I've never been the world's biggest (or smallest) Jimmy Buffett fan. But I certainly respect his respect for his fans as well as his unabashedly hedonistic outlook. Surprisingly, Buffett comes out swinging against the powers that be on "A Lot to Drink About," an unrecorded new song he did not perform at Bonnaroo last week (although he did open with "Let's Get Drunk and Screw" and later covered "Scarlet Begonias").
I like "A Lot to Drink About," which Buffett debuted at the original Margaritaville in February. It's basically a topical country and Western tune with references to Ponzi schemers both in and out of the White House:
Now Madoff made off with all the money.
Now his clients are down to skunk weed.
Repeat after me, it’s so easy to see
We’re only talking simple greed.
And those Somalian pirates are counting all the gold.
While Bush and Cheney ain’t around
and all the good lookers seem to be Czech hookers
from Key West to London town.
God bless America, indeed. Meanwhile, Buffett's new single, "Summerzcool," also has a bit of a bite:
You messed up you read the paper
You accidentally watched the news
You inadvertently find yourself in the vicinity of the bluesBust your ass to get a good life
You make a habit out of overtime
When the big report card comes
Your priorities are way out of lineChorus:
You need to go to summer school
Into the beach or at least in a pool
Time to go to summer school
Remember what is and what is not cool
The Boston Globe recently spoke with Buffett about his newfound sense of indignation:
Q. You haven’t been afraid to let loose lately about the state of the country. What’s up with that?
A. There’s a lot of stupidity going around on all sides. The country bought it all, and I thought people needed to be reminded about how stupid they were. And it’s an ongoing saga. I can certainly put more verses in “A Lot to Drink About’’ as we go along. For instance, I noticed that the schools are closing in Los Angeles, but the Lakers were just given a parade. There’s no end to the crazy things going on.
Q. Did you get swept up in the Madoff scandal yourself?
A. No, it all smelled like a rat in the beginning. I guess I’ve worked with so many crooked promoters that I can smell ’em. Money made on moving money around never interested me.