Parrothead Ramblings

Some songs are just special. Doesn't matter why it's special. That part is up to the listener. It doesn't have to be a famous song by a famous artist. It doesn't have to move you to tears, nor does it have move you to action. It just has to move you. It doesn't even have to be special to anybody else on the planet. But when it moves you to remember special people, special places, special times, and good feelings, it becomes your own. It gets stuck inside you, you hear it, sing it, whistle it, you think about it. Unlike "The Macarena" or some other suicide-inducing earworm, it's not stuck inside your head, it's stuck inside your heart. That's what happened to me.

Sunday afternoon, on a cruise ship to St. Somewhere, and the real world was just a memory. Ahead of us lay clear blue oceans, lush green islands, and no worries. I was on the Lido Deck, catching some rays and sharing drinks and laughs with good friends. The band was done for the day, and a song was playing in the background on the sound system. My mind was somewhere else, but it was a catchy melody, and my foot was tapping away in time on the wooden deck, beneath a sky so blue it hurt your eyes to look at it. Hoser was lying on a deck chair when the song caught his attention, and he lifted his head. "Who is that?" he asked. I focused on the music. Man, what a great melody. And the voice? Unmistakable. "That's Jerry," I answered, "It's Stars On The Water!"

I've been,
Living on an island,
Out in the middle of the ocean,
The middle of the sea.

Hey! That's us! We're living on an island! So, it's made of steel, and it moves, and it has the highest per capita ratio of drunks and overeaters in the galaxy, but it's an island!

I've been,
Living on an island,
And I find,
It's restoring my sanity

You could,
Really start to feel good
If you ever get the notion,
To be happy and free.

Hey! That really is us! We ARE that song!

So now, for the rest of my life, every time I hear that song, I'll be back up on that Lido Deck, with my friends and a cold beer, and not a care in the world. And every time I relive the great times we had on that trip, Living On An Island will be my soundtrack, with Jer and Mike singing and playing their hearts out....

The rest of the album is just as good, from the emotion of Gamble's Guitar , to the escapism of Someday Isle, to the outright fun of What Happens In Key West Never Happened, to every commuter's hood-mounted-flamethrower theme song, Livin' On The Highway:

Here's a little Catch-22
To make you stop and think:
Shouldn't drink and drive,
But drivin's drivin' me to drink

Amen, my brothers.

And thanks, Jer, Mike and Randy. This one's a keeper. But, hey, Parrotheads, you can't have mine! It belongs to me! Go on over to Stars' website and get your own!
  |