Monday, July 12, 2010

Sticking a wine cork in it

Nibblin' on sponge cake
Watchin' the sun bake
All of those tourists covered with oil...

It was a line Jimmy Buffett has sung thousands of times but last night it required some instant clarification.

"Suntan oil!" Buffett shouted to the 35,000 fans who massed on the beach at Gulf Shores, Alabama to watch Jimmy Buffett & Friends: Live From the Gulf Coast.  Before he was done singing "Margaritaville" Buffett would also change "it's my own damn fault" to "it's BP's fault!" as the crowd roared its approval.

If there was trouble lapping the shores you wouldn't have known it watching a telecast of Sunday's free concert.  There was great spirit on the beach where Buffett and his Coral Reefer Band were joined by Mac McAnally, Jesse Winchester, Allen Toussaint, Will Kimbrough and others.  Nobody has mentioned anything about a benefit DVD or CD, nor was Buffett hawking T-shirts like the one he wore that read "One Love One Ocean," but sign us up for one of everything here at the Sanctuary.  Some good should come from this good faith effort to reinvigorate tourism and perk up spirits along the beleaguered Gulf Coast.

Man, we even enjoyed "Cheeseburger in Paradise."  But the best thing we heard was a song Buffett retooled to close the CMT telecast.  He took "When the Coast is Clear," written years back with McAnally, and "moderized it a bit" to fit the occasion.  The result was a moving tribute to the Gulf that needs to somehow be channeled into the oil spill recovery efforts.

Out on our Gulf waters
A different kind of storm
People run for cover
As opinions like clouds form

It was bound to happen
It happened to be here
We're gonna have to work to see
That the coast is clear

The Gulf is in my body
The Gulf is in my soul
I wish like you that I could stick
A wine cork in that hole

Anger makes us doubtful
While fear can cloud the view
I for one don't think we've done
The best that we can do

It was bound to happen
Where greed and crude appear
I hope that I'm around to see
When the coast is clear

Click here to watch a video of the song, and check CMT for replay times of the concert. And get behind the oil spill cleanup any way you can. We love our Gulf!

1 comment:

  1. I LOve it when Music artist change the words to one of their songs to make a statement, How true about the oil spill and what it has done along it's path of destruction. I agree if that song could be recorded and the proceeds go for helping cleanup that would be awesome!!!!!!!
    He sure has enough fans, that he could pull something like that off.

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