“Coconut Telegraph:” Buffett explores his sound

It occurred to me after submitting my last opinion piece that I never stated what the new era of Jimmy Buffett we are now in is.

I previously said that after “Volcano,” the golden era of Buffett ended, and starting with “Coconut Telegraph,” we enter what I call the experimental era.

It is defined by only a few albums, in which though he maintains his tropical sound, he experiments with different sounds: with more ballads, a little rock and some songs with different sounds from specifics regions of the world.

Regardless, after the mediocre performance of the previous album, “Somewhere Over China” was Buffett’s newest release.

To the slots of Las Vegas, we go to “It’s Midnight and I’m not Famous Yet.” “The god-almighty sound of money movin’ round can be heard all the way to Reno” describes the atmosphere of the casino all too well and how some are willing to “break the bank” with one last bet to win big. One such person is Lester Polyester and how he needs the money to get his new girlfriend brand new Gucci shoes.

But my favorite part of the song is the backing vocals in the chorus, which add spice to the song.

Possibly my favorite song off this album is “I Heard I Was in Town.” Based on Buffett hearing in Key West that someone said that they had a drink with him, though they didn’t, it provided the inspiration to base the song on.

He molds this concept into a great ballad about going back home after a long time, and though Aspen Colardo was his permanent home, Key West always has a place in his heart.

He came back to see “friends and walk old street’s again,” but it caught his attention, “the old town has grown.”

Buffett reminisced about when he was a “mad man in a pickup truck, so many years ago.

Changes have come like the storms of the season, but time here still moves slow.” He caused so much trouble in his younger days, before he had to be (somewhat) responsible as a parent, yet so much change had occurred in the short time he had been gone.

Change in the place that we once called home is something we are all too familiar with. Mix in the beautiful instruments and the amazing bridge, and you get a great song.

“If I Could Just Get it on Paper” is a simple song that explores all the vast ideas, questions, answers and concepts that swirl around in our heads, and how though we want to write it down, “it’s harder than it ever looks.”

I love this song, due in part to how there are so many countless ideas. that bounce around in my head, and rarely do I ever get to write it down.

All too often I am at a blank of what to say, I just think “how can I write an opinion about a Jimmy Buffett song, but make it not sound like the opinion I just wrote, and say more then I like the song cause it sounds good” (that’s why I’m trying to figure this out now during winter break).

But Buffett isn’t able to get it on paper or even find the inspiration to do so, even though he’s at the beautiful Sea of Cortez, with people and inspiration all around him, but. “It’s just no comprehend to what everyone says.”

I can relate to this song and the calming instrumentals complement it.

Despite a party, Buffett appears out of place in “Where’s the Party.” He wanders the streets to stargaze, but everyone asks him where the party is, because apparently “everybody I see say they expect to see me at the party.”

Another aspect of this song is that by this point in the early 80s, Buffett and his wife Jane decided to separate, due to personal reasons, and you can pick up on these emotions in the song.

Buffett says, “just because I’m lonely doesn’t mean that gets me down,” but that isn’t quite convincing. He also wishes “the radio would learn another song.”

This could be a sad love song, or this could be referencing “Margaritaville.” It’s been five years since its release, but it seems to still be the only thing Buffett was known for. Overall, the song has a nice more mellow vibe to it which is enjoyable.

There’s a few more good songs on the album. We’re given some good drums and conga’s in “When Salome Plays the Drums.”

The best part of the song besides the instrumentals is the chorus, where Buffett and his backing vocalists come together with some acoustic strumming to make a short, yet very beautiful part of the song that outshines the percussion briefly.

“Steamer” is a slow ballad where Buffett just remembers his love and their many sweet memories together, whether it was a sweet dinner where her smile sticks out or a night where her dress looked so good on her.

It’s a very slow song, combined with the rather somber lyrics, and it becomes a good, yet sad ballad.

In the end, the album performed about the same as “Coconut Telegraph,” though personally I don’t think it reached the same heights as it, with a few songs such as the title track not hitting it out of the park for me.

This is about the first album since “Living and Dying in ¾ Time” where there are more than two songs that I didn’t really like.

Due to more of the same reviews, Buffett continued his journey to find a sound that worked.

This journey will take us far from our Caribbean roots toward the South Seas, which will require that we take a stop at that “One Particular Harbor.”