NOTE TO JIMMY BUFFETT

Yes, Jimmy, I know I stole your song title a bit with this blog (although we know titles aren't copyrightable right?). Your original title "A Pirate Looks At Forty" was made quite a while ago and both you and I are looking past 60 now, with you being a year older, still touring, a lot richer, etc. Like all Parrotheads, I feel that I am a part of the band and knowing that you're still trucking makes me happy to be a "Boomer Parrothead".

For the uninitiated reading this post, Jimmy Buffett is an average singer, but an excellent lyricist. He's no Bob Dylan, but he struck right at the dreams of those of us leaving the 1960's and having to "grow up". Now many of our grandchildren are at his concerts. That Jimmy isn't a great singer was never more apparent than when he made an album with a group of country singers like Kenny Chesney and Alan Jackson, but his songs are full of lines that I live by. He's a writer actually and has published some books, the best of which is a group of short stories titled "Tales from Magaritaville".

What makes all the difference is that Jimmy knows how to throw a party and that's what his concerts (which are sold out every summer) are all about. It starts on the tailgates in the parking lot, perhaps a little medical marijuana in the surrounding woods and lots of Margaritas. He sings about living at ease, under palm trees, without a worry or a snowy day. See why he sells out in New England! The songs that became "hits", "Margaritaville" and "Changes in Latitudes" are hardly the best of his discography, but that's o.k. My personal favorite is "African Friend" which he rarely sings in concert is about a stopover in Haiti, a night of gambling and making an unlikely friend. Listen to it once, it's on the "Son of a Son of a Sailor" album, and you will understand why I say he is a writer, not just a songwriter.

To end my note, Jimmy, I know you won't mind me using the title and I know you will help me on my journey past 60. FINS UP!