Barometer Soup

[MrTwain]

Isn't that an interesting phrase: "Barometer Soup"?

I listened to the whole CD on the way to work this morning. I live about 100 miles from my office and the long commutes are ideal for really absorbing the feel and sound of an individual album.

As far as I can tell, the phrase "Barometer Soup" appears two times on the CD. Once, on the title track where Jimmy sings, "Barometer's Our Soup" and then again on the Ballad of Skip Wiley where he warns, "... where the Barometer Soup is you".

Aside from this album, "Barometer Soup" is a phrase I have never heard before, and I'm trying to understand maybe what Jimmy was trying to convey through the term.

Any ideas?

[SchoolGirlHeart]

Most (all?) of the songs on this album have a literary reference, including Barometer Soup:

"I know, by my scientific reading, that either thermometers or barometers ought to be boiled, to make them accurate; I did not know which it was, so I boiled both. There was still no result.
...I hunted up another barometer; it was new and perfect. I boiled it half an hour in a pot of bean soup which the cooks were making. The result was unexpected: the instrument was not affected at all, but there was such a strong barometer taste to the soup that the head cook, who was a most conscientious person, changed its name in the bill of fare. This dish was so greatly liked by all, that I ordered the cook to have barometer soup every day."

~~ Mark Twain

[chippewa]

From the cd liner notes:

In the countries where I feel the most comfortable the barometer doesn't dance much. Hot and humid sums up the climate I like the best. In those climates, you are bound to find characters worthy of immortalizing in song. This song is about those who dare be different when it is not the most popular thing. They plow the seas and we are fortunate to follow in their wake. The term Barometer Soup was first mentioned to my by Herman Wouk, a gentleman who has plowed a few seas himself. This is for Herman.

There's also this from Twain's A Tramp Abroad

I hunted up another barometer; it was new and perfect. I boiled it half an hour in a pot of bean soup which the cooks were making. The result was unexpected: the instrument was not affected at all, but there was such a strong barometer taste to the soup that the head cook, who was a most conscientious person, changed its name in the bill of fare. The dish was so greatly liked by all that I ordered the cook to have barometer soup every day.

[SchoolGirlHeart]

GPHMTA.

[chippewa]

GPHMTA.

Yes, they do.

Never heard the Twain reference till I was just Googling around now.

[MrTwain]

Now THAT'S what I was looking for. Wow... leave it to a couple of veteran Parrotheads to know such an obscure reference. I am fully satisfied!

[phjrsaunt]

Mr. Twain you have the most interesting observations. Cool!

[MrTwain]

Mr. Twain you have the most interesting observations. Cool!

awwww... gosh... thanks!

[conched]

I enjoyed reading about Barometer Soup again...surely a favorite...

""Follow the equator, like that old articulator, sail upon the ocean just like Mr. Twain..."
from Take Another Road on OFF TO SEE THE LIZARD." Barometer Soup song ideas must have started with that song as Jimmy was writing Tales From Margaritaville.

[rmissbrook]

Remittance Man and That's What Living is to Me are both also based on Mark Twain writings.

[phjrsaunt]

I enjoyed reading about Barometer Soup again...surely a favorite...

""Follow the equator, like that old articulator, sail upon the ocean just like Mr. Twain..."
from Take Another Road on OFF TO SEE THE LIZARD." Barometer Soup song ideas must have started with that song as Jimmy was writing Tales From Margaritaville.

thanks for the link to the video, conched! Gosh it's been AGES since I watched that! I loved that video too. Who's the guy who plays the "main character" (the one they show at the beginning who is sleeping then wakes up to find Jimmy and the whole drive-in theater scene)? He looks vaguely familiar.

[MrTwain]

"Be good and you will be lonesome
Be lonesome and you will be free
Live a lie and you will live to regret it
That's what living is to me"
-Jimmy Buffett



"The 4th of July. Independence Day. Choosing our own destiny.

As the years of my life wind on, choosing my own destiny becomes increasingly important to me. It's one of the reasons I write. Hell, it might be the main reason. I know that. I write because I can control the story. I can control the life of my characters in a way that I find difficult in my own. I can choose their destiny. I can give them their independence.

And in so doing, I give myself some independence too. I live a life a little less lonesome; a life with a little less regret. Everyday I write I give myself a new independence day. Everyday I write I live less of a lie. And that's what living is to me."

[Martyritaville]

It's threads like this that make my day. Thanx guys!

[conched]

Auntie,
I believe that Jimmy says that is Jim Shea, Jimmy's good friend, who has photographed and videoed Jimmy among many other celebrities. I may have misunderstood that, because here are some photos of Jim Shea and there is not that much of a resemblance.

http://jimsheaphotography.com/bio/brad.htm

[conched]

It's threads like this that make my day. Thanx guys!

Barometer Soup was my breakfast CD for today and while reading the liner notes, I realized I had bought Jim Harris's novella, Legends of the Fall, which Jimmy says included one story (The Man Who Gave Up His Name) which was the inspiration for Lage Nom Ai. I pulled that out to read today. Old Nordstrom is the main character of that story and he did dance...