Any Manual Labor I've Done
Was purely by mistake
Every September, we celebrate the social and economic achievements of the American worker, and for a self-described lazy man,1 Jimmy Buffett sure did achieve a lot, both socially and economically — his life was charmingly ironic that way.
Over the course of 50+ years in the bidness, Jimmy released 30+ studio albums (not counting live albums and box sets), toured relentlessly,2 acted in dozens of movies (sometimes playing himself, often not), and wrote three New York Times bestsellers (both fiction and nonfiction) and a number of children’s books — and that’s just on the creative side. He’s also been praised for his business acumen, as evidenced by a restaurant empire, hotels, beer and tequila brands, retirement communities, and even a proprietary brand of cannabis (“Coral Reefer,” natch).
So how did such an allegedly lazy man get so much done? In a 2016 article, the New York Times says that the story of the Margaritaville empire begins in the mid-1990s with a nap.3
According to legend, Jimmy was napping when a local businessman stopped by his home to discuss building the Margaritaville brand. A wise man once told me that behind many a great man, is a great woman, and Jimmy was no exception: his wife, Jane, woke him up from his nap, he had the meeting, and the rest is history.4
So on this Labor Day, raise a Hurricane glass to Jimmy, Jane, napping, and the American worker!
“I’ve been lazy most all my life, writing songs and sleeping late…” - “It’s My Job,” a deep-ish cut written by Mac MacAnally.
At some point, he decreed that his band would only perform on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays — what a flex!
To be fair, there are pix online (including in this article) of Jimmy napping in the ‘70s and ‘80s, so I suspect he spent a lot of time honing his craft.
I have to wonder how he felt in the moment of being awakened prematurely. I also have to wonder what sort of napping cheat codes he employed.