Bet that got all you Parrot Heads attention! No this isn't about Jimmy's powerboats; it's about Eileen Quinn's CD, "Miss Inclined". Eileen is a well known, at least in cruising circles, cruiser/song writer/singer. In fact, some would say that you aren't a real cruiser unless you have all her CDs, can sing most of her lyrics and know most of the dance moves for "The Anchoring Dance".
Past CDs have featured such cruising oriented songs as "If I Killed the Captain", "Anchoring Dance", "Piranha Potluck", "Tar Pit Harbor" and "He's Building a Boat". Some poke fun at cruisers and non-cruisers alike while others invoke memories of home and families.
This new album is no exception, mixing poignancy and humor. The title of this article, for example, comes from her song "Where Have all the Pirates Gone?" It pokes fun at all the barstool wannabes at the yacht clubs and harbor-side bars. It took me a couple of hours to stop the chorus from running around in my head:
"Where have all the pirates gone?
They're pumping gas in Marathon
Living in some trailer park
Sail their dreams out after dark
Time flies. You can't stall her
Jimmy Buffet bought a trawler"
Eileen is not prejudiced; she picks on the experienced, too. In "Cruising Too Long" she makes the case that years of experiences can sometimes be a few experiences repeated for years and practice may not make perfect.
"Nothing like experience
to help you get it wrong
we've been cruising far too long"
If you identify with the following signs you, too, may have been cruising too long.
"These are the signs
all the islands look the same
West Marine knows our name
We haven"t cut our hair this year
All our t-shirts mention beer
Cruising too long"
Her song "Going Home" mirrors the family dynamics that many of us can relate to and understand. Initial elation at the gathering of the clan leads to a rehash of childhood events (many of which the parents weren't aware of). Eventually though, all good things come to an end:
"Now this stroll down memory lane
Is going to last about four days
Till someone asks
"when you gonna grow up
and quit your wandering ways?"
I'll remember why it is that I am gone"
This song also features one of my favorite sailing sayings:
" 'cause nothing goes to weather like a 747"
As funny as most of Eileen's songs are, there always seems to be one song on her CDs that really touches your heart. On this CD, for me, it is "Sailing On". Faced with terminal cancer, what do you do?
"the way I see it
this is what I get to choose
two long years of misery
or one short year to cruise"
If you were expecting an unbiased review, this isn't it. I'm an unabashed Eileenophile. I?ll be down at the next SSCA Gam in Annapolis. Eileen is often the evenings entertainment and I'll be up front, singing along and clapping away, surrounded by at least 400 other Eileen fans.
You can find out more about Eileen, her CDs as well as her live engagements and cruising logs at: www.eileenquinn.com.
And Jimmy Buffet bought a trawler?
Capt'n Pauley
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