragic, but I had a good life all the way.”
• A line from He Went to Paris, summing up the highs and lows of life.
7. “It takes no more time to see the good side of life than it does to see the bad.”
• A great philosophy for choosing optimism.
8. “Indecision may or may not be my problem.”
• Classic Buffett humor, blending it with a little self-awareness.
9. “It’s important to have as much fun as possible while we’re here. It balances out the times that aren’t so good.”
• A call to savor the good times and keep perspective.
10. “Go fast enough to get there, but slow enough to see.”
• A reminder to chase dreams without missing the beauty along the way.
And this –
“Island I see you in the distance
I feel that your existence
Is not unlike my own
Island they say no man is like you
They say you stand alone
Sometimes I feel that way too”
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“Son of a Son of a Sailor” – A Poetic Celebration
He tells the story of a grandson
standing on the shoulders of mariners past,
a father who fought and sailed,
a grandfather who charted the unknown,
and the boy in between, charting the waters of his own identity.
“As the son of a son of a sailor,
I went out on the sea for adventure…”
That line alone is a compass rose,
a north star for wanderers,
for those with wanderlust in their veins
and an ache for something just beyond the horizon.”
It is a tribute not only to Buffett’s bloodline,
but to all who inherit stories,
to those who feel the call of the sea
even if they’ve never touched the helm.
It is for dreamers with anchors in their hearts
and wind in their souls.
In this song, Jimmy drew a circle,
linking generations with rope made of reverence and rebellion.
He nodded to the past,
but his eyes were always scanning forward,
where the ocean met sky
and possibility was as endless as the blue.
So raise a glass to the mariner’s grandson,
to the storyteller in flip-flops,
to the son who became the father of an island state of mind.
“Son of a Son of a Sailor” is more than melody
it is heritage. It is legacy.
It is the wind whispering,
“Keep going. You were born for this.”
Steve Hulse
