Songs You Don’t Know By Heart–An Album Essay & Review

An essay and album review of Songs You Don’t Know By Heart.

“The sun has been coming up on Buffett’s world for a long time and among the shadows stand songs and people who are here to stay.” —Thomas McGuane

Was there ever a summer when he wasn’t there? 

For more than 50 years, he’s taken the stage and entertained multitudes from Mobile, Alabama to Paris, France. What draws the people? At an outward glance, it’s the party atmosphere. The festivity is the stuff of legend, a mélange of bright colors worn by those who come to the shows and a certain amount of hedonism. Jimmy Buffett is one of Mardi Gras’ leading ambassadors to the world.

But, if you dig beneath the Carnival surface, you’ve got songs dripping with his mystique. The stories and characters in Buffett’s songs mean a lot to his fans. And it’s clear Buffett has an appreciation and awareness of this. 

The stories and characters are myth-like

The characters he introduces are presented with an unparalleled sensitivity that most songwriters don’t convey. People connect with the characters and their saga. As Buffett remarked, “Once your feelings become a song, they don’t belong to you anymore. They belong to all those people who identify with it.”

However he does it, I don’t know. But his songs have risen to a mythical magnitude. Even when the song’s subject is imaginary, it’s become very real to the listeners. As Dylan Orenstein—who works with Jimmy—observed: “Through these songs, he taps into something important to you.”

Why should we care? Why should a story be so important to us? “Myth helps you to put your mind in touch with this experience of being alive,” Joseph Campbell, the author and professor explained. “It tells you what the experience is.” 

There is a strong emotional element

When I first looked at a copy of Songs You Don’t Know By Heart, Buffett’s first acoustic album, my eyes focused on the title. They stopped at the word “heart.” I contemplated the importance of that word, which I hadn’t considered. My mind flashed back to a couple of experiences.

The first was at a Buffett concert in the last decade. I was out on the lawn and the rain was pouring down. Holding my flimsy umbrella to cover my even younger friend, a fairly drunk old timer asked “can I join you?” I nodded and he did his best to crowd under my rickety barrier to the rain and wind. With his breath heavy on the rum he asked if I was familiar with the song “Death of an Unpopular Poet.”

Talk about a hit or miss opening line. As we discussed it, he remarked that if someone didn’t know that song, “they don’t know Buffett.” It’s an earnest song. Although the subject of the song is a poet, who is later thought of as “immortal,” in Buffett’s hand he is nonetheless flesh and bone. The poet is unnamed in the lyrics, but his dog “Spooner” is his loyal companion. The song doesn’t feel the least bit silly, and their relationship is portrayed with great tenderness.

Then, I thought back to seeing Buffett’s first show at the famed Fenway Park in Boston on September 10, 2004. Thanks to my friend Harriet, I was able to see that concert on the field.

He closed the show with an acoustic encore that included “Defying Gravity,” by Jesse Winchester. His performance of that song was especially heartfelt. There was something in the way his voice cracked that conveyed a genuineness you don’t get to witness every day.  Yes, that Buffett is all heart. An authentic moment like that can’t be written into a show. 

This collection gets to the heart of the matter

As I looked at the titles of the songs included on this CD, I saw a recurring theme. All of these songs, seem to come from the heart.

The album features lesser known gems in a stripped down style. To the ardent fans, the title of this acoustic album is more of an inside joke. Buffett’s 1985 hits compilation was entitled “Songs You Know By Heart.” It is his all-time best-selling release.

These kinds of recordings tend to be greatly appreciated by music fans who want a more intimate listening experience. This album is especially an anomaly when you consider that in large part, the fans chose these songs. A whole-hearted gesture.

This album was inspired by a video series

All of the songs on this record (with the exception of “Tonight I Just Need My Guitar”) had previously been performed and talked about in an online video series also called Songs You Don’t Know By Heart. The series was a mammoth, international attraction directed by filmmaker Delaney Buffett, who is Jimmy’s daughter. She remarked that the party/bacchanalia songs have somewhat overshadowed the “more soulful, sad, ones that take a little bit more patience to understand.” On this collection, the ballads take center stage.

The art of listening

Listening a few times to the album from beginning to end, a number of things struck me. Although I was familiar with all of these songs, in this new simplistic format they come across as especially sentimental and at times poignant.

The warmth of Jimmy’s voice with pared-down instrument accompaniments are ideal for these songs.  I listened to the album with minimal distractions, including in completely darkness. My favorite way to listen to anything is with as little light as possible.

So what were the tracks that especially struck me? Here are the high points:

Woman Goin’ Crazy on Caroline Street

This is probably the most creative track, and seems to have the biggest divergence from the original recording. The guitar work from Peter Mayer really adds something special. This acoustic version of the song embodies the mystery and eccentricity of Key West.

Twelve Volt Man

This is an evocative song and I was really interested to hear the new rendition of it. Buffett has gone on the record many times to say it is one of his favorites. You can see why: the chords are very atypical and interesting and seem to set a perfect mood for the story.

Michael Nesmith, known for a very impressive career, including being a member of the Monkees, had told Buffett about a seemingly eccentric man he encountered in Baja, Mexico. The man in question had devised his own contraption that could both play his beloved Buffett tapes and power the blender he used to make margaritas.

“Once you get next to [Buffett] you realize [he’s] special,” Nesmith expressed to me in an interview. “There’s something going on in [his] head that does not go on in the mind of a journeyman.”

I’ve always wondered if the real life “Twelve Volt Man” knew that he had been immortalized in song.  Listening to this new version conjures a definite vision of the man. I no longer think of him as eccentric, but rather as perhaps a bit wiser than most of us.

Love in the Library

It’s impressive when any songwriter can write a song that mentions Flaubert.

“Love in the Library” originally appeared on the Buffett album “Fruitcakes.” The co-writer of the song, Mac McAnally shares Mississippi beginnings with Buffett and told me that the song was birthed out of a mutual love and influence of Southern literature. 

This version on Songs You Don’t Know By Heart is presented with even more sensitivity.  It’s the only track featuring piano, which is performed by McAnally.

“The people that connect with that song, it’s a deep connection” McAnally explained. “I like the fact that in the context of being a big universal-type act, that Jimmy will go down, deep dive and work hard on something that has a smaller cast as an audience.”

The Night I Painted the Sky

The greatest vocal on this album is “The Night I Painted the Sky.”  The accordion featured on this track is sublime and helps transcend the song into something out of the ordinary. 

I think this was worth re-interpreting for this album because the song has an added nuance for many. The lyric “the rockets in the air, and the people everywhere, put away their differences for a while,” feels like almost like a prayer or fervent wish in a year like 2020.    

Upon viewing the Songs You Don’t Know By Heart video episode, Kevin Hooper expressed a shared emotional effect. “I was really touched when he did ‘The Night I Painted the Sky,’ and he teared up,” the longtime fan shared with me.  “Delaney said, ‘oh Daddy.’ [and that] got to me.”

Buffett’s imagination was sparked after witnessing and helping orchestrate a fireworks show in St. Maarten. The resulting song “paints” quite a transcendent picture.

Little Miss Magic

I love when things come full circle. “Little Miss Magic,” originally appeared on the Coconut Telegraph album. He wrote the song about his daughter Savannah Jane when she was just a little one. 

This track closes with a fitting and lovely vocal from Savannah Buffett. Like the song’s title, it’s a “magic” moment.

Tonight I Just Need My Guitar

This is the one song that did not appear in the video series, but given the topic it’s a perfect addition. It’s perhaps the closest to the original recording and is the newest song. The guitar parts on this track are very pretty and tasteful.

I can’t help but wonder what inspired this one. I’ll also confess that I was pining for a new recording of “The Wino and I Know” which this track replaced.

Death of an Unpopular Poet

An album like this needed a “poetic” conclusion. This was such a fitting farewell at the end.

“Death of an Unpopular Poet” is one of Jimmy’s older songs and many have a unique connection to it, not unlike the stranger I crossed paths with years ago.

I’ve been able to interview Buffett fans who followed him long before the fame came, but have also talked to those who weren’t alive when the first version of this tune appeared on A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean. This is one that really resonates with certain types and as I’ve often remarked, the great Bob Dylan loves this song.

This recording is true to the video series and could be viewed as an homage to how Buffett’s career as a troubadour began—with only his voice and guitar, and that’s all it needs. It seemed like it was personal to Buffett, and as a listener it felt personal.

Jimmy sings this one with an honesty and yes, lots of heart. I listen to music hoping for authenticity, and it’s always nice to get it.

Encore?

I make no apologies for being very enthusiastic about this album. I share the view of many that this was one of the best things Buffett accomplished.

In one respect, it’s similar to Bob Dylan’s acclaimed “Bootleg Series” which have been released for almost 30 years now. It’s not for the very casual listener, but is all the more cherished.

Songs You Don’t Know By Heart presents Buffett’s greatest songs with a bit of reverence, but without conceit.  But, am I hoping for volume 2 someday? Well, are you?

I certainly try not to be greedy, but I can think of quite a few songs that would really be interesting to hear acoustically in the SYDKBH style.

The Songs You Don’t Know By Heart album has increased the appreciation for these lesser known songs. And it’s created quite a different and relaxing listening experience. 

Nothing and nobody is fully understood, but I think a case could be made that this album gives us a better understanding of who Jimmy Buffett really is. Like everything else in life, we must go beneath the surface. This album does exactly that.

To quote one of Jimmy’s very clever lines: “.. I’m somewhere below the spotlight, somewhere below the ground. You dig deep enough you might find me. Find me, and you’ve found my sound.”

Release Date: November 27, 2020
Label: Mailboat Records
Tracks / Total Length: 15 songs, 59 minutes

Special thanks to Don Davidson, Laurie Gorman and Dylan Orenstein.