So I had my “arranger hat” on this morning, working on a handbell arrangement of “Fins 1,” by Jimmy Buffett, when I had the familiar thought: “I wonder if anyone has ever played this on handbells before?”
Of course, every time we do a Chime In experience, we try to do a new song that’s relevant to that team, as part of customizing the exercise for that group. Many times I’ve commented about a new arrangement, for instance, “This may be the first time anyone’s ever done Here I Go Again (by Whitesnake) on handbells!”
But what are the odds that it really is the first time? Well, after doing a little research and some math, it turns out: eh, not so great. After all, Fins and Here I Go Again (and all the other classic rock soungs) are at least 35 years old, and there are a lot of handbell sets out there[citation needed]. I didn’t have to go past my own family to hear my brother-in-law say last year, “We played Sweet Home Alabama on handbells last week!” Granted, my family is pretty music-centered, but there are a lot of creative minds out there, and lots of occasions to play someone’s favorite song. Or in this case, play a song reminding the honoree of a loss his team had suffered recently…
So yeah, the first time I use it with a Music Party or team building exercise, maybe I’ll need to change that to something like, “This may be the first time anyone’s played Fins on Belleplates as part of a team builder!” The odds will be more in my favor that way.
Anyway, the important thing is, if a song is unexpected but relevant to the group playing it, it will be unique to them, memorable, and the experience will affect them in a great way. Maybe we’ll only be doing Fins with hard-core Buffett fans 2, but when it’s time… we’ll have an arrangement ready 3!
Fins Up!
– Phil
1 If you’re not familiar, Fins is a fun song about a girl who moves from Ohio to a beach down south, and later to Antigua, but wherever she goes she has to watch out for sharks (men) at the local bars. “She’s got fins to the left, fins to the right, and she’s the only bait (available girl) in town.”
2 Fins is part of Jimmy’s “Big 8,” songs that he plays at pretty much every concert. If you hear the Jaws theme at his concert, or he yells “Fins to the Left!” or “Fins up!”, you’re about to hear this song.
3 Fins is BMI Work # 417967, ASCAP Work ID: 360158858, and we have performance licenses to play BMI and ASCAP songs. If you care about that sort of thing.
