“Mother, mother ocean. I have heard you call. Wanted to sail upon your waters since I was three feet tall. You’ve seen it all.”
A Pirate Looks at 40
Those lyrics were written by Jimmy Buffet in 1974. The song “A Pirates Looks at Forty,” was inspired by Phillip Clark. Clark was a modern-day pirate, smuggler, mercenary, and drug runner. Buffett crossed paths with Clark in the Florida Keys.
This song is profound in many ways. It contains the bitter sweat confessions of a washed-up pirate. As he reviews his first forty years. This song pertains to more than a drug smuggler trying to find his way. It resonates with everyone who reaches a milestone birthday.
I first came across this song while working at a Fish house in the Port many of sunsets ago. I was tending bar with a friend named Adam. Afterwork we would over-serve ourselves rum, talk about fishing and listen to music. This song always found a way into our speakers. My friend smiled from ear to ear when it played. It meant a lot to Adam, he was at that crucial point in his life, where being an over forty victim of fate was not an option.
Inside the opening of the song Buffett talks about “ Watching the men who rode you, switch from sails to steam.” This part of the song is a lot more than switching from wind power to a motorboat.
Switching from sail to steam is about the automatic flow and steady gear of life. Sail will take you down a new path. It requires you to wrestle with certain wind patterns and taking life as it comes. Whereas steam, you are on cruise control with little no navigation.
“And in your belly, you hold the treasures few have ever seen Most of them dream, most of them dream.”
Gut feelings can be as distinct as the smell of the saltwater ocean. Yet few of us use our second brain as a reliable source of information. Our gut feelings tend to sail back to our brain and dream the day away.
Clear your gut of garbage and your second brain will show you the treasure. As Buffet says it’s in your Belly.
“Yes I am a pirate, two hundred years too late. The cannons don’t thunder, there’s nothing to plunder. I’m an over-forty victim of fate. Arriving too late, arriving too late”
Over the years I have seen all walks of life belt these lyrics as loud as they can. “Arriving too late, arriving too late.” Is it a mental state or are you too late? At forty, life presents a ton of new opportunities, if you are able to fight through and overlook the swells of life.
Finding a new perspective
At 65, jazz musician Miles Davis defiantly performed his final live album right before he died.
At 55, Pablo Picasso completed his masterpiece, “Guernica. And At 59, “Satchel” Paige became the oldest Major League, baseball player.
To let a number determine your ability in life is to head uptown as Buffet describes.
“My occupational hazard being my occupation’s just not aroundI feel like I’ve drowned, gonna head uptown I feel like I’ve drowned, gonna head uptown”
To capture our youth we need to stop determining our abilities from Family and friends. Especially ones who have been on autopilot for years. Your birth year is but a number. You have to overlook those digits and start sailing again.
The easiest way to do this is by implementing daily gratitude. As for my friend Adam he has a beautiful family and never became a victim of fate.
“And in your belly, you hold the treasures few have ever seen.”
P.s Here is my favorite rendition of A Pirate Looks At Forty.
