A Pirate Looks at 40— GC Myers, 1994
Yes, I am a pirate, two hundred years too late
The cannons don’t thunder, there’s nothin’ to plunder
I’m an over-forty victim of fate
Arriving too late, arriving too late
— Jimmy Buffett, A Pirate Looks At 40
I was surprised and saddened to hear that Jimmy Buffett died yesterday at the age of 76. Though I was never what you would call a Parrothead, the name applied to the enthusiastic and hard-partying fans who supported his vast Margaritaville empire, I had been a fan of his early work since his beginnings back in the early 1970s.
I listened to his 70’s albums then and for many years after. There was always something of value to find in the beautifully crafted and insightful songs. It says a lot that Bob Dylan listed him as a favorite songwriter. I drifted away after a while, after the Parrothead craze hit. But I still consider many of his songs as favorites of mine, including The Wino and I, Biloxi, Livingston’s Gone to Texas and several more, including the song whose lyrics are at the top the page, A Pirate Looks At 40.
Hearing of his passing made me dig through some old work to find the piece shown above. Also titled A Pirate Looks At 40, it was a very early experiment, done in the first months of 1994 when I first began painting after my accident. One hint to its age is the signature, which was just GMyers, not yet GC. I wasn’t aware that there were several artists named Gary Myers at that point. I never showed this piece but liked it enough to title it. I was most likely listening to that song around the time I painted it. Its theme of feeling as though you were living out of time, that you might be best suited for a different era and place, appealed to me.
I could relate to that then. Still do on most days.
Give a listen to the song. Good winds and currents to you, Jimmy. Thanks for the music and the inspiration.
Redtree Times 