Please note – I originally started writing this essay in 2014 – it was to be a series of Blogs on writers who influenced my own creative process.
When I attended university in Bloomington Indiana I met a girl. Yep I know a lot of stories begin this way. I think Humphrey Bogart regaled us with his own tale of heartbreak in one of the greatest movies ever, Casablanca. My tale of anguish wasn’t in such an exotic land as Casablanca, oh no. It was in the middle of Indiana.
I met a girl. I thought she loved me. I knew I loved her. She destroyed me. It happens.
Enter depression, and me enacting a scene from the movie High Fidelity, you know the one where John Cusack discovers his girlfriend (played by Catherine Zeta-Jones) is with another man and he’s out in the rain screaming her name. That was me, only it was the middle of an athletic field instead of the streets of Chicago. And I had better hair.
So where was I, oh yes…enter depression. I drank, I moaned, and I pined for someone I thought I was in, well whatever someone in his freshmen year thinks love is. I was looking for some kind of relief. I had a buddy across the hall introduce me to my musical godfather. And his name is Jimmy Buffett. For some the thought of Jimmy Buffett won’t be too unusual as an up-lifter. But if you knew me in high school and what I was listening to throughout that time and then the name Jimmy Buffett appears, you’d say…what!?
Yep, in high school and also during my entry into college I who was into Heavy Metal, I’m talking Metallica, Megadeth, Quiet Riot and others, especially Black Sabbath. Sabbath was the granddaddy of them all. The harder, the faster, the better. The height was for me Metallica’s …And Justice for All.
As you mature you start to bring other musical aspects into your life. I needed something more. To alleviate depression, perhaps heavy metal was not for me. Now before my ex I had branched out musically a little with George Harrison, Tom Petty, and the occasional Billy Joel. Also I now realize my brother’s love of prog rock has been rooted in my own musical consciousness, I just didn’t realize it then. But it was Jimmy Buffett who really opened me up to new music, all kinds of new music. He was my gateway I guess you can say. And he would also help transform me as a writer eventually.
So back to my introduction to Jimmy; I’m acting like a depressed 19 year old when my across the hall neighbor decides I need some help. He played his music collection to me before. It was certainly more diverse than mine. It had to be. And when we would hang out and chill he played Jimmy Buffett for me. I started to really get into Jimmy’s music and more importantly his message, “It’s all going to be okay.” And he was right, it would be. My neighbor gave me a tape with nothing but Jimmy Buffett songs. He told me, you’ll never hear anyone say these words: “I’m depressed because I was listening to Jimmy Buffett all day.”
I played his music over and over. It helped me get by. I imagined faraway lands filled with rum and beautiful woman, modern day descendants of Caribbean pirates, but most importantly I knew eventually, “It’s all going to be okay.”
If you’re unfamiliar, Jimmy Buffett was born James William Buffett on December 25, 1946 in Pascagoula, Mississippi. He started off playing folk/country and his first two albums were indicative of this style. Eventually his move to Key West Florida would cause the evolution of his musical style to what most of us are now familiar with. The idealize performer who is an easy-going beach-bum playing a combination of country, folk, and pop music to the delight of crowds all across the United States. Some call this style of music Gulf and Western. Probably his most notable song, that even if you’re not a fan you’ve sung in drunken revel, Margaritaville.
Eventually he would use this persona to create a multi-level, multimedia empire. Seriously for someone who sings about doing nothing this guy is busy. Putting out albums, constantly touring opening Margaritaville inspired café and burger places. A retail empire and even his own music label. And he also flies his own airplane, and knows how to sale a ship. It’s estimated he earns over 100 million a year. Lazy beach-bum my red Hispanic arse.
And on top of everything else, he is a writer. He’s written a several novels, a couple of children’s books, and a collection of short stories. He even wrote a biography of his life. Incredible the level of his commitment to everything he does. I admire that, not just his music and writing, but the work ethics, and the fact he looks like he’s having a good time doing it all.
I enjoy his writing as much as his music. Both have inspired my own writing, just as both have inspired my own life.
As we age, if we’re lucky we evolve and become better at out craft. At least that’s my hope. So as my musical taste evolved, so also what I was reading and what I was writing. So Jimmy Buffett is very important to me because not only did he help my mental state after having my heart devastated, but he also opened me up musically. And his writing was something that suited my demeanor.
My style of prose I think has a nice combination of pathos and heart, with a nice mix of humor that doesn’t interfere with the flow of the story. I attribute a lot of that to Jimmy, (Christopher Moore and Terry Pratchett also contributed, but more on them in later blogs) that doom and gloom need not be the whole of the story, but like life, just a part. Even now if I’m having a bad time, I know I can Jimmy Buffett is my go to guy to brighten up my day.
I never met the man, and only seen him from a distance as an audience member, but he was there for me when I needed a friend. I could count on his music making me smile. And the stories he wove with music and words helped me to develop my own sense of humor that I started to bring forth in my writing, and that helped my style of writing in a way where I started to come into my own.
Most importantly he is also the major inspiration for one of my characters in my first completed novel, At Heaven’s Door – currently unpublished – but such is life.
I had a faint hope that if I ever published it he would have read it. Sadly that will not be as he passed away on September 1, 2023, surrounded by friends and family.
I also had a faint hope that I would have a chance to tell him face to face how much he inspired me, how much he influenced me, how he helped me in my darkest hours and it was because of him I was able to grow into a comfortable, confident person who was truly ready to embrace life and make a world for myself where I could find happiness, and you were a big part of that Jimmy. Sure I still have some things to conquer, but it’s the journey, not the destination.
Sandals, shorts, and a comfortable Hawaiian shirt along with a nice rum drink is as good as any way to finish a day and a blog.
Thank you Jimmy.