Really Clever Lyrics

SchoonerWharf · Post by **SchoonerWharf** » March 18, 2007 8:22 pm

Couldn't think of a witty title for this but I was wondering if anyone finds themselves stopping sometimes during a Jimmy song and thinking "that is some damn clever writing" with some not well known lyric. I have been getting reacquainted with a lot of Jimmy thanks to the ipod and find myself doing it a lot.

Today's example from the opening part of the song "Semi-True Story" "Plan B was foolproof"

chippewa · Post by **chippewa** » March 18, 2007 8:35 pm

SchoonerWharf wrote:Couldn't think of a witty title for this but I was wondering if anyone finds themselves stopping sometimes during a Jimmy song and thinking "that is some damn clever writing" with some not well known lyric. I have been getting reacquainted with a lot of Jimmy thanks to the ipod and find myself doing it a lot.

Today's example from the opening part of the song "Semi-True Story" "Plan B was foolproof"

That would be an example of Mac's clever lyrics.

ConchRepublican · Post by **ConchRepublican** » March 18, 2007 8:35 pm

I'm re-arranging all the guilt in my mind.

I love that line. I find, as you noted, that with the MP3 player I'm hearing a lot more. I Jimmy's stuff, very country-like in writing style, there's always something new to find.

We will have to give credit though, "Semi True Stories" is a Mac song and Tom Corcoran collaborated with Jimmy on "Smnart Woman in a Real Short Skirt".

SchoonerWharf · Post by **SchoonerWharf** » March 18, 2007 8:45 pm

ConchRepublican wrote:I'm re-arranging all the guilt in my mind.

I love that line. I find, as you noted, that with the MP3 player I'm hearing a lot more. I Jimmy's stuff, very country-like in writing style, there's always something new to find.

We will have to give credit though, "Semi True Stories" is a Mac song and Tom Corcoran collaborated with Jimmy on "Smnart Woman in a Real Short Skirt".

That is why I purposely didn't refer to them as Jimmy's lyrics, hell I cant keep track of who wrote what song...lol.

Tom Corcoran has gladly moved on to even better writing success, but that is a great song also. Told my wife the other day the song reminded me of her.

Fins21 · Post by **Fins21** » March 18, 2007 9:02 pm

My signature is probably my favorite "clever lyric" from Jimmy / whoever wrote the song Lone Palm. These quotes are like the hidden gems in his music that keeps me listening to all those albums over, and over, and over again!!

PHINS up!!

bravedave · Post by **bravedave** » March 18, 2007 9:03 pm

Those guys really can turn a phrase. It comes not only fromn their sense of ease with the language, but also an ability to observe -- what Jimmy calls "the Novelist's Eye"

SchoonerWharf · Post by **SchoonerWharf** » March 18, 2007 9:55 pm

Fins21 wrote:My signature is probably my favorite "clever lyric" from Jimmy / whoever wrote the song Lone Palm. These quotes are like the hidden gems in his music that keeps me listening to all those albums over, and over, and over again!!

PHINS up!!

I am with you 100% on that one , great stuff from an underrated song on an underrated album.

As an aside, what is that in your avatar?

tryin' to reason · Post by **tryin' to reason** » March 18, 2007 9:59 pm

Barefoot children in the rain,
Got no need to explain...

The rest of us continue to rationalize, jockey for position, view life as a zero sum game, chase after all the wrong things...

Waitress, I need two more boat drinks!!

jonesbeach10 · Post by **jonesbeach10** » March 18, 2007 10:40 pm

Now I can't go anywhere without my sacred cell.
I think that I might I die if I miss anything at all...

So true.

krusin1 · Post by **krusin1** » March 18, 2007 11:55 pm

Yup, I'm with you on this one completely.

The good writing is a major reason I listen to so much Jimmy. He can really turn some phrases and match them up beautifully with a good musical hook. Add in that the rythm of the lyrics is usually right on, and that he often uses fairly complex rhyme schemes. It's good writing (and UNUSUALLY good for song lyrics.)

A few coming to mind just now...

"Read dozens of books about heroes and crooks,
And I've learned much from both of their styles."

"Oh, yesterdays are over my shoulder,
So I can't look back for too long.
There's just too much to see waiting in front of me,
and I know that I just can't go wrong"

"I used to rule my world from a pay phone
And ships out on the sea
But now times are rough
And I got too much stuff
Can't explain the likes of me"

And those are just a few of the ones that are really well known.

You can tell Jimmy grew up reading great literature.

surfpirate · Post by **surfpirate** » March 19, 2007 12:03 am

"..... changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes ....."

Simple. Perfect.

Fins21 · Post by **Fins21** » March 19, 2007 7:27 am

SchoonerWharf wrote:
Fins21 wrote:My signature is probably my favorite "clever lyric" from Jimmy / whoever wrote the song Lone Palm. These quotes are like the hidden gems in his music that keeps me listening to all those albums over, and over, and over again!!

PHINS up!!
I am with you 100% on that one , great stuff from an underrated song on an underrated album.

As an aside, what is that in your avatar?

I agree that Fruitcakes and Lone Palm are unbelievably underrated songs. As for my avitar, that would be a photo of the crowd at Heinz Field, or as I affectionately call them (as I am a part of them) Steeler Nation. They are all waiving their Terrible Towels. Pittsburgh sports and Buffett are my TRUE passions in life!!

PHINS UP!!

ScarletB · Post by **ScarletB** » March 19, 2007 7:36 am

Just because I love sailing...

"Haul the sheet in,
as we ride on the wind
that our forefather's harnessed before us.
Hear the bells ring as the tight riggin sings
It's a son of a gun of a chorus."

And I always love the "That's right" on the end of it from the TT&S CD!

frozen bird · Post by **frozen bird** » March 19, 2007 8:29 am

How about the one that got this all started for so many....

Some people claim
that there's a woman to blame
but I know...
It's my own damn fault!

narnianelf · Post by **narnianelf** » March 19, 2007 10:06 am

"with all of my running and all of my cunning if I couldn't laugh I just would go insane" ~ pretty much sums up my approach to life. Keep laughing and the drama and problems of life are much easier to deal with.

Maybe I'm overthinking it, but every time I hear the song "Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes", a different line jumps out at me. I'm always using some line or another from it as a quote.

CapnK · Post by **CapnK** » March 19, 2007 10:40 am

here's 2 of my favorites:

"Stood up and tried to focus,
I hoped I wouldn't have to look far.
I knew I could use a Bloody Mary,
So I stumbled next door to the bar."

"Streakin' through the morning haze
Focal point of a distant gaze
Lookin' for better days"

Catch&Release · Post by **Catch&Release** » March 19, 2007 11:00 am

Cowboy in the Jungle and Migration are two of my favorite Jimmy songs.
I think Cowboy in the Jungle is beautiful poetry.

As to Migration, I think it most accurately sums up what Florida is like:

Migration
Written By: Jimmy Buffett
Performed by: Jimmy Buffett
Originally from the Album: A1A (1974)

Additional Discography:
Meet Me In Margaritaville (2003)

Lyrics:
Look'in back at my background tryin' to
figure out how I ever got here.
Some things are still a mystery to me
While others are much to clear.
I'm just livin' in the sunshine,
Stay contented most of the time.
Yeah, list'nin to Murphy, Walker and Willie,
Sing me their Texas rhymes.

Now most of the people who retire in Florida
are wrinkled and they lean on a crutch.
And mobile homes are smotherin' my keys;
Well I hate those bastards so much.
I wish a summer squall would blow them
all the way up to fantasy land.
They're ugly and square, they don't belong here.
They look a lot better as beer cans.

Chorus
Yeah, That's why it's still a mystery to me,
Why some people live like they do.
So many nice things hap'nin out there,
Never even seen the clues.
Whoa, but we're doin' fine, we can travel and rhyme.
I know we've been doing our part.
Got a Caribbean soul I can barely control
and some Texas hidden here in my heart.

Well now, I might have joined the merchant marine,
If I hadn't learned how to sing.
And on top of that I got married too early,
And it cost me much more than a ring.
But those crazy days are over,
You've just got to learn from
the wrong things you've done.
I came off the rebound, started looking around,
Figured out it's time to have a little fun.

Chorus

Well now, if I ever live to be an old man,
I'm gonna sail down to Martinique.
I'm gonna buy me a sweat stained Bogart suit
and an African parakeet.
And then I'll sit him on my shoulder
and open up my trusty old mind.
I'm gonna teach him how to fuss,
Teach him how to cuss,
And pull the cork out of a bottle of wine.

Chorus
Yeah, I got a Caribbean soul I can barely control
and some Texas hidden here in my heart.

ConchRepublican · Post by **ConchRepublican** » March 19, 2007 11:37 am

Who's the blond stranger
That entered my wife?

Wait, that's not the way it's written?????

Philly Land Shark · Post by **Philly Land Shark** » March 19, 2007 2:00 pm

When I got my Dad into Buffett his favorite was (probably still is):
"I made enough money to buy Miami,
But I p*** it away so fast,
Never meant to last, never meant to last. "

Mine is:

"Forget that blind ambition
And learn to trust your intuition
Plowin' straight ahead come what may"

MY new favorite line might be:

"According to my watch the time is now
The past is dead and gone
Don’t try to shake it just nod your head
Breathe in breathe out move on"

TropicalTroubador · Post by **TropicalTroubador** » March 19, 2007 2:30 pm

ConchRepublican wrote:Who's the blond stranger
That entered my wife?

Wait, that's not the way it's written?????

LOL

I kinda like the line from "Permanent Reminder:"

"Evolution can be mean/There's no dumbass vaccine"

I also admire some of the other bits that people have suggested in this thread. And the title of the classic "Please Take your Drunken, Fifteen-Year Old Girlfriend Home."

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Really Clever Lyrics

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