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Beyond Tiki, Bilge, and Test / Beyond Tiki / What's wrong with Jimmy Buffett?

Post #164982 by Thomas on Fri, Jun 10, 2005 12:12 PM

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T

La Tiki-ette, I think those are excellent comments.

As a newbie (and I still am one), I used TC's "search" for "Jimmy Buffett" one day, and found myself reading for a good hour or so, and lots of interesting stuff. I didn't learn much about JB, but I learned a lot about people's various attitudes and approached to things. For whatever reason, JB touches a nerve and is a "jumping off" point for some interesting discussions.

I think one aspect of being a tikiphile is a sort of respect for the past, in a world of disposeable amusements. There is a danger of going too far though, and resisting change. I recall reading somewhere someone bemoaning the fact that so many Hawaiian kids are into reggae, instead of traditional Hawaiian music. But hey, if we can be attracted to something that's "exotic" and "far away" to us (like Hawaiian music), why can't Hawaiian kids be attracted to something that "exotic" and "far away" to them (like reggae)? Or are they supposed to inhabit some kind of museum, for the fulfillment of our holiday fantasies?

As for Jimmy Buffett, whatever. I do know he wrote, at age 26, a song that I think embodies a loving appreciation of the past that many tikiphiles could relate to. For anyone who's interested, I copy the lyrics here:
**

They Don't Dance Like Carmen No More
Jimmy Buffett
**
Walkin' down new streets the music is loud
Neon signs bring in tumultuous crowds
But I'm just an old man, I'd probably get sore
'Cause they don't dance like Carmen no more.

She and old Cugie, my what a pair
Doin' the Rhumba as no one else dared
Slidin' and glidin' 'cross Hollywood floors
But they don't dance like Carmen no more.

Well now, she had a big hat, my it was high
Had bananas and mangos all piled to the sky
How she could balance it, I wouldn't dare
But they don't dance like Carmen nowhere

Oh, but the lady's not with us, she died long ago
And they don't show her movies on late midnight shows
'Cause the kids would get restless, and grown-ups would snore
'Cause they don't dance like Carmen no more.
(Repeat second verse)
1973 American Broadcasting Music, Inc. (ASCAP)