Member-only story
Fins to the Left, Fins to the Right: My Three Favorite Jimmy Buffett Songs
A memorial Rate-A-Record
The world lost another legendary troubadour this past week with the passing of Jimmy Buffett at the age of 76. I am not a Parrot Head to the degree that so many others are, but I have loved his music since the 1970s. Hell, anyone who ever heard his music couldn’t help but love it.
Losing an all-time great is never easy, though the idea of him jamming with the likes of Elvis, John Lennon, Kurt Cobain, Sam Cooke, Johnny Cash, Tammy Wynette, and Amy Winehouse (and that’s just the singers) does bring a smile to my face. Heaven has a house band that will never be rivaled.
I’m not going to eulogize the great man here; Paul McCartney wrote six paragraphs on Instagram that I couldn’t begin to match. What I’ll do instead is give you my three favorite Jimmy Buffett songs for this week’s Rate-A-Record. Some are ones that all longtime fans will know, but casual fans might not.
Since it is an official Rate-A-Record installment, I am contractually obligated to ask you to rate the songs in the comments using the Terry Barr/American Bandstand scale of 35 to 98. However, if you have a soul, you’ll rate them all at 100, pour yourself a margarita, and play the Songs You Know by Heart album all the way through at full…
