Jimmy Buffett's "Equal Strain on All Parts" is part fun and part introspective
Earlier this week the final Jimmy Buffett album, “Equal Strain on All Parts” was released. It was recorded during the last year of Buffett’s life. We’ve seen others in his situation make their final recordings as a treatise about the living/dying experience. Warren Zevon and David Bowie are two examples of this.
Buffett didn't go to that extreme. He gave you what you expected when you listened to one of his albums…a fun experience. However, he gave us some introspection on a couple of tunes.
Let’s start with the fun: The album begins with "University of Bourbon Street." The song tells the story of how Jimmy got his start and learned his musical craft in New Orleans. It has a Dixieland jazz sound and those horns will get you up on your feet.
Then there’s "My Gummie Just Kicked In." The song details the night Jimmy and his wife Jane were at an event with Paul McCartney and his wife Nancy. They apparently were imbibing in some substances. When Jimmy asked Nancy a question, her response was gibberish. They all laughed about it and thought it would make a good song. Buffett wrote the tune and even had McCartney play Bass on the song.
There are a few cover songs on the album. My favorite is “Mozambique”, which was written by Bob Dylan in 1975. He sings it as a duet with Emmylou Harris, who also sang on the original recording, with Dylan.
Now to the introspective Buffett. It comes early in the album with the song “Bubble Up.” You wouldn’t think that a song with that title would make you listen closely to the lyrics, but that’s part of the genius of it. Here’s verse number two:
To my friends who are jolly
When melancholy knocks
Sometimes they let her in
To sit and share stories
Of flops and of glories
It ain't half as bad as the bends
Sometimes living's a struggle
Multiplied double
But they love it too much
For the party to end
Honestly, it’s not all that deep, but it does give some perspective on how Jimmy Buffett felt about life…both as he says, the glories and the struggles.
For a final album, it’s a pretty good one. I doubt it will replace any of the ones from the seventies as my favorites from his discography, but it’s definitely worth a few listens. That’s a good thing.
“Bubbles up
They will point you towards home
No matter how deep or how far you roam
They will show you the surface
The plot and the purpose
So, when the journey gets long
Just know that you are loved
There is light up above
And the joy is always enough
Bubbles up” ~Jimmy Buffett 1946-2023