Give up the Good

I went to my happy place this weekend.

My first, though hopefully not last, Jimmy Buffett concert. It was incredible. There were hippies and beach bums (I fall into category No. 2) tailgating in the parking lot starting at least 12 hours before the concert started. People in coconut bras and grass skirts doing shots three at a time. When we finally got in the park, we were part of The Lawn People. Jimmy called us out several times to say hello and ask if we were having fun. From the looks (and smell) of things, yes, we were all definitely having a good time.

So we’re all out there, bouncing beach balls around. One of them had a message that its owners needed help paying for their wedding and left the address for where to send our contribution. Uh, no.

Some people were barely dressed; others were barely standing. One guy was passed out until midway through the show, what a waste!

JB started with One Particular Harbor. I expected to hear that one, and it was just as good as I’d hoped. Some artists don’t sound nearly as good live as they do on the CD, and that’s always disappointing, am I right? But Jimmy sounds just the same, and he’s been doing this for so long that he’s probably more comfortable on stage than off.

Weeks ago, the hubby hunted up a chart online that listed the times Jimmy had played each of his songs at past shows. A few songs were listed at 100%. There was no way he wasn’t going to play Margaritaville, A Pirate Looks at 40, Cheeseburger in Paradise, and a handful of others.

So we were browsing this list and hubby scrolled down to find the probability that we’d hear one of my very favorite songs. Scarlet Begonias is a Grateful Dead cover and (I’d venture to guess) relatively unnoticed except among the most diehard Parrotheads. But it’s on my top 10 list. I love it so much that I made it my default ringtone (so give me a call so I can hear it!)

Sadly, the likelihood that he’d play it was next to nothing. At the time we checked this list, he hadn’t played Scarlet Begonias in the past 46 shows. Disappointing, but not unexpected. I like nearly all his songs so it didn’t matter much to me what he played as long as I got to hear Come Monday (my karaoke jam), and that one had nearly 100% chance. I was a happy girl.

I’ve known all the lyrics to all the songs for years, but the hubby took a crash course and earned his swimfins in just a couple of weeks. I was so proud to hear him singing a different song every morning as we got ready for work. I’m pretty sure I fell a little bit more in love with him every time I heard him sing a new song.

Of course, he has his favorites too. As the end of the night neared, he griped that Jimmy might not play Fins. That was one of the most played songs! But I was sure he’d play it and tried to be patient. There were a couple songs played that I didn’t recognize, which surprised me. I feel like a bad Parrothead, so I have a little research to do.

The end of the regular set. Now, encore. Still hadn’t played Fins, but I wasn’t worried. Hubby was. Jimmy started again with a couple of songs that hubby really likes, so he was trying to console himself with those. No matter what, it was a great show and I wouldn’t be disappointed. This night was on my bucket list, so there’s no way I could go home unhappy (unless someone stole my $35 t-shirt, and thankfully that didn’t happen, but I was a little fearful of beer spills from all the drunken passers-by.)

There’s no way I can do justice to this part of the story with mere words, so I’ll just jump right in. The third song of the encore started. I felt like I was playing Name That Tune, because about three seconds in, I knew what it was. I think it took me longer than one second only because it was so unexpected. I turned to hubby with my eyes wide, hands covering my mouth in shock. I was having trouble breathing. Because I was hearing the first notes of Scarlet Begonias.

Later hubby said that even though Jimmy didn’t play several of the songs he wanted to hear, seeing the look on my face during Scarlet Begonias was worth missing them.

As we left the venue, I was still in shock that I’d actually heard Jimmy play that song. It wasn’t impossible of course, but the improbability of it made it so hard to believe I’d just heard what I’d heard. And it made it that much better too, because it was so unlikely. This might seem like a stretch, but to me, it’s not: This is not unlike understanding grace. That God’s grace can be free makes no sense to me. That I can’t do anything to earn salvation seems so unlikely. What does make sense is that if I’m good enough, I’ll go to heaven. If I do more good than harm, help enough old ladies cross the street, I’ll get my ticket to paradise. The improbability that this logic could be wrong and that God could give salvation freely to all who believe makes the realization that much sweeter when it finally sinks in.

I was ecstatic while I was singing along with Scarlet Begonias, but it didn’t sink in until later that I’d actually heard him sing the song I’ve adored for years. I was still disbelieving the morning after the concert. I know it’s true, but it’s still sinking in. Understanding grace might take a while to sink in too. But believe it; it’s worth it and it will change your life.

So we listened to the rest of the show, an altogether amazing experience. I will never forget those first few seconds when I realized I was going to receive the most unlikely gift from my favorite artist.

Oh yea, I almost forgot. The last song of the night? Fins.