Theories of Laughter...and Jimmy Buffett

While reading the first assignment, "Traditional Theories of Laughter and Humor," Jimmy Buffett's "Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes" kept echoing in the back of my head--especially while perusing Freud and Bergson's theories of humor. Ironically, this particular song isn't really funny, which is unusual for the singer-songwriter; Buffett often contemplates issues of sexuality and general debauchery under clever and humorous island metaphors (i.e., "Cheeseburger in Paradise" and "Fins") or in more blatant narrative ballads (i.e., "Why Don't We Get Drunk" and "Pencil Thin Mustache"). At any rate, the reason "Changes in Latitudes" sticks out in the context of our readings is because of its final chorus line: "If we couldn't laugh we would all go insane" (12).

By linking laughter and mental function, Buffett reminds listeners to take a break from "all of our running and all of our cunning" (13), and this reminder coalesces with Freud's assertion that a humorous attitude is "recognizing and smiling at the triviality of the interests and sufferings which seem...so big" (114). Freud also points out that this type of attitude often exists when the person (or the superego of the person) with this humorous attitude is taking on the role of a father-like superior--almost as if this person (or superego) has wisdom to offer (114.). This father-son role is relevant when examining "Changes in Latitudes," as Buffett's narrator (or, if we consider him to be singing to an audience at a concert, Buffett himself) relays his experiences under "I" first. In fact, the opening verse begins, "I took off for a weekend" and continues with "I didn't ponder" and "I was hungry" (1-6). The pattern of developing an "I" centered verse and then following with a "we" centered chorus persists throughout the song: the narrator's personal struggles become a collective reason to laugh, at least in its "value of demonstration" (Freud 116) for listeners or audience members.

Yet this notion of collectively in "Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes" extends beyond Freud's ego-superego jargon when applying it to Bergson's "Essay on the Meaning of the Comic," where Bergson suggests that "the art of the comic poet consists in making us so well acquainted with the particular vice, in introducing us, the spectators...that in the end we..get hold of some of the strings...with which he...is playing, and actually work them ourselves" (123). In fact, Bergson's main thesis seems to be that laughter is rooted in social commonality, a sense of shared humanity (121-3), that, by extension, is absurd. What makes Buffett's song special in this context is its wide geographic appeal to "all of the faces and all of the places" (3) and the way in which the final line "if we couldn't laugh we would all go insane" also becomes universally applicable. Indeed, whereas Bergson claims the comic subtly hands over the "strings," here Buffett's narrator goes beyond that traditional role--instead telling everyone how to obtain these metaphorical strings of comedy and empowering audiences to become comics themselves.

Full lyrics can be obtained here: http://www.buffettworld.com/song-lyrics/changes/