Margaritaville. I love the way that word looks. I love the way that word sounds. I love the images that it elicits. A state of mind…
Yes, it is a state of mind. From time to time, we know that the state of mind created by Margaritaville also becomes our surroundings. It happens everyday, to someone, somewhere. For some, it might be in a bar when a great track hits the jukebox and the laughter, company and cold drinks mesh. For others, it might be at sunset on the beach with their significant other after a few hours in the sun. A cold beverage, the sound of the surf and a knowing exchange in their eyes that they are sharing Margaritaville, in state of mind and a state of place. Still for others, they may be in a concert venue, after chilling at the tailgate, soaking in the energy of a live Jimmy Buffett concert when Jimmy sings, “Waistin’ away again in Margaritaville, that’s where this ship is headed!” Between the legions of parrot heads, the excitement of hearing their favorite Buffett songlines live, the exotic island backdrops on the large video screen, it is easy to see how this is the physical embodiment of Margaritaville.
Margaritaville runs hand in hand with our human desire to relax, laugh, forget some things, remember others and in a word so commonly associated, escape. Escape the stresses of the day, no matter their source. It is here that deep within every Parrothead is where Margaritaville transcends the state of mind and the physical reality that it so often manifests. I call it the Vortex of Margaritaville. It’s kind of like the Twilight Zone Tropic Style.
I have story upon story of the neatest happenings. Take, for example, last week. On Gameday for the Dallas show, I had a feeling that I needed to strum a tune and record it. Lord knows, and everyone in my house, that I don’t have the best singing voice so to strum the tunes is what I like to do. I decided upon Cowboy in the Jungle. I strummed it out, took my sacred cell and uploaded it to Youtube. Saturday was a good day to relax and delay my mini party. After having a relaxing evening on the patio, the sun slowly sunk into the horizon and the sky movie started to develop. I have these reclining outdoor chairs that one can lay just about parallel to the ground. A concert under the stars it would be. Karey and I sat side by side in our chairs and I told her that the song I was looking to hear was Cowboy in the Jungle. Just after the Happy Lad from Trinidad finished his featured, beautiful medley, Jimmy B. came back from his break and went right into Cowboy in the Jungle. Made my night. Jimmy said, “I know we’ve got some cowboys listening on Radio Margaritaville tonight!” And he was right. Near the end of the show I told Karey, “I’m going to get up early and go watch the sun rise on Tybee.” She replied, “After drinking tonight? You’re not gonna get up.” “Watch me.”
Well, I naturally woke up at 5:30. After laying in the bed a quarter hung-over for another quarter of an hour, I did remember what I said and I sprang out of the bed. I cooked a bowl of oatmeal to go, fired up the Bunn coffee maker, and let the dogs out. Once the dogs were fed, I took the oatmeal and coffee to go. Grabbed my old radio from my house painting days and headed off. I knew I had left a mixed Jimmy Buffett cd in there from last week when I replaced the batteries so that was good to go. I started the drive in the darkness and coolness of the early morning. The sun was not up near as I could tell, so everything seemed to be on time. The oatmeal cooled and the cinnamon sprinkled on top was pleasing. The drive to Tybee from the island I live on is a pretty one. It’s a causeway that winds throught the salt marsh andit ’s lined with Sabal palms and Oleander trees. As soon as I hit the highway, I turned on the radio as the CD player in the truck does not work right now. A Pirate Looks at Forty was the first song and it only served to set this journey as a spiritual one. Mother, Mother Ocean, here I come. Jimmy’s music takes on different looks for me at different times in my life. I like his analogy of “a new paint job.” He’s usually referring to a new arrangement or a slight lyric change to reflect something current, but for me the new paint job might just be a part of me evolving and seeing Jimmy’s music through a slightly different prism. As I cruised toward Tybee, the songs played and I began to form an idea for a creative project. I would set the radio on the edge of the sea and film the sun rising. Now I needed a song. Just then Wonder Why We Ever Go Home was the next track. Perfect. I got on the island and wondered exactly where the sun was. Did I miss it? If you’ve been to Tybee, there is a curve on Butler Avenue where you first see the ocean up close and personal. I hit that curve and the sun was half on, half off the horizon. Okay, not perfect timing, but pretty darned good. Even the worst of sunrises will never let you down, right? I decided to try to park on the first street leading to the beach that I came to. I took a left and watched a couple get out of their car which was in the last spot available. Just my luck, I thought. Get here at 6 am and it’s still not early enough!! When I pulled back to the main drag, I saw a spot 30 feet away on the right and I swooped in there quick. Dropped the shoes, grabbed the radio and was off at a quick pace. The couple ahead were walking sort of slowly directly to the beach. It might be a 300 yard walk from the top of the beach to the shore and I felt like hiking it out. I went on about a 40 degree angle to my left to give them their space. I got to the edge of the ocean and the waves were crashing, rhythmically and soothingly. I took it all in for a moment, and then cued up the radio. I started filming and hit play simultaneously. As I started filming, I decided at some point I would wind down the volume and let the waves be the wrap. Short and sweet. Just when I was thinking of winding down, something unexpected and wonderful happened. The couple that I passed walked right in front of me, barefoot in the shallows, just before Jimmy sang, “People are movin’ so quickly…” I couldn’t believe my luck. Now my only concern was how the audio would be. Well, I’d find out later. I sat on the beach for a little while longer and enjoyed being there to bring in that Sunday. I headed back to the homestead, but not before stopping by the store to get some fresh sourdough bread out of the bakery and a half dozen eggs. When I reviewed the short video, I was quite pleased. No planning, just trusting my intuition. It was neat to me how the Spirit moved me or used me, however you look at it. Definitely the Spirit of the Great Heart. I uploaded the video to Youtube and went about my day. I was feeling revived now, feeling better from the heart procedure that was performed just days earlier. Modern medicine is impressive. A doctor had two catheters in my heart on Wednesday, and by the following Tuesday I was already back in the gym, treadmilling and lifting. I missed Wednesday, Thursday and Friday work, so I went to the office and caught up in a couple focused hours. After leaving work, I went to the golf course and hit two buckets of balls. I was talking to my Mom on the phone and told her what my morning had been like, and she said, “It’s not even eleven o’clock, Matthew.” Yeah, probably time to slow down.
Had a great rest of the day and on Monday morning got up a little earlier than usual and decided to strum Wonder Why We Ever Go Home out a bit and if I liked it how it sounded, video and upload it. I was pleased with the outcome and uploaded it to Youtube. What I like about social media is that people can get messages across in a way that never existed before. It’s quite wonderful. I stay focused on the positive side, as Eric Clapton wrote, “It’s in the way that you use it.” Anyhow, Tuesday night was the Jimmy Buffett show in Atlanta. I sure tried to pull off driving there and back. All I would need is to leave work by 3:00 and drive back after the show. It would put me home about 3 in the morning, but just one workday and a rest from pulling it off. Alas, my better half told me it was too much, too soon after the week I’d had, and besides, I don’t think I had the guts to ask my boss if I could leave early after having Weds, Thurs, and Fri off the week before. Well, Margaritaville TV it was. What a modern marvel Margaritaville TV is. Us Parrotheads sure have it good. Our Mayor of Margaritaville has always been on the cutting edge of technology and in conjuction has always hired the best crew to help him with his product. Margaritaville TV to me is a union of Jimmy’s vision and the creative, competent crew he has put together. If you haven’t tuned into one of the shows, you should. It’s really well done.
I was enjoying a couple cold beers and watching the Atlanta show knowing that a couple of acquaintances were there. Man, it would have been so much fun. Lots of driving, but definitely stories to tell. Just after Robert Greenidge’s featured steel drum medley, Jimmy walked to his spot on the stage and said, “Well, we’re diggin’ deep tonight, this song goes back to the Rancho Deluxe soundtrack.” At the first chord, I couldn’t believe my ears. “Years grow shorter, not longer, the more you’ve been on your own, feelings for movin’ grow stronger…” Unbelievable. Then I noticed something even more wild…the backdrop on the large screen was the Tybee Pier. My heart surged with gratitude to Jimmy Buffett and the Spirit of the Great Heart. “How does it happen? How do we know? Who sits and watches? Who does the show?”
As I sat and watched the Thursday concert on MargTV, I picked up a songbook to flip through. Jimmy had written a thought out for each song. “A walk on the beach is excellent therapy for all those unanswerable questions. I wrote this particular song originally for a movie soundtrack. When I first saw the film, the lyrics had been cut and a 747 landed over the track. So I decided to try it one more time.” I flipped the page and this is what Jimmy had written about Wonder Why We Ever Go Home. I’m reading this two days after the ATL show and four days after shooting the mini video. But like I stated earlier, I’m living in the Vortex of Margaritaville, and I love everything about it!
