Jimmy Buffett - Songs You Know by Heart : Jimmy Buffett's Greatest Hit(s)

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• Jimmy Buffet Greatest Hits

Music reviews of Songs You Know by Heart : Jimmy Buffett's Greatest Hit(s)

Music Review: A Dream Deferred
Rating: 3 Stars

Now granted...saying that you don't much care for Jimmy Buffett is rather like speaking ill of the dead. While you may of never cared for them it is simply bad form not to keep these small criticisms to yourself. His fans ( affectionately known as Parrotheads ) are legion and extremely loyal in purchasing CD's, books or anything else that Jimmy may care to mass market ( last time I checked he even had a store in Charleston, S.C. ) but, not unlike the clerk at that record store, I too am at a loss as to the popularity of this artist. Please don't misunderstand me since I am exactly in the demographic range that Mr. Buffett's audience is known for. Appealing, for the most part, to an audience that is singularly white, middle-aged, ( or at least in the same time zone ) mostly male and leading a fairly comfortable existence ( house in the burb's with two and a half kids, so the stats would dictate ), JB has been able to appeal to that side of us that secretly wish's we could simply throw it all away and run down to the Caribbean with dreams of bars, bronzed beauties, sand and the waves nipping at our toes. In other words living the life of the proverbial " beach bum. " And loving it! Thereby losing the shakles that make up our, at times, seemingly dreary, predictable existence. But while listening to " Song's You Know By Heart " I couldn't help but get the odd sensation that, at this point, this is little more than Jimmy Buffett playing the role of "Jimmy Buffett." Again, the proverbial laid-back guy who wants for little else then to have a Margaritta in one hand and some sun tan lotion in the other. Which, at great risk of offending many of Jimmy's huge fan base, I find somewhat disingenous seeing how Mr. Buffett owns two spacious homes, one in ritzy Sag Harbour ( out on Long Island ) and the other in the ultra-exclusive, chic community of Palm Beach,Fl. It's isn't that I begrudge Mr. Buffett a living ( it is a free market society and Mr. Buffett has certainly done extremely well for himself ) it's simply that while the rest of us toil away at fairly hum-drum, mediocre careers Jimmy had made an extremely lucrative living off of selling a dream ( I won't use the term exploiting ) to his public that as consumer's we continue to happily shell out our hard earned dollar for. A dream that he has achieved, deservedly or not.

Overall, while there is little to find fault with JB's career ( and the opportunity to live vicariously through his tunes ) my internal alarms always register when I feel I'm being hoodwinked. I'm truly not trying to cast aspertions over his style of music ( which, for the most part, is entertaining ) but for his deire to play a role which I suspect he outlived years ago. But nonetheless, plays simply by virtue of what his legions of fans expect from him. Again, it's to Mr. Buffett's credit that he is certainly talented enough to have touched a nerve in so many of his fans but while we as consumers are still working to obtain our hopes and dreams...for Jimmy it's simply a " dream come true. "

Description of Songs You Know by Heart : Jimmy Buffett's Greatest Hit(s)