Take the Weather with You

Sticking with the formula that has made him the world’s most famous beach bum, Take the Weather With You is another collection of catchy songs filled with barstool wisdom, corny quips, and thoughts about partying, growing older (but still partying), and the virtues of taking it easy. It’s not that he’s unaware of bad things happening outside of his own private cabana. He just has his own philosophy for dealing with such matters, which could be summed up in his song about Hurricane Katrina, “Breath In, Breathe Out, Move On.” Or, as he says on “Party At the End of World: “the bad news is the world is ending/the good news is there’s a party/but you better get here quick.” Most of the tunes on the album are well-chosen covers (only three were co-written by Buffett), including songs by Crowded House, Gillian Welch (a bouncy roadhouse version “Elvis Presley Blues”), Guy Clark, Merle Haggard, and Mark Knopfler (who contributes guitar on a mellow, bluesy version of “Whoop de Doo”). As usual, the melodies are pure, the music is fun and loose, and he’s irreverent — in short, Buffett’s song remains the same, and that should delight Parrotheads everywhere.