Savannah Fare You Well

Listen while you read:  It was good to meet ya.

There is something in the wind tonight
Some kind of change of weather
Somewhere some devil's mixing fire and ice together
I got a feeling that the dark side of the moon is on the rise
Black as a crow's feather

Now I could stay another day or two
But what's the use of stalling
Deep in the winter even holdout leaves start falling
Lately every night above the declarations of our love
I hear the road calling

It's such a fragile magic
A puff of wind can break the spell
And all the golden threads are frail as spider webs
Savannah, fare you well

In a vision I had yesterday
It rained so hard that I drowned
While I waited for a hurricane to die down
The raging water rolling over me was wild as a heart
That love cannot tie down

~ Hugh Prestwood (for Jimmy Buffett)

This song appears on Jimmy Buffett's 24th studio album (the first on his very own record company label), 2002's Far Side of the World. The album was inspired by a trip he took to Africa. So what's a song about Savannah doing on it? Well, Buffett liked the title and felt that the word "savannah"(a sub-tropical grassland) fit in with his African theme. Seems to me that the song could be about the city in Georgia or about a woman named Savannah . . . or both. Anyway, surprise! I'm in Savannah!

This is pretty much my first visit to Savannah. (I was here once before, but the wind was so wild, it was not conducive to touristy stuff.) And yes, I read Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil when it came out in 1994. It has taken me a long time to finally get to see what Savannah's all about. And, like the persona of the song, I could stay another day or two.

We spent our time on the Savannah Riverfront, strolling along, sometimes on cobblestone streets. It was a perfectly beautiful day. First stop was an open-door pub for Bloody Marys and crab cakes. A bit of window-shopping, reading historical markers, and walking under Spanish moss-laden trees (golden threads are frail as spider webs) culminated in the purchase of dark chocolate-covered peanuts at Nuts Over Savannah. and then we heard the road calling.

It's such a fragile magic
A puff of wind can break the spell
Savannah, fare you well