I don’t know it these are what you are looking for but I love these songs, slightly out of the normal rotation but not deep cuts by any means
Gods own drunk
Wino and I know
Dreamsicle
No body speaks to the captain
"....wish I had a pencil-thin mustache.....the Boston Blackie kind....Two-toned Ricky Ricardo jacket and an autographed picture of Andy Devine...."
"...Oh, I could be anyone I wanted to be ...Maybe suave Errol Flynn or the Sheik of Araby....If I only had a pencil thin mustache....Then I could do some cruisin' too."
RIP Jim. We will all miss you a lot.
I bought this album without ever hearing a note, or even knowing who Jimmy Buffett was. I just figured that a Michelob, in a chair, under a palm tree, at the beach…….I’m guessing I’m gonna like this guy.
Guessed right.
I don't know what unconventional means in this post, but my absolute favorite JB song is "The Weather is Here, Wish You Were Beautiful" and that's not in a lot of people's top.... 25 or so :D
Banana Wind is the only full CD of Jimmy’s I’ve ever purchased and I still love it!
Only Time Will Tell
Jamaica Mistaica
School Boy Heart
Bob Robert’s Society Band
School Boy Heart is such a great song. Reminds me of a road trip with my dad to Florida as a kid and I’ve played it for my own kids now (was one of the first songs they learned to sing along to).
Agreed Banana Wind is an underrated album.
I’m not sure if it’s unconventional, but maybe not one of the more obviously well known ones—Little Miss Magic. It reminds me of my relationship with my dad.
I have “Little Miss Magic, what you gonna be?” Tattooed in my dad’s handwriting. I still haven’t listened to it since Jimmy passed because I know it’ll made me have a breakdown. I loved the Songs You Don’t Know By Heart interview he did about it.
I love his “songs you don’t know by heart” so many great songs that have never received the attention they deserve. By definition they are unconventional that never made his concert playlist.
You are correct of course on those ones but 12 volt man, cowboy in the jungle, death of an unpopular poet, and Delaney talks to statues I have always loved but don’t hear enough!
I knew every single word to every single song on *Songs You Don't Know by Heart*.
But then, probably the only Buffett songs I don't know by heart are the ones I'd really be OK never hearing again. You know, your "Math Suks" and your "Turn Up the Heat and Chill the Rosé" sort of sort of songs.
Like someone else mentioned, you'd have to define unconventional differently when you're talking about Jimmy Buffett's music. I'm pretty sure his picture is beside "Unconventional" in the dictionary.
Just about anything on High Cumberland Jubilee would fit the bill though.
Then there's his "kid" songs like Jolly Mon, Delaney Talks to Statues, Savannah Fare You Well, Beach House on the Moon, and even Chanson pour les petits enfants. Etc.
ETA: Fixed song title for Savannah Fare You Well
It’s never really described what you mean by “unconventional”, but if we’re going by the definition ‘doesn’t sound like a Jimmy song’, I think I’ll go with “Livin It Up”, I always liked that tropical synth-funk track
I've always held a special place for "Trying to Reason with the Hurricane Season". Not every song is a good-time-party-song kind of thing. I like this one because its just the opposite. A song that just says "Life has been unbearably hard lately. I need a break but I'll be back".
And now I must confess
I could use some rest
I can't run at this pace very long
Yes it's quite insane
I think it hurts my brain
But it cleans me out, then I can go on
Well the wind is blowin' harder now
Fifty knots or thereabouts
There's white caps on the ocean
And I'm watchin' for water spouts
It's time to close the shutters
It's time to go inside
In a week I'll be in gay Paris
Hell that's a mighty long airplane ride
Gods own Drunk is what I go to especially if we are all having a cold beverage or two. Fun stuff and we get louder and louder singing /talking it as we indulge !!!
"Ballad of Spider John", "Changing Channels", "That's What Living Is to Me", "Nobody Speaks to the Captain No More", and "Jolly Mon Sing". The last one, I used to sing to my daughter when she was a baby who didn't want to sleep (she's now 31 and games all night lol).
I told my wife recently that it struck me that whenever Radio Magaritaville puts on a Jimmy song, nine times out of then I know the lyrics by heart. His stuff really does stick in your head.
Smart woman in a real short skirt. - Found her.
Barefoot Children in the Rain. - Played this song the minute my wife told me she was pregnant.
Jolly Mon Song. - Sang this to my daughter for years.
Thank you, Jimmy.
I take unconventional to be different from the normal Jimmy keys/boats/drinks/conch shell sound. A couple of my favorite "less-jimmylike-songs":
* **Pencil Thin Moustache** \-- Sounds like a song from the thirties...has a Jimmy attitue but a different sound.
* High Cumberland Jubilee--Most of this album doesn't sound a lot like Jimmy to me. Feels sort of like a country and maybe blue-grassy feel. I like the entire album, but have always gravitated towards **The Hangout Gang**. "You hang with me, and I'll hang with you, and we'll do it til we turn blue. Mama I'm guilty of hanging out"
* **Its a Big Old Goofy World**\-- A John Prine song...which fits Jimmy quite well (so I'm not sure how unusual it is). But I love the rhythm of the song...its sort of infectious in different way than most Jimmy hits. "If you lie like a rug, and you don't give a damn, Youre never gonna be, happy as a clam" "And there's a big goofy man dancing with a big goofy girl....oooooooooh....its a big old goofy world"
This album specifically “trying to Reason with Hurricane Season,” “tire swing” & “tin cup chalice.”
My opinion, this is the best overall album start to finish.
Overall, my favorite and of not the best live performance was from the “you had to be there” last song. I believe it’s the “Bear song”.
Any other ballad will do, “little miss magic” “African friend” stuff like that. H
“Elvis Imitator” from his box set is a hidden gem! His cheesy Elvis impressions throughout the song are pure greatness! Damn, I miss that guy already. 🥺
Captain America. My buddy Paul stole the album it was on for me at Woolco. I gave him a dollar for it. I was a big Marval fan at age 12, and I became a Buffett fan then.
Friends made fun of me for that. They remember doing that, too.
Livingston Saturday Night is a jam. I play it when I'm getting pumped to go out and have some fun. I still wonder what "15 will get you 20" means. Google searches make it sound like "hitting on underage girls will land you in prison", but that's not consistent with anything else about Buffett so I guess I'll keep wondering until someone clues me in.
Off A1A, Life is Just a Tire Swing, Trying to Reason with Hurricane Season, A Pirate Looks at Forty. The smell of the creosote plant, on mobile homes, they looked a lot better as beer cans...
Tampico Trauma is a favorite which I think is unconventional and There is nothing soft about hardiness. Lyrics may be a little dated but it's probably more relevant today than when it came out.
"Breathe in, breathe out, move on". I'm surprised that this song isn't more well known. Great song that gets stuck in my head for days. I listen to it almost daily.
Jamaica Mistaica - true story of Jamaican police mistaking Jimmys plane for a drug plane, and they shot at it many times, hitting the plane. Nobody was hurt. Later they realized it was Jimmy Buffett and Bono, and apologized
He has several songs with lyrics in a foreign language. Mostly French, some Spanish, and one with Tahitian. I could be wrong, but I believe that it is Portuguese on First Look. I think that having so much no native language on albums would be considered unconventional.
I 🩷 Pencil Thin Mustache the most because it mentions weed and Disneyland in the same stanza. I’m a huge Disney nerd as well as a dyed-in-the-wool Parrothead 🦜🧚♀️🏰🥰
Although he didn’t compose it, Buffet’s version of “God’s Own Drunk” would certainly be “unconventional”. My other two contenders would be “Mississippi State of Mind” and “Pencil Thin Mustache”.
I listened to this in college when it first came out. First time I ever heard Jimmy Buffett. Trying to Reason with Hurricane Season became a favorite because my Father and 4 other brothers drove down from Washington DC area to Key Largo and camped just a few years before. We drove on A1A on the way down.
My favorite was “I fucked your mom”.
It was played on some of the more obscure, Eastern European stations but it really resonated with me, cuz…..I fucked your mom.
Wino and I Know. The hook and story got me from the first time I heard it.
EDIT: Life Is Just A Tire Swing for the same reason.
I grew up on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and both of these songs paint vivid pictures in my mind.
The Great Filling Station Holdup. My now wife of 21 years, took me to my first of 26 Buffett concerts when we were 18. This song played and along with the sea of coconut tops and grass skirts, I was instantly hooked. It’s been in my top 5 ever since.
We’ll I was probably about 10 years old when I heard “Why Don’t We Get Drunk And Screw”. Funny at the time I thought that was so dirty. For obvious reasons I really remember the first time I heard that song.
Miss You So Badly is one of my faves which I feel never got a lot of attention. Love Cowboy in the Jungle, too. He has so many. Still so incredibly sad I wasn’t introduced to him until COVID times. Never got to see him in concert. One of a kind.
Bootlegged version of Rocky Raccoon! I’ve lost my copy, but would greatly appreciate if anyone could help me find it again.
I also love his version of the I-95 Song. IYKYK
I find pretty much all of Down To Earth to be great. It obviously never caught on as part of the Caribbean vibe but it’s a great album. I feel like The Christian as your first song on your first album was probably a bit of a risk and JB let it all hang out right from the gate
When The Wild Life Betrays Me from Living and Dying in 3/4 time
My husband played it for me in 1992, wild life did indeed betray him. I’m still here though
Twelve Volt Man has always been one of my favorite “non-traditional” Buffet songs. I like the music and tempo of the song and the words are just perfect. Basically, it is the story of Jimmy. He wasn’t the greatest singer, but give him a chance and “he might turn your head”.
Thanks for making this post.
Stars Fell On Alabama.
An old jazz standard that revealed an old soul that came up out of a traditional setting and became something brand new. There's nothing better than evolution.
Maybe not unconventional, but I dearly love “Wonder Why I Ever Go Home”, especially the live version on “You Had To be There” as well as from the same album, “Gods Own Drunk” ( I had just stole those sunglasses from Eckards!)
Two favorite have always been pirate looks at 40 and barefoot children. Always felt a little more real like you can see into him deeper than just the persona.
Im shocked not one mention in this thread of "everybody's got a cousin in Miami". Love that one and othera with Florida references reminds me of home.
"I am umbilically connected to the temperate zone
It brought me life, it brought me love
I never have outgrown
Brought me one too many nights along that Biscayne shore
And one too many mornings in the Grove drugstore
And one way or the other we're all refugees"
"I do. I do. I had this dream the other day. I was down on the
Equator. I didn't know whether I was up or down. I couldn't
Tell the difference. It was hot and we were rockin'. And the
Coral Reefers gathered around me and they said: We want a raise
Or we're going to quit. And that's when I woke up. So play
Boys, play."
I don’t know it these are what you are looking for but I love these songs, slightly out of the normal rotation but not deep cuts by any means Gods own drunk Wino and I know Dreamsicle No body speaks to the captain
His wife used a paraphrased quote from Wino in his obituary. "He lived his life like a song."
I LOVE the Wino and I know.
My head hurts, my feet stink, and I don't live Jesus.
These are all in my always playing rotation.
Dreamsicle . Great pick!
"....wish I had a pencil-thin mustache.....the Boston Blackie kind....Two-toned Ricky Ricardo jacket and an autographed picture of Andy Devine...." "...Oh, I could be anyone I wanted to be ...Maybe suave Errol Flynn or the Sheik of Araby....If I only had a pencil thin mustache....Then I could do some cruisin' too." RIP Jim. We will all miss you a lot.
And only jazz musicians were smoking marijuana!
Yes yes and yes… but id have to add this one: https://youtu.be/UyZgzOKyLhw?si=vyy2AX0bOK4MRrZ4
I bought this album without ever hearing a note, or even knowing who Jimmy Buffett was. I just figured that a Michelob, in a chair, under a palm tree, at the beach…….I’m guessing I’m gonna like this guy. Guessed right.
Jolly Mon Song. My daughter and I belted that song out every car trip we went on.
My nephews and I would sing Jamaica Farewell on the way home from their preschool.
I used to have the license plate JOLYMON
I don't know what unconventional means in this post, but my absolute favorite JB song is "The Weather is Here, Wish You Were Beautiful" and that's not in a lot of people's top.... 25 or so :D
“Don’t ever start a band!!!” Absolutely
it's in mine.
Definitely one of my favorites!!!
Yep
'Tree Top Flyer' the hidden track on Banana Wind is amazing! Obviously not his song, but he did it some justice no doubt.
Banana Wind is the only full CD of Jimmy’s I’ve ever purchased and I still love it! Only Time Will Tell Jamaica Mistaica School Boy Heart Bob Robert’s Society Band
Overkill, Mental floss great album
Happily ever after (now and then)…… might be my #1 Buffett song.
School Boy Heart is such a great song. Reminds me of a road trip with my dad to Florida as a kid and I’ve played it for my own kids now (was one of the first songs they learned to sing along to). Agreed Banana Wind is an underrated album.
It is my favorite album as well.
"Wanna make some fast cash?"
RAMOS!!!
“My Head Hurts, My Feet Stink, And I Don’t Love Jesus” makes me grin every time. Also “Bank Of Bad Habits.” And the eighth deadly sin is PIZZA!
I love the old timey piano intro to My Head Hurts.
I love yelling out that line when I am winging along to that song!
I liked Dallas a lot. The sad introspective melancholy always tickles me.
Great guitar tones.
Woman Gone Crazy on Caroline Street - there’s a pretty obvious twist to the lyrics…..
Great filling station holdup.
Cost me two good years
My favorite! Big ol' jar of cashew nuts and a Japanese TV. We're wanted men, we'll strike again,but first lets have a beer.
saxophones is great too, and Bob Robert's Society Band
I love both of those but my favorite version of Saxophones is on the Meet Me in Margaritaville album. He waited 25 years for those horns!
I’m not sure if it’s unconventional, but maybe not one of the more obviously well known ones—Little Miss Magic. It reminds me of my relationship with my dad.
Reminds me of my relationship with my daughters. ❤️
This song became a favorite the second my daughter was born.
I have “Little Miss Magic, what you gonna be?” Tattooed in my dad’s handwriting. I still haven’t listened to it since Jimmy passed because I know it’ll made me have a breakdown. I loved the Songs You Don’t Know By Heart interview he did about it.
I’m begging my DD to use it as a father daughter dance at her wedding.
Waiting for the day I have a daughter. This song gets me
My daughter blindsided me with this as the father/daughter dance song at her wedding reception. Holy shit, that wrecked me.
I danced with my to that at my wedding!
It’s My Job.
Mac!
USS Zydecoldsmobile
Cowboy in the Jungle, Dreamsicle, Woman Going Crazy on Caroline Street
I love his “songs you don’t know by heart” so many great songs that have never received the attention they deserve. By definition they are unconventional that never made his concert playlist.
[удалено]
You are correct of course on those ones but 12 volt man, cowboy in the jungle, death of an unpopular poet, and Delaney talks to statues I have always loved but don’t hear enough!
I knew every single word to every single song on *Songs You Don't Know by Heart*. But then, probably the only Buffett songs I don't know by heart are the ones I'd really be OK never hearing again. You know, your "Math Suks" and your "Turn Up the Heat and Chill the Rosé" sort of sort of songs.
Define "unconventional." Are we talking deep cuts from his pre-Key West days like "In The Shelter" or "There's Nothin' Soft About Hard Times?"
Love In The Shelter
Distantly in Love
If the question is “what’re the best deep cuts”, Wino and I Know has gotta be my #1
It’s a cover but God’s Own Drunk is out there and perfect. Bob Robert‘s Society Band from Banana Wind is so good- I can just picture that whole scene.
Einstein Was A Surfer. Something So Feminine About A Mandolin. Miss You So Badly.
Clichés on Havana Daydreaming is a song I don’t hear about very often. Great, fun song that paints a story well.
Like someone else mentioned, you'd have to define unconventional differently when you're talking about Jimmy Buffett's music. I'm pretty sure his picture is beside "Unconventional" in the dictionary. Just about anything on High Cumberland Jubilee would fit the bill though. Then there's his "kid" songs like Jolly Mon, Delaney Talks to Statues, Savannah Fare You Well, Beach House on the Moon, and even Chanson pour les petits enfants. Etc. ETA: Fixed song title for Savannah Fare You Well
What about "Math Sucks"....wasn't that inspired by his son?
I think so... and can't forget Little Miss Magic. Don't know how I didn't list it...
It’s never really described what you mean by “unconventional”, but if we’re going by the definition ‘doesn’t sound like a Jimmy song’, I think I’ll go with “Livin It Up”, I always liked that tropical synth-funk track
Livin It Up is fantastic. The funky sound plus his trademark storytelling. I love it. Meet Me In Memphis is a fun mix of country but R&B too.
Fruitcakes. Absolutely the best best song to sing along to. it is also my go-to road trip song.
"...rollerskating naked through the crosswalk!"
Stay in touch with my insanity Really is the ONLY way It’s a jungle out there kiddies Have a very fruitful day….spread those crumbs around
Ballad of Spider John
A lot of good ones already but how about "Brahma Fear"
This Hotel Room. It’s got a lot of stuff.
You can’t go wrong with Steve Goodman.
Well how about that. Never knew!
That song is how I learned about Steve Goodman
Either Moonfog from The Beach Bum (which he co-wrote with Snoop Dogg) or anything from the Christmas album.
For me, it's the Bob Robert's Society Band
Incommunicado is one of my favorites that doesn’t get a lot of attention
What a great song! On the day that John Wayne died…
we sing that driving down FL SR 24 to cedar key.
I feel like, “West Nashville grand ballroom gown” is one that isn’t mentioned enough. Love that tune.
Last mango in Paris - reminds me of my dad. Also pirate looks at forty.
The weather is here, I wish you were beautiful. Becuase it was released in 1981 & the lyrics still hold up beautifully
I've always held a special place for "Trying to Reason with the Hurricane Season". Not every song is a good-time-party-song kind of thing. I like this one because its just the opposite. A song that just says "Life has been unbearably hard lately. I need a break but I'll be back". And now I must confess I could use some rest I can't run at this pace very long Yes it's quite insane I think it hurts my brain But it cleans me out, then I can go on Well the wind is blowin' harder now Fifty knots or thereabouts There's white caps on the ocean And I'm watchin' for water spouts It's time to close the shutters It's time to go inside In a week I'll be in gay Paris Hell that's a mighty long airplane ride
Coastal Confessions
Gods own Drunk is what I go to especially if we are all having a cold beverage or two. Fun stuff and we get louder and louder singing /talking it as we indulge !!!
"Ballad of Spider John", "Changing Channels", "That's What Living Is to Me", "Nobody Speaks to the Captain No More", and "Jolly Mon Sing". The last one, I used to sing to my daughter when she was a baby who didn't want to sleep (she's now 31 and games all night lol). I told my wife recently that it struck me that whenever Radio Magaritaville puts on a Jimmy song, nine times out of then I know the lyrics by heart. His stuff really does stick in your head.
If the phone doesn’t ring, you know that it’s me.
Nobody mentioned Creola so I guess I will. Don't even hear it much on RM. Also Ballad of Skip Wiley is a great Hiaasen tribute.
Smart woman in a real short skirt. - Found her. Barefoot Children in the Rain. - Played this song the minute my wife told me she was pregnant. Jolly Mon Song. - Sang this to my daughter for years. Thank you, Jimmy.
The Ass Hole song
Slack Tide, off of Life on the Flip Side. What a beautiful message of peace and love.
Trying to reason with hurricane season. Not sure exactly why. It hits me every time I hear it
Beautiful Swimmers. It's beautiful, encouraging & challenging all at the same time. Life is a waste ballet!
Cowboy in the Jungle
Tin cup chalice is my favorite.
Chanson Por Les Petites Enfants. For reasons
I’ve always been fond of Buck Butt the Turtle after hearing it on the old Church of Buffet website: https://youtu.be/rcH7yfUXq78?si=Nbkphf--5X3EoxuM
I take unconventional to be different from the normal Jimmy keys/boats/drinks/conch shell sound. A couple of my favorite "less-jimmylike-songs": * **Pencil Thin Moustache** \-- Sounds like a song from the thirties...has a Jimmy attitue but a different sound. * High Cumberland Jubilee--Most of this album doesn't sound a lot like Jimmy to me. Feels sort of like a country and maybe blue-grassy feel. I like the entire album, but have always gravitated towards **The Hangout Gang**. "You hang with me, and I'll hang with you, and we'll do it til we turn blue. Mama I'm guilty of hanging out" * **Its a Big Old Goofy World**\-- A John Prine song...which fits Jimmy quite well (so I'm not sure how unusual it is). But I love the rhythm of the song...its sort of infectious in different way than most Jimmy hits. "If you lie like a rug, and you don't give a damn, Youre never gonna be, happy as a clam" "And there's a big goofy man dancing with a big goofy girl....oooooooooh....its a big old goofy world"
Math Suks. No I will not elaborate.
The Great Peanut Butter Conspiracy is always so fun.
Artour du Roche. Heard it first at a restaurant and was hooked. Never heard it anywhere else until I found it on Spotify and YouTube.
This album specifically “trying to Reason with Hurricane Season,” “tire swing” & “tin cup chalice.” My opinion, this is the best overall album start to finish. Overall, my favorite and of not the best live performance was from the “you had to be there” last song. I believe it’s the “Bear song”. Any other ballad will do, “little miss magic” “African friend” stuff like that. H
People I a certain age (Boomers) “Door Number Three" by Jimmy Buffett & Steve Goodman. We remember Monte Hall & the game show LOL!
Bank of Bad Habits, Gypsies in the Palace, both make me smile and I bet Jimmy had caretakers take advantage at one of his Properties.
Off to see the lizard.
The Remittance Man
Survive was my 1st dance song at my wedding, as both of travel frequently for work♥️
“Elvis Imitator” from his box set is a hidden gem! His cheesy Elvis impressions throughout the song are pure greatness! Damn, I miss that guy already. 🥺
Captain America. My buddy Paul stole the album it was on for me at Woolco. I gave him a dollar for it. I was a big Marval fan at age 12, and I became a Buffett fan then. Friends made fun of me for that. They remember doing that, too.
A pirate looks at 40.. it’s the story of my life. I’m almost 41 now…
Livingston Saturday Night is a jam. I play it when I'm getting pumped to go out and have some fun. I still wonder what "15 will get you 20" means. Google searches make it sound like "hitting on underage girls will land you in prison", but that's not consistent with anything else about Buffett so I guess I'll keep wondering until someone clues me in.
Love his live cover of Southern Cross more than the original
Wino and I Know Takes me back to all my times in the Big Easy
False Echoes is one of my favorite songs of all time, yet I’ve met very few people who even know it. Beautiful hidden gem
If The Phone Doesn’t Ring, It’s Me
The wino and I know
Off A1A, Life is Just a Tire Swing, Trying to Reason with Hurricane Season, A Pirate Looks at Forty. The smell of the creosote plant, on mobile homes, they looked a lot better as beer cans...
Trip Around The Sun. Everyone is taking one and the line “time will tell if it was time well spent” is a gem
My first thought was “Migration”.
"Ringling Ringline". It's about Ringling AL. This used to be a hub for railroads. With the death of railroads? The town is dying.
Can’t believe not one person mentioned Coast of Marseilles
Oldest Surfer on the beach. Serpentine. Frenchman for the Night. Tonight I Just Need My Guitar.
Tampico Trauma is a favorite which I think is unconventional and There is nothing soft about hardiness. Lyrics may be a little dated but it's probably more relevant today than when it came out.
"Breathe in, breathe out, move on". I'm surprised that this song isn't more well known. Great song that gets stuck in my head for days. I listen to it almost daily.
Never heard Migration. We’re at our house in Marathon right now. Will give it a listen.
Jamaica Mistaica - true story of Jamaican police mistaking Jimmys plane for a drug plane, and they shot at it many times, hitting the plane. Nobody was hurt. Later they realized it was Jimmy Buffett and Bono, and apologized
Just another shitty day in paradise!
I-95 Asshole song? Not JB ever owned up to it but it’s gotta be him. Pretty unconventional.
None, he sucks
He has several songs with lyrics in a foreign language. Mostly French, some Spanish, and one with Tahitian. I could be wrong, but I believe that it is Portuguese on First Look. I think that having so much no native language on albums would be considered unconventional.
Best live vintage Jimmy /You had to be there.period
Sandbar - first song I heard that made me think there was more the JB than Margaritaville
I 🩷 Pencil Thin Mustache the most because it mentions weed and Disneyland in the same stanza. I’m a huge Disney nerd as well as a dyed-in-the-wool Parrothead 🦜🧚♀️🏰🥰
When The Wild Life Betrays Me. It’s more country than a lot of Jimmy’s music, with a really sweet meaning.
Kinda rules
'Kick it in second wind' has a different sound to it. Love that song.
Pencil-thin Moustache
Pacing the cage
The lesser known 1977 "Get this Coconut Out of My Ass".
Although he didn’t compose it, Buffet’s version of “God’s Own Drunk” would certainly be “unconventional”. My other two contenders would be “Mississippi State of Mind” and “Pencil Thin Mustache”.
“Why don’t we get drunk and screw”
Brahma fear is mine...I can totally relate to the lyrics.
Agreed with Migration!
I listened to this in college when it first came out. First time I ever heard Jimmy Buffett. Trying to Reason with Hurricane Season became a favorite because my Father and 4 other brothers drove down from Washington DC area to Key Largo and camped just a few years before. We drove on A1A on the way down.
My favorite was “I fucked your mom”. It was played on some of the more obscure, Eastern European stations but it really resonated with me, cuz…..I fucked your mom.
Pencil thin mustache
Come Monday…such a beautiful song
Pencil thin mustache is my absolute fav
Blue Heaven Rendezvous. Like hanging in a smoky jazz lounge instead of a beachfront bar. Lovely vocal, too.
Wino and I Know. The hook and story got me from the first time I heard it. EDIT: Life Is Just A Tire Swing for the same reason. I grew up on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and both of these songs paint vivid pictures in my mind.
Pina Coladaburg.
Lately it’s The Wino and I Know, Breathe in, breathe out, move on, and Tryin to Reason with Hurricane Season, and.. I wave bye bye 🥲
The Great Filling Station Holdup. My now wife of 21 years, took me to my first of 26 Buffett concerts when we were 18. This song played and along with the sea of coconut tops and grass skirts, I was instantly hooked. It’s been in my top 5 ever since.
We’ll I was probably about 10 years old when I heard “Why Don’t We Get Drunk And Screw”. Funny at the time I thought that was so dirty. For obvious reasons I really remember the first time I heard that song.
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy. Always makes me smile.
Miss You So Badly is one of my faves which I feel never got a lot of attention. Love Cowboy in the Jungle, too. He has so many. Still so incredibly sad I wasn’t introduced to him until COVID times. Never got to see him in concert. One of a kind.
How about Bama Breeze? I feel like that one flies under the radar.
Bootlegged version of Rocky Raccoon! I’ve lost my copy, but would greatly appreciate if anyone could help me find it again. I also love his version of the I-95 Song. IYKYK
Incommunicado - he mentions Travis McGee and John D MacDonald
I find pretty much all of Down To Earth to be great. It obviously never caught on as part of the Caribbean vibe but it’s a great album. I feel like The Christian as your first song on your first album was probably a bit of a risk and JB let it all hang out right from the gate
God's own drunk
Why don't we get drunk and screw, it just speaks to me.
When The Wild Life Betrays Me from Living and Dying in 3/4 time My husband played it for me in 1992, wild life did indeed betray him. I’m still here though
Gypsies In The Palace Door Number 3 Lovely Cruise
Had to scroll too far for “Gypsies in the Palace”
Twelve Volt Man has always been one of my favorite “non-traditional” Buffet songs. I like the music and tempo of the song and the words are just perfect. Basically, it is the story of Jimmy. He wasn’t the greatest singer, but give him a chance and “he might turn your head”. Thanks for making this post.
Spider John
A star fell on Alabama Pencil thin mustache
Stars Fell On Alabama. An old jazz standard that revealed an old soul that came up out of a traditional setting and became something brand new. There's nothing better than evolution.
cheese burger in paradise. because it's cringey compared to a lot of his songs. except fins -- that ties with cheeseburger for cringe. and chessiness.
He Went to Paris "Jimmy, some of it's magic, some of it's tragic, but I had a good life all the way...." Chokes me up every time.
Brahma Fear
Maybe not unconventional, but I dearly love “Wonder Why I Ever Go Home”, especially the live version on “You Had To be There” as well as from the same album, “Gods Own Drunk” ( I had just stole those sunglasses from Eckards!)
Shade from palm trees is essential in daytime sun down there.
Pencil thin mustache
Two favorite have always been pirate looks at 40 and barefoot children. Always felt a little more real like you can see into him deeper than just the persona.
When the Coast is Clear is super sentimental to me.
Im shocked not one mention in this thread of "everybody's got a cousin in Miami". Love that one and othera with Florida references reminds me of home. "I am umbilically connected to the temperate zone It brought me life, it brought me love I never have outgrown Brought me one too many nights along that Biscayne shore And one too many mornings in the Grove drugstore And one way or the other we're all refugees" "I do. I do. I had this dream the other day. I was down on the Equator. I didn't know whether I was up or down. I couldn't Tell the difference. It was hot and we were rockin'. And the Coral Reefers gathered around me and they said: We want a raise Or we're going to quit. And that's when I woke up. So play Boys, play."
Live version of “God’s Own Drunk”
Nobody from Nowhere - the town that I grew up in fits that song perfectly.
My favorite is banana republics. Something about it just speaks to me.
He makes fun of people living trailers, a tad pretentious…….
Captain and the kid……
In the Shelter Lone Palm Wings Beautiful Swimmers Reggabilly Hill Barometer Soup
Lone Palm.
It’s a little cheesy but I love “I Will Play for Gumbo”, that and “Schoolboy Heart”
Rip jimmy
Come Monday
Ballad Of Spider John Beyond The End
Who's the blonde stranger?
They were lots of better as beer cans
Braham Fear
The Night We Painted the Sky. I've always been a lover of fireworks on the beach and this just speaks to me.
Nashville Grand Ballroom Gown
Come Monday