Them as know, is them as know

[pecunium]

Jimmy Buffett -

I took off for a weekend last month
Just to try and recall the whole year.
All of the faces and all of the places,
wonderin' where they all disappeared.
I didn't ponder the question too long;
I was hungry and went out for a bite.
Ran into a chum with a bottle of rum,
and we wound up drinkin' all night.

It's those changes in latitudes,
changes in attitudes nothing remains quite the same.
With all of our running and all of our cunning,
If we couldn't laugh, we would all go insane.

[Chorus:]
These changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes,
Nothing remains quite the same.
Through all of the islands and all of the highlands,
If we couldn't laugh we would all go insane

Reading departure signs in some big airport
Reminds me of the places I've been.
Visions of good times that brought so much pleasure
Makes me want to go back again.
If it suddenly ended tomorrow,
I could somehow adjust to the fall.
Good times and riches and son of a bitches,
I've seen more than I can recall

[Chorus]

I think about Paris when I'm high on red wine,
I wish I could jump on a plane.
And so many nights I just dream of the ocean.
God, I wish I was sailin' again.
Oh, yesterday's over my shoulder,
So I can't look back for too long.
There's just too much to see waiting in front of me,
and I know that I just can't go wrong
with these...

changes in latitudes,
changes in attitudes, nothing remains quite the same.
With all of our running and all of our cunning,
If we weren't all crazy we'd all go insane...

If we weren't all crazy we would go insane.


A Pirate Looks At Forty

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.

Watched the men who rode you,
Switch from sails to steam.
And in your belly you hold the treasure
that few have ever seen, most of them dreams,
Most of them dreams.

Yes, I am a pirate, a few 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've done a bit of smugglin'
I've run my share of grass.
I made enough money to buy Miami,
But I pissed it away so fast,
Never meant to last, never meant to last.

I have been drunk now for more than two weeks,
I passed out and I rallied and I sprung a few leaks,
But I've got to stop wishin',
Got to go fishin', I'm down to rock bottom again.
Just a few friends, just a few friends.

I go for younger women, lived with several awhile
And though I ran 'em away, they come back one day.
still could manage a smile
It just takes awhile, just takes awhile.

Mother, mother ocean, after all these years I've found
My occupational hazard being my occupation's
just not around.
I feel like I've drowned,
Gonna head uptown.


THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF JAKE THACKRAY

I, the under-mentioned, by this document
Do declare my true intentions, my last will, my testament.
When I turn up my toes, when I rattle my clack, when I agonise,
I want no great wet weepings, no tearing of hair, no wringing of hands,
No sighs, no lack-a-days, no woe-is-me's and none of your sad adieus.
Go, go, go and get the priest and then go get the booze, boys.

Death, where is thy victory? Grave, where is thy sting?
When I snuff it bury me quickly, then let carousels begin -
But not a do with a few ham sandwiches, a sausage roll or two and "A small port wine, please".
Roll the carpet right back, get cracking with your old Gay Gordons
And your knees up, shake it up, live it up, sup it up, hell of a kind of a time.
And if the coppers come around, well, tell them the party's mine, boys.

Let best beef be eaten, fill every empty glass,
Let no breast be beaten, let no tooth be gnashed.
Don't bother with a fancy tombstone or a big-deal angel or a little copper flower pot:
Grow a dog-rose in my eyes or a pussy-willow
But no forget-me-nots, no epitaphs, no keepsakes; you can let my memory slip.
You can say a prayer or two for me soul then, but - make it quick, boys.

Lady, if your bosom is heaving don't waste your bosom on me.
Let it heave for a man who's breathing, a man who can feel, a man who can see.
And to my cronies: you can read my books, you can drive around in my motor car.
And you can fish your trout with my fly and tackle, you can play on my guitar,
And sing my songs, wear my shirts. You can even settle my debts.
You can kiss my little missus if she's willing then, but - no regrets, boys.

Your rosebuds are numbered;
Gather them now for rosebuds' sake.
And if your hands aren't too encumbered
Gather a bud or two for Jake.

Comments

[webzombi.livejournal.com]

I <3 you!

:-) :-) :-)

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

The Jimmy Buffett has always resonated with me, but then I'm a Florida girl. I identify quite well with the sense of restlessness in a lot of his songs -- and the last two lines of "Changes in Lattitudes, Changes in Attitudes" was painted over the lockers at my high school.

And "Pirate Looks at Forty".... I love even more now that I'm looking at it from the well past the backside of forty.

[martyn44.livejournal.com]

A great memory, sitting about 10 feet from Mr Thackray while he sang that song. Do you know 'The Bantam Cock'?

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

No. Two days ago I'd never heard of him, but it was posted in response to someone elses question about something else, and it seemed appropriate to what I was doing.

TK

[martyn44.livejournal.com]

Jake was a unique performer - hideously afflicted with stage fright and a troubadour composer of scabrously funny songs that could be almost appallingly naked and passionate. He was never really more than a cult, but one of those utterly individual gems whose voice was unmistable.

I guess I liked him.

Of course, Jimmy Buffett is almost meaningless over here, even to a country fan such as me who really only knows him through Alan Jackson's 'Five O'clock Somewhere'. Obviously my education is lacking.

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

From your description, and that song, he seems worth liking.

Jimmy Buffet (self-declared poet laureate of the islands) is a gem.

Seemingly silly, discarded by lots of serious critics as trivial he actually addresses a lot of deep stuff, in a way that's easy to digest. Then he does stuff like "Gypsies in the Palace," and (the unreleased, so far as I know," "Please take your drunken 15 year-old girlfriend home."

He does more social commentary that he's credited with, and is just wonderful fun to listen to.

TK