“Hot water”: Small pleasures and good times

I can’t believe what I am seeing; the album cover of “Hot Water” features Jimmy Buffett jumping out of the sea like a dolphin (that water must be hot). However, something is different. No! He couldn’t… he mustn’t. Buffett shaved his mustache! Now he is showcasing a cleaner look, one we will see for a long while. What a shame…Well, a Buffett without a mustache is the Buffett of “Hot Water,” so let’s see what this Buffett has to offer.

A Buffett song with one of the most calming instrumentals is “L’Air de la Louisiane”. For my non-French speaking audience, that roughly translates to “the air of Louisiana,” and for that matter, the entire song is in French. It isn’t too long of a song, and its lyrics are short and simple, with the two characters enjoying each other’s presence by taking in the silence of the air of Louisiana. Short and sweet, add in the soft instrumentals, and you have a pretty good song.

Little known fact, Buffett is the “King of Somewhere Hot.” This is a song driven by steel drums in which we hear a description of the land where Buffett “can truly reign supreme,” however it seems Buffett only dictates that people party and have a good time. It’s a simple song which follows in the footsteps of “L’Air de la Louisiane” by having soft instrumentals that are soothing, or as the drag community would say: its serving calm. This pairs well with the Buffett Kingdom’s ideology that “life is just a beach,” which is something I can get behind.

“Prince of Tides” does something that we’ll see more from Buffett as the years go on; songs having an intro. In this one, he describes a sunset in the most dramatic way possible. However, delving into the nitty-gritty of the song, this tune explores topics that are near and dear to me, that being conservation and preserving culture and history. We are brought to the coast of South Carolina down by Daufuskie Island, where the “bulldozers bury the past,” due to the commercialization of the coastal lands, with golf courses replacing this “natural wonder”. The commodification goes as so far to “put a price on the sunset,” to which the people said the idea “made more dollars than sense.” It is one thing to build something new, however this song teaches the powerful lesson of the importance of preserving nature and history, because “how can you tell how it used to be when there’s nothing left to see.” As a history major, this is a lesson that really resonates with me. The song also includes an outro, with a strange tale of a “white porpoise” coming to Buffet “bringing charismatic greetings form the Prince of Tides.”

Buffett made many covers of songs, in which he seemed to make these songs far better than their original creators ever did, and nowhere is this as evident as “Great Heart.” It is interesting because I don’t really know any other songs that begin with chanting, but Buffett does it here, and it works. The premise of the song is one of trying to find companionship, something greater than oneself, because despite knowing he can make it on his own, he searches “for a great heart to stand me by.” That is the general vibe of the song, but the song is entertaining, due to its playful instrumentals, and how Buffett turns the backing vocals all the way to 10, because they are really going at it. Also, this was the first song played during the Tiki Time tour of the early 2000s, and the live version of this song is so good!

“Smart Woman” is a song I’ve recently come around to, and it’s just kind of a funny song, with the premise being how Buffett is searching for a smart and beautiful female companion. He describes how he wants to rearrange his search for love, and this starts with searching for someone with “beauty and brains,” the kind of girl he could talk about Mark Twain with. That is the general premise of the short song, however the instrumentals are a standout due to the low notes of the harmonica, which make for a very unique and interesting instrumental.

“That’s What Living is to Me” is a song that combines two great influences of Buffett: Mark Twain and the Caribbean. The song’s intro serves to honor Mark Twain, one of Buffett’s heroes, and he references Twain’s work, “Following the Equator,” and its dedication which states “be good and you will be lonesome.” That quote’s meaning can be understood as being “good” can lead some astray from certain enjoyments in life, which can cause people to be isolated from others. The actual substance of the song relates to that quote by bringing visions from faraway lands in which simpler lives are being lived by enjoying the little things, such as a fellow finding joy in reading old newspapers and eating a snickers bar. The small pleasures of life are demonstrated by Buffett’s love of books, which have brought him to so many places over the years. It’s a song full of meaning, which is paired with the relaxing beat to bongo drums.

Well, that’s the album, and surprisingly despite some good songs, I like 6 out of the 11 songs on the album, with a little under half of those songs not quite hitting home for me. That slacks far behind other albums from this era of music. Regardless, great songs still come from this album, and the next album is home to even more great songs, but to get there, we must go “Off to See the Lizard.”