Welcome to Sonic Exposure Therapy Sessions (S.E.T.), a series where I torture myself with music that I hate in order to try to understand why people are drawn to certain artists or genres.
Everyone has periods in their lives where they look back and think “What the fuck was that all about?” Often times, these phases come and go throughout our lives and we don’t realize that we are in them in the moment. Maybe you decided to get an eyebrow piercing and went by your middle name. Maybe you were the same-uniform-everyday guy because you had a weird admiration of tech douchebags like Mark Zuckerburg. Maybe you grew your hair out during a pandemic and now you have to start a fancy new job in two weeks. You are grappling with losing your identity as you shift from being a college student to a working adult, so you start a newsletter about old t-shirts and records. Maybe you’re that guy.
Everyone is different when it comes to these things, some are more embarrassing than others. My parents for a time, were really into Jimmy Buffett. It was strange.
It was the early-aughts, my youngest brother had just been born and George W. Bush was elected for a regrettable second term as President. My parents, avid hair metal fans decades in the making, rediscover a little place called… Margaritaville. I cannot speak for them, only retell what I experienced as a six year old in a household in the midst of a sea change regarding what was playing while Mom was cooking dinner. I vividly remember my folks putting on a DVD of a Jimmy Buffett concert on the deepest TV you have ever seen, at least once a week for years. Sometimes it’d be an Alan Jackson DVD, sometimes Kenny Chesney, but all artists of a similar beachy genre.
Buffett was always serenading the family about living the island lifestyle, getting sunburnt and stumbling through an ongoing haze of drunken bliss. Dinnertime was not complete without him. My parents aren’t and weren’t big drinkers either, I see my mom have a drink about once a fiscal quarter. But still, the leader of the Parrotheads used his “just-okay” singing voice and stories of rum on the beach to rope my parents in for a time. In this article, I try and understand the draw of Buffett’s siren songs.
Let’s get into it.
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Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes (1977)
This record was how I self-introduced myself into the world of Buffett. I felt like it was a good starting point, as it was his first record to be certified platinum in the United States. “Margaritaville,” the only song I have ever heard that mentions blowing out a flip flop, was a major factor in making Changes in Latitudes a successful record. This, intern, set Jimmy Buffett up to be a success.
Some highlights include “Banana Republics,” which is basically a song about evading taxes and banging hot latinas, likely inspiring many a John McAfee. I also really like “Biloxi,” an acoustic serenade that progresses into an orchestral ballad. This is easily the best that Buffett sounds on this record if you don’t pay attention to the lyrics, not a whole lot of substance there. Otherwise, the record is pretty uniformly just okay. The production isn’t really great, even at a time where groups like Dire Straits were putting out some of the most progressively produced records of all time. The time of release is no excuse for having shit mixing.
Most of this record sounds like a cover band at their home bar finally playing an original song, but averagely. Like, you would be cool for a few songs. After a half-hour though, you would want the boys to WRAP IT UP because you’re trying to pay attention to the Tigers losing on TV. Buffett is not exactly known for his voice, but more for the ~vibe~ that his music gives off. He is an escapist, and makes music for a community bogged down by the humdrum of everyday life in Anytown, U.S.A. I really began to realize this as went through this journey through Margaritaville.
Son of a Son of a Sailor (1978)
This record is really all over the place when it comes to genre. To be honest, I can’t really recall much from this one. I remember it being better than Changes in Latitudes, and it’s certainly more exploratory than that one. Buffett expands his range by incorporating a saxophone on a few of the songs and it adds a nice touch.
“Fool Button” has great instrumentals but easily has the worst vocals on the record. Buffett sounds… far away and not in the aloof, goth rock way that some people aim for. He sounds like he’s ten or fifteen feet back from the microphone.
This record also has the legendary “Cheeseburger in Paradise,” a likely second-plane of existence for folks like George Motz, host of “The Burger Show.” Honestly, it’s poorly written, but it’s a damn fun song. I think Jimmy Buffett is the only other person besides Big Smoke from GTA: San Andreas who can read off their order at the drive-thru and make it appealing. “Coast of Marseilles” is another great song, soft and melodic. Not a whole lot to it, just a decent song.
Overall, I think this is better than Changes in Latitudes, this was also my introduction into the equally alluring Coral Reefer Band, which is basically if your grandparents who moved down to the gulf smoked weed and played the bongos. LET’S REGGAE REEFERS!
License to Chill (2004)
To start… I really enjoyed this one. Maybe it is because it has a bit of a nostalgia hit in my brain as this was likely the one my folks played the most as I was growing up. As I listened through the record I kept having the same “Oh shit, I remember this one” thought. This is the most recent record I listened to, and it certainly sounds like it. The production is actually really good, the duets with other artists are great too.
“Hey, Good Lookin’” has a roster of early 2000’s country artists featured on it. This song is so great not only because it invokes nostalgia in myself, but also because most of the vocals are not Jimmy Buffett. Alan Jackson, Kenny Chesney, George Strait, Martina McBride, Nanci Griffith, Toby Keith and more lend their voices to songs on this record. Being totally honest too, Jimmy Buffett’s voice is leagues better on this than on the previous two records. One thing this record made me realize is how much I like Kenny Chesney and Alan Jackson’s voices. Like, man those guys can sing.
This record has the best songwriting of the three, too. This record shifted away from the familiar stories of getting absolutely piss drunk and losing your keys for the second time on one trip to psalms about enjoying life and not taking things too seriously. “Trip Around the Sun” with Martina McBride is a great example of this change and I think it is a really fantastic song, great to belt out in the car. I genuinely really would recommend this one to any Buffett cynics.
Conclusion
Going into this, I didn’t really understand the whole “culture” around Jimmy Buffett. I thought that he was kind of a novelty, something that folks would get into if they needed a change. But it’s more than that. After having a chat with my parents, they explained that they went to Buffett shows when they were young to go drink and have a good time, but in a way that was not like other shows. They would just hangout in the parking lot and get hammered with their friends. Parrotheads had their own garb, their own traditions, all that good stuff. My dad compared it to the culture behind jam bands like Phish or the Grateful Dead, just on a different side of the music sphere.
Do I understand it? Yes. Do I want to be a part of it? No, not really. It isn’t really my style of being a concertgoer, but that’s okay. I certainly respect what Buffett has done for music, it is rare that you learn of someone who can almost fit solely into their own genre. Weird Al is the only other one who I can think of who is able to do that. On top of me coming around to his later music, Jimmy Buffett just seems like a decent dude. He regularly participates in charity, seems to really love and appreciate his fans, and is still performing in his mid-seventies even after faceplanting off stage.
Is this going to be my everyday now? Have I become a Parrothead? Have I crossed over??? No, but I have certainly learned how to enjoy his music, and I am by no means ashamed of that.
FINAL VERDICT: I went from seeing Jimmy Buffett as a gimmick, to digging deep into the caverns of my brain to use nostalgia as a tool to realize that I really like the last record I reviewed. It makes me feel good and I won’t deny that I enjoy it. Good job Jimmy, you flipped a cynic into a hesitant fan.
I listen to JB all the time, he's based. My parents are also responsible. Living and Dying in 3/4 time and A White Sport Coat and a Pibk Crustacean are his best albums. Havana Daydreamin' gets an honorable mention as well.
This article made me take another listen to License to Chill. I really like the album. The thing with Buffett is you can sing along and sound pretty good. Good music for tough times. Listening to Buffett always helped me get through some of the bumps in the road of life. Takes you away for just a little while.