Steely Dan "Doctor Wu" - Discuss amongst yourselves

I think it's called "genuis"

Literally a minute before you started this thread I interpolated Dr. C's name into the "Dr. Wu" chorus on a thread about Kate's new band. GREAT MINDS etc.

Isn't the lead track "Black Friday"? Anyway, not in my top 10 of Dan tunes. I think it's about dope.

"'The guy who mixed our monitors was interesting too', said [Jeff] Baxter. 'He would set up the monitors so he could hear real well, and he'd get a nice sound that he liked and take out his violin and play with us throughout the set. Everything was really shaky.' The violin-playing monitor mixer was named Jim Jacobs and he had a habit of incessantly playing a tape of Bob Dylan's 'Visions of Johanna' through Steely Dan's sound system before gigs, a custom Becker and Fagen would refer to in 'Doctor Wu', one of the songs on Katy Lied. 'All night long/We would sing that stupid song' referred to Dylan's 'Visions of Johanna'."

p.66, Steely Dan: Reelin' in the Years by Brian Sweet.

yea, i didn't even know it was a Steely Dan cover until a week ago. I only have Pretzel Logic..

it's not as though SD are "exposing the depravity behind the gilded curtain of 50s normalcy" or something--they make a strong case for depravity being quite normal itself and an apt subject for wan-eyed nostalgia.

also yeah there's some kind of cryptic love song going on here too.

ok i'll give up.

Am I the only person who interprets the chorus of this song as the protagonist's pusher OD-ing after his affair w/Katy is revealed?

Katy tried
I was halfway crucified
I was on the other side
Of no tomorrow
You walked in
And my life began again
Just when I'd spent the last piaster
I could borrow
All night long
We would sing that stupid song
And every word we sang
I knew was true
Are you with me Doctor Wu
Are you really just a shadow
Of the man that I once knew
Are you crazy are you high
Or just an ordinary guy
Have you done all you can do
Are you with me Doctor

Don't seem right
I've been strung out here all night
I've been waiting for the taste
You said you'd bring to me
Biscayne Bay
Where the Cuban gentlemen sleep all day
I went searching for the song
You used to sing to me
Katy lies
You could see it in her eyes
But imagine my surprise
When I saw you

Are you with me Doctor Wu
Are you really just a shadow
Of the man that I once knew
She is lovely yes she's sly
And you're an ordinary guy
Has she finally got to you
Can you hear me Doctor

What a great song.

Speaking of weird lyrics from "Katy Lied", any ideas on "Everyone's Gone To The Movies"? Is it seen from the viewpoint of a child molester? At least it may be interpreted that way:

EVERYONE'S GONE TO THE MOVIES

Kids if you want some fun
Mr. LaPage is your man
He's always laughing, having fun
Showing his films in the den
Come on, come on
Soon you will be eighteen
I think you know what I mean
Don't tell your mama
Your daddy or mama
They'll never know where you been
CHORUS:
Everyone's gone to the movies
Now we're alone at last

Listen to what I say
He wants to show you the way
Right down the hallway with open arms
To teach you a new game to play
Come on, come on
Soon it will be too late
Bobbing for apples can wait
We know you're used to sixteen or more
Sorry we only have eight

CHORUS

Kids if you want some fun
See what you never have seen
Take off your cheaters and sit right down
Start the projection machine

CHORUS

YES IT IS

that one's pretty damn obvious ... though the constant shifting back and forth between first and third person is kinda weird and unsettling.

I don't know if he's supposed to be an out and out kiddy fiddler so much as a corrupter of youth, or enlightener of youth depending on the narrator's perspective.

I was just listening to this in the bathroom at work today. It's like it's almost about drugs.

the lyrics too seem to evoke some bygone bohemia (this is true of lots of SD lyrics)

Amateur(ist) very much otm here

Doctor Wu is one of my favorite SD songs!

The lyrics never made much sense to me, but reading them right now it seems pretty obvious that he had some kind of break up with that lying Katy and hit rock bottom until Doctor Wu showed up with an opium cure for his sorrows.

I'd love to perform a karaoke version of this song, too bad it isn't one of their more popular ones.

Doctor Wu could be a dope peddler, dope itself or just that "friend" that appears in your life when you're desperate enough to befriend anyone. OTOH, the last section (with the Doctor getting involved with Katy) is more perplexing.

I've said it before, but like quite a few SD songs, I love the melody of the verses but can't reconcile the chorus with that melody.

She is lovely yes she's sly
And you're an ordinary guy
Has she finally got to you

saddest steely dan lyrics ever. and with those changes underneath them, they're almost unbearable.

http://muttscomics.com/cast/images/drwoo/drwoo.gif