As I was walkin' 'round Grosvenor Square
Not a chill to the Winter but a nip to the air
From the other direction, she was calling my eye
It could be an illusion, but I might as well try, might as well tryShe had rings on her fingers and bells on her shoes
And I knew, without askin', she was into the blues
She wore scarlet begonias tucked into her curls
I knew right away she was not like other girls, other girlsIn the thick of the evening, when the dealing got rough
She was too pat to open and too cool to bluff
As I picked up my matches and was closing the door
I had one of those flashes I'd been there before, been there beforeWell, I ain't always right, but I've never been wrong
Seldom turns out the way it does in a song
Once in a while, you get shown the light
In the strangest of places if you look at it rightWell, there ain't nothing wrong with the way she moves
Scarlet begonias or a touch of the blues
And there's nothing wrong with the look that's in her eyes
Had to learn the hard way to let her pass by, let her pass byWind in the willow's playin' "Tea For Two"
The sky was yellow, and the sun was blue
Strangers stoppin' strangers just to shake their hand
Everybody's playing in the heart of gold band, heart of gold band
I’ve never actually heard this song sung BY the Grateful Dead. I’ve never been (or known well) a Dead Head. But I DID grow up a Parrot Head, thanks to my parents and their friends. (I’m pretty sure my dad still has original Buffet Records, which might even make him an honorary Hipster, much to his chagrin.) And though it’s not an original Jimmy Buffet song, his version of it is always one of my very favorites. Something about those Scarlet Begonias tucked into her curls…
I always wanted to be that girl:
…Wild curly hair with flowers she had probably plucked from a nearby planter (Let’s be honest, when I am in Florida, I AM that girl), sharp and cool, but smart enough to know to enjoy life, wise enough to recognize the flashes of light in strange places when you see it, and someone whose carefree presence and the way that she moves causes strangers to play and laugh together in a dusky heart of gold evening… the smell of begonias (one of my favorite flowers, incidentally) on the salty ocean breeze….definitely not a girl like all the others I saw around me as a teenager in the Midwest.
I never truly felt like I fit in in the Midwest. My heart has always belonged to the sea. (Maybe it was from all the Buffet music I inevitably overheard as a child? Who knows. I don’t even remember seeing the ocean before I was well into my teens, but I have always loved it.)
The first concert I ever went to was a Jimmy Buffet concert. And the second, and the third….and frankly I’ve lost count. I haven’t been to a lot of concerts in my life, but the vast majority of them have been Buffet. (Again, my parents were Parrot Heads. It was island life in a parking lot for a day. I LOVED it.)
The summer of 2015 was concert number…..4? 5? 6? I honestly don’t know. But that year, my younger sister was old enough to come too, and my roommate Katie tagged along as well, because she was thankfully always up for an adventure.
We put temporary chalk colors in our hair, wore grass skirts and tropical parrot shirts, and at the last minute I also stuck this photo prop flower clip in my hair. I saw it sitting there and just thought “Scarlet Begonias” and then it had to come with.
We were living in Noblesville, IN at the time, and the concert was in Cincinnati, OH, so it was a small road trip. Because the concert always gets out so late at night, when its an out of town show, the big group of us always stays in a hotel that night, gets breakfast the next morning, and then we all head for home. That year I believe the concert was on a Monday or Tuesday night. So it was a weekday mid afternoon when Katie and I arrived back in Noblesville the next day. We had the rest of the day, no plans, and were still buzzing with the island life vibes of the concert. Our apartment complex had a pool which on weekends was always full of kids, but which on this random weekday afternoon was completely empty. So on a total whim, we decided to finally do an underwater photoshoot like we had been talking about since we moved in.
There was no plan. There was no concept for this shoot. I just dug through my prop and costume box and grabbed a few things to play around with- inevitably perhaps, the flavor of the prop collecting and the final photos became that carefree, sharp, wise, and flowing vibe of the girl with scarlet begonias tucked into her curls…. I even grabbed the scarlet begonia hair clip. (Along with, obviously, my model pirate ships.)
And as it turns out, the song is true.
Once in a while, you do get shown the light in the strangest places, if only you catch it just right, and recognize it when you see it.
The resulting photos from this impromptu “Jimmy Buffet” themed photo shoot are still some of my very favorites ever, even 6 years later. They’re some of the best ones I’ve ever taken.
We were just playing around. Just going with the flow of inspiration, following the light and jamming with the heart of gold band, so to speak…. And that is the magic of finding the light in strange unexpected places.
….or maybe I just love them so much because they capture the same feeling that I always yearned for and identified with…the flowing profound beauty of the girl with scarlet begonias tucked into her curls, catching the light in the strangest of places, like the universe was winking at her through the artistry of the lyrics, the music, the images….winking at her through that kind of island life and the beauty of all the salty, soulful stories found in Jimmy Buffet’s music.
Because for me, it’s always the story that gets me. The lines that are pure magic:
“ONCE IN A WHILE YOU GET SHOWN THE LIGHT, IN THE STRANGEST PLACES IF YOU LOOK AT IT RIGHT.”
-Scarlet Begonias
“THERE IS A TALE THAT THE ISLAND PEOPLE TELL, DON’T CARE IF IT IS TRUE, CUZ I LOVE IT SO WELL.”
-Jolly Mon Sing
“MOTHER MOTHER OCEAN, I HAVE HEARD YOU CALL…WANTED TO SAIL UPON YOUR WATERS SINCE I WAS THREE FEET TALL…”
-A Pirate Looks at 40
And then there’s this one: Cowboy in the Jungle.
“Steel band in the distance
And their music floats across the bay
While American women in moomoos
Talk about all the things they did today
And their husbands quack about fishing
As they slug those rum drinks down
Discussing who caught what and who sat on his butt
But it's the only show in townThey're tryna drink all the punches
They all may lose their lunches
Tryin' to cram lost years into five or six days
Seems that blind ambition erased their intuition
Plowin' straight ahead come what mayI don't want to live on that kind of island
No, I don't want to swim in a roped off sea
Too much for me, too much for me
I've got to be where the wind and the water are freeAlone on a midnight passage
I can count the falling stars
While the Southern Cross and the satellites
They remind me of where we are
Spinning around in circles
Living it day to day
And still 24 hours may be 60 good years
It's really not that long a stayWe've gotta roll with the punches
Learn to play all of our hunches
Make the best of whatever comes your way
Forget that blind ambition
And learn to trust your intuition
Plowin' straight ahead come what may
And there's a cowboy in the jungle…”
And if that isn’t just about THE magical perfect description not only of Jimmy Buffet/island life vibe, but of the ideal philosophy of a well lived life….I don’t know what is.
Maybe my heart is so enthralled with these images precisely because they have that flavor (and memory) of “Yes please. That is who I have always wanted to be. This is the life I want.” that always resounded through these songs for me.
For me, Jimmy Buffet’s music is not just about laying on a beach or a boat all day, wasting away again in Margaritaville (though who doesn’t enjoy that from time to time?). It’s much more magical and deeper than that:
‘JIMMY SOME OF ITS TRAGIC, SOME OF ITS MAGIC, BUT I HAD A GOOD LIFE ALL THE WAY.”
-He Went to Paris
With the wisdom of the lyrics, the stories these songs tell, and the steel drums and other music sweeping over me, I can just about smell the salty ocean and the begonias on the heart of gold breeze….
And it feels like home.
Which, after all, IS the overall theme of this Fine Art Print Collection.
So if any of the stories, lyrics, or images speak to your soul in a similar way, I invite you to grab one of the very limited prints currently available in the Sea and the Stars Collection, on sale now. Adorn your walls with the images that allow you to go to that place of magic- of coming home- just like the simple scarlet Begonia in my hair does for me. 🌺
