Death of a Popular Poet
It’s a sad day in Margaritaville with news that Jimmy died yesterday far too young at age 76. After the initial shock, his first song that came to my mind was “Death of an Unpopular Poet“. Tears started as the song played in my head, but then I realized how lucky we legions of Parrotheads are that Jimmy didn’t leave “behind a closet filled with verse and rhyme“. He left behind millions of album collections filled with “words to make ya happy, words to make you cry“!
Sadly, Jimmy was ten years shy of the “86 years of perpetual motion” he sang about in “He Went to Paris“, but hopefully he felt he “had a good life all the way.” He certainly brought over half a century of joy, humor, tears, and escapism to millions of fans around the world. I fantasize that Jimmy’s not really gone but just escaped to his “Beach House on the Moon“.
With near constant touring, Jimmy lived up to his words in “Growing Older But Not Up“: “Let those winds of time blow over my head. I’d rather die while I’m living than live while I’m dead.“
Still, for many of us, it will take a long time to do as he suggests in “Lage Nom Ai” and “taste this melancholy bouillabaisse called letting go.“
Au revoir, Jimmy, I’ll be hearing “Miss You So Badly” in my head forever.
“Death of an Unpopular Poet” and “He Went to Paris” from A White Sport Coat And A Pink Crustacean.
“Beach House on the Moon” from Beach House on the Moon.
“Growing Older But Not Up” from Coconut Telegraph.
“Lage Nom Ai” from Barometer Soup.
“Miss You So Badly” from Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes and also a great live version on You had To Be There: Recorded Live.