Jimmy Buffett – Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes

Good times and riches and son-of-a-bitches I’ve seen more than I can recall

When I got Jimmy Buffett’s greatest hits in the 80s this is one song that stood out to me. The greatest hits was called “Songs You Know By Heart.” I didn’t know much about the guy before then but he was intriguing. This song grew on me more through the years because I could start relating to the song more and more. 

Of course, I knew Margaritaville well and I remembered Come Monday but the rest were new to me. He had some serious songs like A Pirate Looks At Forty and then he had Why Don’t We Get Drunk and Screw and Cheeseburger in Paradise.

In my past posts about Buffett I told people if they had a chance to see him…do it. His concerts were the perfect place to take a date to. I’ve never been to a concert that was such a party atmosphere. I saw him twice and remember Beach Balls being up in the air the entire concert…swatted by the audience. 

The song is the title track of Buffett’s 1977 album Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes. This album marked a turning point in Buffett’s career, contributing to his growing popularity and being known as “Gulf and Western,” a blend of country, folk, rock, and Caribbean influences.

This was also the name of his seventh studio album which included the song he was forever known for, Margaritaville. The album peaked at #12 on the Billboard Album Charts, #2 on the Billboard Country Charts, and #43 in Canada in 1977. 

The song peaked at #37 on the Billboard 100, #24 on the Billboard Country Charts, #34 in Canada, and #21 on the Canadian Country Charts in 1977.

Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes

I took off for a weekend last month just to try and recall the whole yearAll of the faces and all of the places wonderin’ where they all disappearedI didn’t ponder the question too long, I was hungry and went out for a biteRan into a chum with a bottle of rum and we wound up drinkin’ all night

It’s those changes in latitudes, changes in attitudesNothing remains quite the sameWith all of our running and all of our cunningIf we couldn’t laugh we would all go insane

Reading departure signs in some big airport reminds me of the places I’ve beenVisions of good times that brought so much pleasure makes me want to go back againIf it suddenly ended tomorrow I could somehow adjust to the fallGood times and riches and son-of-a-bitches I’ve seen more than I can recall

These changes in latitudes, changes in attitudesNothing remains quite the sameThrough all of the islands and all of the highlandsIf we couldn’t laugh we would all go insane

I think about Paris when I’m high on red wine I wish I could jump on a planeSo many nights I just dream of the ocean, god I wish I was sailin’ againOh, yesterday’s over my shoulder, so I can’t look back for too longThere’s just too much to see waiting in front of me and I know that I just can’t go wrong

With these changes in latitudes, changes in attitudesNothing remains quite the sameWith all of my running and all of my cunningIf I couldn’t laugh I just would go insaneIf we couldn’t laugh we just would go insaneIf we weren’t all crazy we would go insane

..

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

37 thoughts on “Jimmy Buffett – Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes”

  2. Pingback: Jimmy Buffett – Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes – MobsterTiger

    1. Yes he is… it was either this one or Why Don’t We Get Drunk…so I picked this one. He is an artist I found early….and didn’t fully appreciate him until I got older.

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  6. Good song, and one of the four or so by him that I know instantly. When you read the lyrics you can see why his lifestyle and philosophy really had widespread appeal… Mr Anti-Ratrace. I wonder A) are there guys out there that are Buffett tribute acts, and B) would that work? Would the Parrotheads take to them now that Jimmy is no longer with us and create the same atmosphere in the shows?
    An aside, my sweetie didn’t like him and HATED ‘Margaritaville’… but we ended up watching an infomercial once on one of his Margaritaville communities in SC, and she was saying ‘that’s pretty nice. I wouldn’t mind that really’

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    1. Yes there is a tribute band….they are called A1A…Dave I think every artist now has one…we have talked about this before but very soon if we want to hear this music live…that will be the only choice. Some of them sound better than the current artist. I saw a clip of a Stones tribute band that sounds like them in 1972…so naturally I’m going to love that.
      They are pretty popular so I assume it works with the Buffett fans.
      That is cool…she probably would have liked his concerts. Bailey and I ate at a Margaritaville bar before going to see The Who…

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      1. My brother & sister in law went to one of the Margaritaville bar/restaurants , probably in Las Vegas I think; they brought home glasses.
        Christian’s concert that he promotes each year shows the range of good cover acts out there these days. With Buffett though, it would be comparatively easy I think for someone to get his sound but the big question is would the crowd react the same and make it like one of Buffett’s real beach party type things. Hopefully so

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      2. You make a good point…would it be a festive atmosphere that he produced? I would go see one…just to do it.

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  10. I love Jimmy Buffett and his music, and any post pertaining to the man from Mississippi so thanks for this post! Even his last album released posthumously featured a very good track, “Bubbles Up.”
    He painted such an incredible escapist scene for most anyone who connected with his lifestyle and his music. There’s so much of a simplistic, nostalgic, laisse-faire, carefree attitude in his music that it was hard not to want to be like him at times, and this song seems to bring it all together nicely in a pleasant three minute jam like only Jimmy Buffett could do.

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    1. I’m with you…I loved how he didn’t take himself seriously with songs like Why Don’t we Get Drunk and Door Number 3…but yet has songs like A Pirate Looks at Forty and this one which means something.
      I got to see him twice and both times was a fun concert to go to. He brought the Carribean style with him…and it was a cool atmosphere.
      You know….Paul McCartney was saying how much he liked Bubbles Up…I have to check that album out.

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  11. He was a good songwriter for the people and encouraged getting along. I remember you posting a song about an experience he had in a club where he fought with someone? Sorry that’s all I remember.

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    1. I’m with you on that…it is truly worn out. I do like the line “blew out my flip flop stepped on a pop top…cut my heel, had to cruise on back home”…is one of my favorite lyrics…why I don’t know.

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      1. He was a mostly a real good time guy, although I may have said before (to either you or Dave) I couldn’t listen to ‘A Pirate Looks At 40’ for years after my brother died without tearing up. He loved and, in some ways, lived that song.

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      2. No you never told me I don’t think… I can see that with that song.
        He could surprise you with a song like that and then turn around with Why Don’t We Get Drunk or as you alluded to….Cheeseburger in Paradise.

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  14. While I feel I’ve known the name Jimmy Buffett for decades, I’m afraid “Margaritaville” still remains the only song I can name. I may have heard “Come Monday” but can’t say for sure. “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes” is definitely all new to me. “If we weren’t all crazy we would go insane” is a good line!

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  15. I enjoyed Jimmy Buffett’s tropical rock sound and persona. I met him many years ago during Octoberfest in Key West, and he was friendly and down-to-earth. He promoted a lifestyle of “island escapism”, which if the allure of Key West.

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    1. Glad you told me that…I have heard he was really a nice person when people met him. He seemed like a down to earth kind of guy.

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