Steely Dan: "Steely Dan's name has been popping up as a hip musical crush. Remember, this glossy bop-pop was the indifferent aristocracy to punk rock's stone-throwing in the late 70's. People fought

I don't believe anything they say about their own songs.

Drug Den fits my theory of the whole thing being about a botched drug deal

Ok fair enough "Pearl of the Quarter" is probably not the secret best Dan number, maybe I just have a soft spot for pedal steel (courtesy of The Skunk), but with all the Royal Scam love on this thread surely we can all agree that the actual secret best Steely Dan song is "Haitian Divorce"?

Not so secret in this house! My poor wife (who has come around the the 'Dan in recent years) once listened to me 'translate' each line of the song in real time, trying to mansplain the brilliance of it, lyric by lyric. I was younger and more arrogant / insufferable then, it is true; it's a wonder she didn't take the song's, err, advice to heart.

But yeah, I really, really love "Haitian Divorce."

Only thing keeping this song from being a perfect '10' is the dreadful talkbox effect on the guitar solo.

guy in my store yesterday:

"I like Steely Dan, too, he's sick..."

"Steely" Dan Kaplowitz

I think the sleaziness of the Haitian Divorce narrative justifies that guitar effect

Because you are the magnet, and I'm

http://i.imgur.com/Tec762V.jpg

One of the things that I love about "Gaucho" (the song) is now the odd rhythm of the lyric mimics the rhythm of a real argument, and the band follows that -- it almost sounds like one of those compositions written to match a piece of recorded speech.

But you...don't seem to understand

gaucho the song is abt an old rich guy who's young live-in boyfriend brings home someone he thinks is sketchy and/or uncouth

they said in some interview once that the Custerdome is a made up name of a high-rise building

cant believe it was about this time last year we were pollin'

gaucho the song is abt an old rich guy who's young live-in boyfriend brings home someone he thinks is sketchy and/or uncouth

they said in some interview once that the Custerdome is a made up name of a high-rise building

― gr8080, Monday, March 9, 2015 10:04 AM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I think this is right but I think what happens is that the "old rich guy" is a drug dealer sketchy/uncouth guy gets in the way of a drug deal. "Just when I say 'Boy we can't miss, you are golden' then you do this" -- the boyfriend has gotten him some lucrative business previously but now is botching the current situation. "We got heavy rollers I think you should know" = we're dealing with people you don't fuck around with like this, stop embarrassing me (the "they" who are "laughing at me.")

Sometimes I think the chorus is actually in the voice of a different person, one of the 'guests' who is laughing at the speaker in the verses. The verses are an argument taking place somewhere off to the side while the guests are in the main room, the chorus is what the person (either a customer or a "connect" said -- I thought maybe the Spanish was supposed to imply a connect from south of the border).

i cant believe that there have been dozens of SD tribute bands and zero have used the name "Bodacious Cowboys"

Custerdome would also be a good DIY venue name.

lol yes

Sometimes I think the chorus is actually in the voice of a different person, one of the 'guests' who is laughing at the speaker in the verses.

that's what I think

one of the women in the bar

Sometimes I think of Gaucho the song as just an exaggeration of the social stigma of bringing an outsider into the realm of the "elites." The fact that the outsider in this situation is a bodacious cowboy who dresses strangely highlights the silliness of the social politics of people who have way too much money.

"It says "Bodacious Cowboys Will Never Be Welcome Here" right there on the front door! Can't you read?"

i cant believe that there have been dozens of SD tribute bands and zero have used the name "Bodacious Cowboys"

― gr8080, Monday, March 9, 2015 10:28 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Custerdome would also be a good DIY venue name.

― five six and (man alive), Monday, March 9, 2015 10:31 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The Bodacious Cowboys/
Every Weekend...From Seven to 10PM/
Live at the Custerdome!

speaker in the chorus of "Gaucho" is actually the heavy honcho who the speaker in the verses is hoping to impress imo

yeah that's what I think

I almost feel like the verse speaker could be the same speaker as Glamour Profession when he's behind the scenes/not putting on his persona.

I hesistate to agree only because the female background vocalists dominate, so I imagine a group of attractive women laughing at the Gaucho behind his back.

btw this song has special resonance for me. One of my closest friends, a SD nut and singer-keyboardist in his own band, gets called "the Gaucho" by me cuz he's slightly ridiculous, snapping his fingers like a foooool.

I hesistate to agree only because the female background vocalists dominate, so I imagine a group of attractive women laughing at the Gaucho behind his back.

Nah, it's definitely a macho and homophobic man.

isn't Glamour Profession about Len Bias?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Len_Bias

isn't Glamour Profession about Len Bias?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Len_Bias

― Iago Galdston, Monday, March 9, 2015 2:33 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Seems unlikely, given that it was recorded when he was in high school.

It's definitely about a drug deal who makes deliveries to basketball players and celebrities though.

*dealer

I hesistate to agree only because the female background vocalists dominate, so I imagine a group of attractive women laughing at the Gaucho behind his back.

I do think of the speaker articulating his thoughts in part to elicit amused agreement from the women at the party / gathering, for sure. It makes me feel really bad for the gaucho tbh. Like when the speaker says "don't tell me he'll wait in the car," I feel like I'm about to be told "go wait in the car" and I'm going to have to just suck it up and wait out there, no internet, maybe some 8-tracks, who knows how long I'll be out there. Except that's not good enough for the anti-Gaucho, who wants to drop me off at the onramp. Show love to the Gaucho you assholes not everybody has your sterling cocaine cowboy fashion sense and you're not all as cool as you actually think you are

It's definitely important to the song that the speaker (of the verses) himself is not a true "heavy roller," but a smalltime guy trying to break into the bigtime, hence his extra-anxious reaction to the gaucho.

right yeah that is important and in part explains why he's being such a dick

I think the sleaziness of the Haitian Divorce narrative justifies that guitar effect

― Iago Galdston, Tuesday, March 3, 2015 4:02 PM (6 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

how is this not the board description yet

also, how is "explain Steely Dan lyrics" not already a college course

how much does the scenario in "Gaucho" owe to Springsteen's "Meeting Across the River"?

also Lou Reed's "Street Hassle"

how much does the scenario in "Gaucho" owe to Springsteen's "Meeting Across the River"?

― bernard snowy, Monday, March 9, 2015 6:05 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

also Lou Reed's "Street Hassle"

― ancient texts, things that can't be pre-dated (President Keyes)

I'd love to hear Walter Becker's response to these

Challop alert: Kid Charlemagne is overrated. Too busy, both musically and lyrically.

you crazy

but threads like this make me love ILX

It's good, but it's too uptight, the bouncy bass, the bouncy keyboards, the heavy-handed open hi-hat and snare hits, the way he crams in the lyrics

It would be cool to hear a sparer arrangement of it, don't know if there's a demo out there or something

yeah there are lots of demos and stuff out there for everything from Katy Lied through Gaucho....

did you realize you were a challop in their eyes

Kid Charlemagne is not my favorite, however it might have the best Steely guitar solo, and Don and Walt didn't fuck around w/r/t guitar solos

the best SD solo is "Green Earrings" hands fucking down, IF ONLY for the moment it ends, like a bomb going off

I'll put in my vote for the "Your Gold Teeth II" solo

give me the four 'My Old School' solos. so weird and awesome. Walter is great, but Baxter is just ridiculous.

Yeah, those solos are out of this world.

I achieved something of a dream of mine by learning to play them all last summer and basically that was all I played on guitar for like a month. A few weeks ago though, I remembered that I had done that and went to try to play them and had totally forgotten everything.

I was actually just admiring the guitar solo on Aja, it's beautiful. I never payed as much attention to it because I'm usually just anticipating the awesome Steve Gadd fills at the point where it comes in.

don't worry how's life, skunk probably can't remember them either