Come Monday, it’ll be alright. Jimmy Buffet lyrics have long been the soundtrack for those ready for a pitcher of margaritas and a cheeseburger in Paradise! (It’s five o’clock, somewhere!) As a Florida native, there was no escape from Jimmy Buffet songs on the beach–played by those tourists covered in oil. (I am the one to blame for the fact that my dermatologist always wants a piece of me now as I eschewed sunscreen then so I wouldn’t smell like a tourist!)
Katrina hit New Orleans ten years after we’d moved away. So many stories, videos and songs followed but Jimmy Buffet’s Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On was one I gravitated towards and played often. (I keep meaning to find myself a watch “that always just says now!”)
I never made it to Margaritaville when it opened in New Orleans in Storyville. But I’d heard the stories of New Orleans giving Jimmy Buffet his start.You can always stumble across live music in New Orleans and once upon a time, Jimmy was one of those musicians playing on Bourbon Street. Recently, when you and I were not the only ones missing Mardi Gras in 2021, I enjoyed nola.com’s Mardi Gras for All Y’all! Particularly, this segment where they asked Jimmy what New Orleans meant to him.
I’ve not yet read one of his many books. It is simple to find a plethora of Jimmy Buffet quotes online but today, I’m going back to an old , simple favorite.
Don’t try to explain it, just bow your head
Breathe in, breathe out, move on.
Lorayne Cupero 