Three Day Drunk Looking for a Place to Happen

Dave Thomas and I were performing one afternoon when a disheveled stewbum cowboy wobbled by the stage. As our whoozled fan struggled to navigate the maze of tables and chairs, Dave turned to me and said, "Now there's a three day drunk looking for a place to happen." I replied, "Now that sounds like a song." And a very familiar song at that. In writing the song I flashed on the past when I had a real job (folks, this song writing stuff can be very painful) and Friday afternoons were spent planning a weekend of drinking and carousing (if only the business world could have harnessed that energy and turned it into something constructive). On Monday we swore we would never do it again, but on Friday we did. Now I have a play job, and I get to watch people drinking and carousing.

Gatsby Dreams

First let me join a million other people and say that "The Great Gatsby" is one of my favorite books. When I first moved to St. Simons Island, I lived at the corner of Beachview Drive and Myrtle Street. There was a vacant lot between the beach and my house. Almost every night a man would walk through the vacant lot, stand by the shore, smoke a cigarette and stare at the ocean. In the distance were the blinking lights on the channel markers that led into St. Simons Sound. The whole scenario conjured up images of Gatsby staring at the lights on the end of Daisy's dock. So I concocted a story about the man's effort to deal with the loss of a woman from which he can't recover. I never asked the guy what he was doing because I was afraid he would say that his wife told him if he wanted to smoke he had to do it outside.

Tropical Depression

Sharon and I were in St. John recently when a tropical depression stalled on top of us. It rained for four straight days. It rained so hard that we could not hear ourselves talk. This song is for everyone who has anticipated the perfect tropical vacation only to have it dismantled by the weather and/or a traveling companion (or lack of a traveling companion). My remedy: find a good bar (hell, even a bad bar).

Sometimes I Wish...

I wrote this song years ago after I moved away from the beach. It's the age-old story of "you don't know what you've got till it's gone." When I moved back to the beach I put the song away, but I recently rediscovered it in my archives. Hopefully it will remind me not to make another bonehead decision to leave paradise.

The Only Chinese Restaurant in Butte, Montana

Most people are willing to give second chances because occasionally bad things happen to good people (shit happens). This song is for the few of us who sometimes need a third chance (sometimes shit happens again).

Let's Talk Dirty in Hawaiian

This is the first song I recorded that I did not write. I never intended to record songs other than my own, but this song is such a favorite at my live shows and so many people have asked me to record it. I first heard it many years ago at a funky New Year's Eve party in Cedar Key. So sit back and take a little trip to the island of Comon Iwantalaya.

Thin Blue Horizon

A thin blue horizon is a recurring image in Thomas Sanchez's book, "Mile Zero." I have always had a problem with wanderlust, and I just imagined myself sitting on the seawall at the end of Whitehead Street in Key West waiting to head out again.

Bar on Front Street

The bar on front street is actually a composite of two bars: one real and one, as yet, fictional. The real bar is the Deluxe Bar at 823 Front Street in Butte, Montana. I have not been there in a long, long time, but when I lived there it was the best bar in town. The fictional bar is the Fish Head Brewery that a couple of buddies and I had hoped to open one day.

What Kind Of Fool Can I Be

I thought I would contrast my life with the lives of two friends to make sure I made the right career decision. Too often we use the wrong yardstick to measure success. My conclusion: As I sit on my flats skiff on this warm and sunny January day drinking a cold Corona while watching the pelicans dive and the dolphins cavort, oozing with confidence that a monster snook will soon take my fly, I think that both my friends, who are probably racing through an airport trying to catch the rental car shuttle because they are late for a meeting and driving through the snow storm will take longer than they had anticipated and I are both big winners. NOT!!!!!

He Said So Long

I waited a long time before following my dreams so this song is as much about regret as it is about success and optimism. I was in a business meeting in Kingston, Ontario when the first verse came to me (and they thought I was taking copious notes). The "romance" mentioned in the third verse refers to adventure. Trust your instincts and do what you love. Hopefully the happiness and money will follow.

Rich Man's Wife

I was listening to the radio and heard a bizarre story of infidelity and revenge set amid the intriguing world of the rich and powerful. I remember thinking it was just another story about some rich man's wife. I also thought it was a good idea for a song. Using my own experience with the subject matter, I was able to contribute the line, "two bottles of wine can sure change your perspective." The rest is made up, but as I tell everyone, that's what I do. I make things up.

The Hammock Club

Legend has it that a tribe of good-natured rascals used to prey on unsuspecting female tourists by tempting them with the forbidden pleasures of sex in a hammock. You see, it's all marketing these days, because sex in a hammock is awkward and laden with distractions, like how to stay in the damned thing while being sufficiently pleasurable. Some things just sound better than they really are, like sex on the beach. What a gritty mess that is. However, curiosity has killed the cat on more than one occasion, and these guys got so good at convincing the girls to at least give it a try that they formed a club. Rumor had it that they had regular meetings, exotic ceremonies, secret handshakes, and sacred pledges. Of course, there is no way to verify any of this, since it was such a secret society.

The Big Bamboo

This is the second song I recorded that I did not write. I have included it for the same reasons I included "Let's Talk Dirty In Hawaiian." I first heard it on a scratchy LP and could barely make out the lyrics. In it's day I'm sure it was a bawdy song, but it's tame by today's standards. Still, it's a lot of fun.