I haven’t posted here in a hot damn minute. We opened a piano bar. It’s amazing. It’s exhausting and all encompassing. We’re about to celebrate our 3 year anniversary. Hence the hot damn minute. Here’s a link to it. Now that you’re caught up….
I posted this on Facebook after Jimmy Buffett died. Felt like something that belonged here too. I’m doing a Jimmy Buffett singalong on Oct 15th at said piano bar. Pop in if you’re around…..
I started to type "say what you will about Jimmy Buffett" but actually that's what I came here to talk about. I've seen some really gorgeous and thoughtful posts honoring him (shout out to Jesse Dayton & Wild Ponies). I've also seen some of the opposite.
The "cooler than" compulsion is ugly, y'all. Unfortunately musicians tend to be the worst offenders. (I wrote a blog about that awhile back.) I halfway composed a version of this in my head several months ago when the T-Swift tour brought out this same ugly in rant after vomitous rant...but I've been too busy running a bar where people gather to sing things together that make them feel something. Put a pin there for a sec...
30 years ago when I was a little baby piano bar player just scratching the surface of what that gig was, a friend loaned me a Jimmy Buffett tape. I loved it and I wore it out. I've still got the songbook I bought so I could play those requests. It's well worn, from years of being schlepped from gig to gig w/other fake books in the pre-iPad days. I did that for a long time. Then I did other stuff for a long time like write songs and make records and travel around and sing for people. Now I've come full circle and am fully immersed in piano bar world again.
I've talked about the magic of our bar. Well the root of that magic is people singing things together that move them. It's connection. It's belonging. It's understanding. Strangers making eye contact across a room singing the same words at the top of their lungs are suddenly joined in a kind of communion. "You feel what I feel? How cool is that?" It's a beautiful thing. JIMMY BUFFET RESPECTED AND WIELDED THIS MAGIC. Taylor does too. It's undeniable.
Here's the thing: what the music is DOES NOT MATTER - what matters is the communion. Life is fucking hard. If people can join together through some songs they all love LET THEM, for fucks sake!!!! It doesn't hurt you. (Unless your ego is real damn broken, in which case I'd suggest you get some help fixing that.) Why you gotta poop in someone else's punch bowl? How is that gonna make your punch taste better? It's not. I don't like seafood. If I went on a rant about how people who like seafood are stupid losers with no sense of taste I'd look like an idiot. *pauses for drawing of painfully obvious comparative conclusion*
None of us are immune to the temptation (myself included, see blog, oy vey), so take it as a gentle reminder if nothing else: If you don't like someone else's magic, either find some different magic or GO MAKE YOUR OWN. Full stop. Do not pass go, do not poop in other punchbowls. Jimmy didn't say "anyone who doesn't like the beach is a dick." He just said "Fuck it, I'm going to the beach. Anybody wanna join me?"
Right on, Jimmy. Right on. Fair sailing, sir.