September 8, 2023      —–     Chart #210

Hello Music Friends,

Hey folks, welcome to another edition of Chart of the Week. It has been a melancholy summer for me. First I lost my father in July, then on September 1 we lost my favorite Caribbean troubadour, Jimmy Buffett. Wow, that’s two BIG ones for me. I wrote about dad in post #206. I will never completely get over the void that has left in my heart. Jimmy Buffet is no family member, but he’s the next best thing. Jimmy has been with me and my lovely bride of 33 years every step of the way. Our annual pilgrimage to various Caribbean islands is a powerful tradition in our house and Jimmy goes everywhere we go. In the old days I would throw a few t-shirts, some shorts, a pair of swim trunks and piles of Buffett CD’s in my suitcase for each beach trip. Just add lime.  (note to you:  read this entire post . .. it’s worth it)

I guess if you are going to mourn, you might as well pile it on. Jimmy, you have been such a big part of our life and brought so much joy. You leave us with a big responsibility –  to keep the party going.  Jimmy taught all Parrotheads that life is to be enjoyed. Don’t take things too seriously and by all means, make time to have fun.  

So Jimmy, this post is for you. As me and my bandmates have been know to say “playing in a band is about as much fun as you can have with your clothes on”. True statement. Today we will honor JB with one of the songs we have played in our band countless times, always to great reception. “Cheeseburger in Paradise” is a song written and performed by American popular music singer Jimmy Buffett. It appeared on his 1978 album Son of a Son of a Sailor and was released as a single, reaching No. 32 on the Billboard Hot 100. “Cheeseburger in Paradise” has become one of Buffett’s signature songs and was selected as the first track on his greatest hits album Songs You Know by Heart.

The song is about a man who “is trying to amend his carnivorous habits” with health food such as sunflower seeds, but it was inspired by an experience that actually happened to Buffett: he had been forced to eat only canned food and peanut butter due to a boating mishap in the Caribbean, but eventually made it to landfall and managed to order the song’s titular dish in paradise (“Roadtown on the island of Tortola”). However, other burger restaurants in the Caribbean have claimed to be the inspiration for the song as well.

TRUE STORY from the 90’s: Based on JB folklore (pre-internet) our travel friends and I believed the source of inspiration for this song was a little beach bar in the port town of Gustavia on the island of St. Barts, a place called Le Select. (turns out that we were wrong, it was just a story supported by that particular bar to promote themselves to tourists. They even sold t-shirts claiming to be Cheeseburger in Paradise holy ground) One day with some close friends Debbie and I boarded a very small plane for the brief ride from St Maarten to St Barts. Literally you can see St Barts from the southern shore of St Maarten. We’re talkin’ a short trip here. Once in the air we learned that the landing strip on St Bart (a volcanic island) was about the length of a football field or two. Not only that, but it was nestled up against the side of the mountain we had to crest to get there. So as we are approaching the mountain, I am certain we are going to fly right into the side but just as the wheels of our little plane blew dust up from the rocky top the pilot adjusted into what can only be called a complete ‘ass over tea kettle’ death dive. After a few seconds of sheer terror the nose of ‘Air Change-UR-Shorts’ was jerked up and we somehow put all three wheels of this little kite onto the postage stamp sized runway. As the plane began to slow I realized I had stopped breathing a couple minutes ago and decided to retry living. Fortunately, while other bodily functions had gone into chaos mode, the breathing reflex returned and I live today to tell this story.

SO,,,,,, after that we headed straight for Le Select and what ended up being a breakfast beer and cheeseburger. Frankly we did not need a burger, but we all were in desperate need of a little bottled tranquilizer after that adventure. One of our travel buddies said it well when she looked at her husband (who still had a little dried blood on his forearm from her fingernails on the descent) and loudly said “I wanted to take the F***ing Boat!”.     

This true story tells you all you need to know about what “Cheeseburger in Paradise” means to me and my closest friends. Jimmy, we promise to keep the fire burning. We have indoctrinated all of our offspring so I am sure that there is a next generation who understands the Margaritaville way.

Oh by the way, it’s not mustard, the line is “Medium rare with meunster’d be nice”. When was the last time you had a cheeseburger with Muenster cheese?

The salt shaker has been found.   

Keep Rockin’,

Stan Bradshaw