Track 67: "The Wino and I Know" by Jimmy Buffet

And the wino and I know/the joy of the ocean/like the boy knows the joy/of his milkshake in motion

Add Mr. Jimmy Buffet to the list (along with Track 66’s Jackopierce) of bands/musicians I listened to in high school that didn’t really carry over into adulthood—or my apparent lack thereof.

But say what you want about Jimmy Buffet—sure his stuff is a tad corny and nearly every song he has ever written involves getting drunk at the beach—but the dude is more or less a living a legend. Despite a lack of any mega-commercial hit albums, Buffet has been around for nearly 40 years and his tours sell-out in nano-seconds. His legion of fans—Parrotheads (sort of like Deadheads with jobs and access to bathing facilities)--are amongst the most devoted music fans on the planet. And outside of his career, Buffet’s empire has expanded to include restaurants, retail stores, his own brand of tequila, books and likely much more than I just skimmed over on Wikipedia.

Though I’m hardly a devoted Parrothead and rarely listen to Buffet anymore, there’s just something about Jimmy Buffet and summertime. When 99.9% of your songs involve getting drunk on a beach, I suppose it’s hard not to be associated with summertime. But regardless of your opinions on Jimmy Buffet, the guy’s a fantastic songwriter and storyteller.

“The Wino and I Know” is a lesser known of Buffet’s songs, but easily my favorite. And I have my friend Chris Vaught to thank for drilling this song into my head during our high school years. (He also introduced me to Jackopierce). Chris was the first guy I knew that owned the Buffet box set “Boats Beaches Bars and Ballads” and was a cohort on my first (and only thus far) Jimmy Buffet concert—which was a drunken good time for all involved…from what I barely remember at least.



--Music is good.