Album: One Particular Harbour (1983)

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• Ia ora te natura
  E mea arofa teie ao nei
  Ia ora te natura
  E mea arofa teie ao nei
  I know I don't get there often enough
  But God knows I surely try
  It's a magic kind of medicine
  That no doctor could prescribe
  I used to rule my world from a pay phone
  Ships out on the sea
  But now times are rough
  And I got too much stuff
  Can't explain likes of me
  
  [Chorus:]
  But there's this one particular harbour
  So far but yet so near
  Where I see the days as they fade away
  And finally disappear
  But now I think about the good times
  Down in the Caribbean sunshine
  In my younger days I was so bad
  Laughin' about all the fun we had
  I seen enough to feel the world spin
  Mixin' different oceans meetin' cousins
  Listen to the drummers and the night sounds
  Listen to the singers make the world go 'round
  (pan solo)
  Ia ora te natura
  E mea arofa teie ao nei
  Ia ora te natura
  E mea arofa teie ao nei
  Lakes below the mountain
  Flow into the sea
  Like oils applied to canvas
  They permeate through me
  And there's that one particular harbour
  Sheltered from the wind
  Where the children play on the shore each day
  And all are safe within
  Most mysterious calling harbour
  So far but yet so near
  I can see the day when my hair's full gray
  And I finally disappear
  Ia ora te natura
  E mea arofa teie ao nei
  Ia ora te natura
  E mea arofa teie ao nei
  Ia ora te natura
  E mea arofa teie ao nei
  Ia ora te natura (Ua pau te maitai no te fenua)
  E mea arofa teie ao nei
  Ia ora te natura
  E mea arofa teie ao nei
  Ia ora te natura (Ua pau te maitai no te fenua)
  E mea arofa teie ao nei, hey now, hey now, hey now
  Ia ora te natura
  E mea arofa teie ao nei
  Ua pau te maitai no te fenua [Bounty of the land is exhausted]
  Te zai noa ra te ora o te mitie [But there's still abundance in the sea]
  Ua pau te maitai no te fenua
  Te zai noa ra te ora o te mitie Writer/s: JAY OLIVER, Jay R. Oliver, Jimmy Buffett, Roger Guth
  Publisher: Royalty Network, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
  Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 17

• Lady Di from Ormond Beach FloridaI miss Jimmy’s presence on this earth
• Kimo Dejon from Arizona From HawaiiI'll keep my comment brief and with facts...and try to be the adult here and leave the profanity out of it. There is no doubt or gray area as to where One Particular Harbor was written about...it was from a hilltop on Moorea ( my favorite island ) looking down on Cooks Bay! Not even close when one comment says Huahine...the lyrics speak to 'one particular harbor" - not one particular marae!
• Mark Mcadams from Newport Beach, CaHugh Kelly was one of the Bali Hai Boys who had left Newport Beach. His nickname was "Muk," and he was friends with my father in law, Robert DeRuff.
  I had the privilege of visiting Muk's house on the top of the mountain overlooking Cook's Bay in 1984. The trip up the mountain was very steep on a dirt road in an SUV (probably the only one on the island at the time) There were steep spots were the dirt path had been strengthened by a concrete support so that the tires wouldn't spin out.
  
  The house was very nice and maintained yet it was very "original" including the shag carpet. The highlight was the view down to the harbor. It was spectacular. It was there that our guide told us that Jimmy Buffet had been/partied there and that the view was the inspiration for "One Particular Harbor."
• Coconutjenn from North Queensland, AustraliaInteresting that I have heard from a connection in Huahine Tahiti, that One Particular Harbour was written there by Jimmy Buffett & Bobby Holcombe at an ancient Marae overlooking the village of Maeva.
• Larry Krueger from Deer Park, Tx"can't explain the likes of me" should be "can't FATHOM the likes of me. Get it right !! Sheesh !
• Stukka63 from St.augustine,fla.I flew Air France to Papitia (or however the f*ck you spell it) a few years back.
  My wife was with me n she was like, “this is gonna be a disaster” I could see it in her eyes.
  So we’re on Bora Bora on the beach n she’s topless wearing a thong type bikini bottom.
  Same guys kept walking by staring at her. I’m like really?
  So the next day we went on a shark feeding adventure.
  Reef sharks everywhere. We’re in the water snorkeling. Next thing I know, A guy in the boat just unloads the chum buckets. I’m like oh shjt. Freaking sharks trying to bite my fins.
  Long story short, it was a cool trip.
  Side note. Then flying back to Cali...........This was a 747 and the lights n power would fade, n I swear it was like the engines would throttle down. I was like, please don’t set this thing down in the Pacific. My wife was like, omg scared to death.
• Ken from Pensacola Beach, FlI've loved this song since it's debut in 1983. Nowadays I see it as the metaphor for that final end. It gives me a rare comfort to view it as that safe and final harbor... after all, what can harm you once you're there? I don't exactly look forward to it, but at 50-something, this particular song has diminished my fear of it. It makes it seem almost comforting in a way.
• Terry from Colchester, VtWe all have that 'One particular Harbor'. I would have to say mine is Cane Garden Bay, Tortola, BVI. It's is unbelievably beautiful. With wild chickens and goats running down out of the mountains to mingle with the tourists. I'm sure some of those chickens end up on the grill at the cabana cafes there.
• Maureen from Winter Haven , Flhi Lived there when Jimmy came to Moorea saw him play at the bar at Hotel Bali Hai. All the Tahitians wanted him to play Cheese Burger in Paradise. Most of them of them didn't understand English, but they loved it. The view from Hugh Kelly's house is so breath taking I can see how Jimmy wrote One particular Harbor. Seeing what he saw and living there for 15 years that song will always have a special place in my heart
• Jim from Hamilton, NjSmoke in Belmar? As in Smoke the PJ?
• Smoke from Belmar, NjZack, What bar in Manasquan? I'm from Belmar right next door to manasquan
• Steve from Boston, MaKalyn....very nicely said. You seem like a genuine nice person and a truly good friend.
• Joe from Atlanta, Ga"Ia ora te natura. E mea arofa teie ao nei" are Tahitian phrashes that translate to:
  Nature Lives (Life to Nature), Have pity for the Earth (Love the Earth)
• Kalyn from Springfield, IlI was introduced to this song by a long time friend. He told me that no matter what was happening in his crazy life, I was his One Particular Harbor = where he felt safe and calm, and even though we had become separated by 200 miles (so far, and yet so near), we don't get together "often enough". I've seen him though the ups and downs of his life, two successful careers, the raising of his sons, the deaths of his wife, brother, and most recently, his father. Buffett has his story of this song, I have mine.
  - Kathylynn, Springfield, IL
• Annabelle from Eugene, OrWhat is the origin and nationality of the words, "Ia ora te natura. E mea arofa teie ao nei", and what do they mean?
• Zack from Vero Beach, Flthere is a beach bar in Manasquan, New Jersey, when ever this song plays all of the cooks and bartenders start banging on all of the pots pans and bottles. This song just makes you want to cut loose
• Brian from Providence, RiTo me, that that "one particular harbor" is that one place where you go to get away. Whether its a mental moment of solitude where everything is centered, or a physical place where you finally feel at ease. Even though Jimmy gave the explanation, I really feel like that when I listen to the lyrics.

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