Today's Playlist: Rare Buffett

You may recall that my family gave me a new iPod Nano for Father's Day this year, allowing me to go from 230 songs at a time to over 1400 tunes currently stored on my device. The variety is wonderful, but it means that the shuffle feature is a lot less useful. Instead, I have a dozen or so playlists that allow me to focus in on a specific artist or type of music, depending on the day and my mood. This morning felt like a real Friday to me. When you don't have a regular job, days of the week become much lees important in your life. But this has been a "heavy week," and today felt like it should be a Friday- full of fun and hope. So today's playlist choice was easy- Rare Buffett.

Many of you know that I have been a Parrothead for a long time-  since first attending a convert with Steve Semmler at an ice skating rink in Greensboro, NC in 1974. There is a lot of Jimmy Buffett music on my iPod, including the usual suspects like Margaritaville, Fins, Boat Drinks, Cheeseburger in Paradise and A Pirate Looks at Forty. My 35 song Rare Buffett playlist contains deeper cuts, songs many people may NOT know by heart. There are also very old (1978) live versions of Margaritaville (including the lost "Old men in tank tops" verse) & Why Don't We Get Drunk? (in which Jimmy tells the story of the inspiration for that classic!). These are songs that are near and dear to my heart- because they always make me smile. So this morning I pulled up that playlist and hit shuffle. These were the first 10 songs I heard, and a defining lyric from each one:

1. Manana - "Don't try to describe the ocean if you've never seen it. Don't ever forget that you just may wind up being WRONG!"
2. Ringling, Ringling- "Across from the bar there's a pile of beer cans, been there 27 years. Imagine all the heartaches and tears in 27 years of beer..."
3. The Wino and I Know-  "Strange situation, wild occupation, living my life like a song."
4. Last Mango in Paris- "I had to search my memory as I looked into his eyes. Our lives change like the weather but a legend never dies!"
5. It's My Job - "It's my job to be different from the rest, and that's the thing people expect from me..."
6. Saxophones - "But if we had saxophones, I could make that joint shimmy like a big California earthquake!"
7. Peanut Butter Conspiracy - "We never took more than we could eat, there was plenty left on the rack. And we all swore if we ever got rich we would pay the Mini Mart back...yes sir, yes sir...we would pay the Mini Mart back."
8. Death of an Unpopular Poet - "But he left all of his royalties to Spooner his old hound. Growing old on steak and bacon in a dog house 10 feet 'round. And everybody wonders did he really lose his mind? No, he was just a poet who lived before his time..."
9. Growing Older But Not Up- "I'd rather die while I'm living than live while I'm dead."
10. Nautical Wheelers - "That's 'cause everyone here is just more than contented to be living and dying in 3/4 time."

So there you have it. This is going to be a great day- I can just FEEL it! And if not- well it's always 5 o'clock somewhere- right?