Steely Dan

[a.miller]

my latest guilty obsession...

 

Seriously....I've never been into this band before. Now I can't get enough.

[cryptique]

Steely Dan were (and are) amazing. People who say they don't like them are probably just trying to look cool.

[stooka]

It must have been my lucky Thursday

Your dad went on that spree

Before the crew could put out the fires

You hopped a bus for NYC

Down in Tampa the future looked desperate and dark

Now you're the wonderwaif of Gramercy Park

 

CHORUS:

Who makes the morning fabulous

Who says today's a fun day

Why do I feel like sailing again

Honey it's you - Janie Runaway

 

Let's grab some takeout from Dean and Deluca

A hearty gulping wine

You be the showgirl and I'll be Sinatra

Way back in '59

Sweetness in heels - look at you - in long black gloves

Come to old blue eyes tell me - who do you love

 

CHORUS:

Who makes the traffic interesting

Rescues a dreary Sunday

Who makes me feel like painting again

Honey it's you - Janie Runaway

 

Let's plan a weekend alone together

Drive out to Binky's place

The sugar shack in Pennsylvania

Or would that be a federal case?

We'll take the Big Red - the Blazer - it's nice inside

And guess who's coming along for the ride

 

CHORUS:

Who has a friend named Melanie

Who's not afraid to try new things

Who gets to spend her birthday in Spain

Possibly you - Janie Runaway

 

 

[mjpuczko]

i love steely dan. when i was growing up my mom would always play donald fagen 'nightfly'. as i got older i discovered he was in steely dan so i checked out their stuff & fell in love!

[KevinG]

Steely Dan were (and are) amazing. People who say they don't like them are probably just trying to look cool.

 

Normally I don't go into a thread and hate on the topic or whatnot, but this comment is making me do it. So I will say this once and never comment on the topic again. I hate Steely Dan. They are the are like fingernails on a chalkboard to me.

 

Steely Dan is the plague of Rock music and should be summarily wiped from music history.

 

I can offer no valid reason why I hate Steely Dan, but if a song comes on the radio either I turn the station or scream in horror until it is mercifully over.

 

And anyone who knows me knows, I am not trying to look cool.

 

That is all, please go on.

[LouieB]

I am not sure how anyone hasn't heard lots and lots of SD at this point, considering they are classic rock fodder. I have always liked SD, but not ever been crazy about them. I like their albums and I do like Nightfly.

 

However there is one Steely Dan song I can play over and over again and never get tired of....

 

BARRYTOWN

 

I'm not one to look behind I know that times must change

But over there in Barrytown they do things very strange

And though you're not my enemy

I like things like they used to be

And though you'd like some company

I'm standing by myself

Go play with someone else

I can see by what you carry that you come from Barrytown

 

Don't believe I'm taken in by stories I have heard

I just read the Daily News and swear by every word

And don't think that I'm out of line

For speaking out for what is mine

I'd like to see you do just fine

But look at what you wear

And the way you cut your hair

 

I can see by what you carry that you come from Barrytown

 

In the beginning we recall that the word was hurled

Barrytown people got to be from another world

 

Leave me or I'll be just like the others you will meet

They won't act as kindly if they see you on the street

And don't you scream or make a shout

It's nothing you can do about

It was there where you came out

It's a special lack of grace

I can see it in your face

 

I can see by what you carry that you come from Barrytown

 

(Pretzel Logic is my favorite album of theirs...)

 

 

LouieB

[mountain bed]

In the post-Let It Be/pre-London Calling era SD personified what was right about pop music: excellent song arrangements, top notch musical 'chops', quirky lyrics, etc. It's really rare that such tasteful stuff was actually available on top 40 radio.

[wheelco]

Every single frat party I went to in college at W&M played SD's "My Old School". Still I love them.

 

"Oh, no . . .William and Mary won't do!"

[Sir Stewart]

I listened to a lot of Katy Lied in college.

[embiggen]

I love Steely Dan and I don't feel the least bit guilty about it.

[nodep5]

I like early Steely Dan around Aja they started getting a little to porno sounding. Anyway, there are a few bands my wife refuses to allow me to listen to around her. Steely Dan is one of them, and Heart is another. Anyhoo, when I was about 9 years old we drove from Illinois to Colorado and we had two cassettes, Dire Straits "Brothers In Arms" and Steely Dan "Can't Buy A Thrill" . What an album that is.

[dagwave]

No doubt- i remember asking Santa for the 2Lp best of when I was about 12, listening fervently, wondering about the two whacked out dudes inside the album jacket, and why there was a list of so many other musicians in the credits. It sounded clean and awesome, even on my AmFM/Phono/8 Track player.

 

"Do it Again" was my first clue from the FM movie soundtrack- that led me to the greatest hits, which then led me to the studio stuff.

 

Reeling in the Years is probably one of the only records you'll hear on the radio with five guitar solos and a vitriolic lyric that would make Uncle Bob proud.

 

And i'm sure we all know where they got their name from, too.......

[bjorn_skurj]

I am not sure how anyone hasn't heard lots and lots of SD at this point, considering they are classic rock fodder. I have always liked SD, but not ever been crazy about them. I like their albums and I do like Nightfly.

 

However there is one Steely Dan song I can play over and over again and never get tired of....

 

BARRYTOWN

 

I'm not one to look behind I know that times must change

But over there in Barrytown they do things very strange

And though you're not my enemy

I like things like they used to be

And though you'd like some company

I'm standing by myself

Go play with someone else

I can see by what you carry that you come from Barrytown

 

Don't believe I'm taken in by stories I have heard

I just read the Daily News and swear by every word

And don't think that I'm out of line

For speaking out for what is mine

I'd like to see you do just fine

But look at what you wear

And the way you cut your hair

 

I can see by what you carry that you come from Barrytown

 

In the beginning we recall that the word was hurled

Barrytown people got to be from another world

 

Leave me or I'll be just like the others you will meet

They won't act as kindly if they see you on the street

And don't you scream or make a shout

It's nothing you can do about

It was there where you came out

It's a special lack of grace

I can see it in your face

 

I can see by what you carry that you come from Barrytown

 

(Pretzel Logic is my favorite album of theirs...)

 

 

LouieB

1. Steely Dan is God. Maybe THE best band of the 1970s.

2. I have been to Barrytown and their Moonie Fort. They do do things kind of strange there.

3. Tolerance of Steely Dan will most def. be in my pre-nup.

[a.miller]

See....I knew I wasn't alone. I can't stop singing "Dirty Work". I literally went to sleep and woke up without missing a beat.

 

"I foresee terrible trouble and I stay here just the same" is an awesome line.

[Guest Jules]

There is nothing better than Steely Dan to test out a new sound system or speakers.

[Winston Legthigh]

I thought that Sky Blue Sky was what Wilco became after they had assimilated Steely Dan, Borg-like.

 

A friend of mine kept shouting for "Reeling in the Years" at Wilco's Duluth show last summer.

[Kalle]

I saw Steely Dan in Ottawa recently, quite a good show, all their tunes were completely changed up for this tour.

[the carlos]

Steely Dan gets much airplay in our home.

[mpolak21]

Do It Again is one of the first songs I remember loving as a young-in, because my Dad had a close friend named Jack and because I was way to young to pick up on the dark undertones. I like this band quite a bit, one of my favorites of the "classic rock" genre. Plus their legendary feud with the Eagles made for some damn fine internet television Yacht Rock 10

 

--Mike

[moxiebean]

The cuervo gold

The fine columbian

Make tonight a wonderful thing

[uncool2pillow]

Do It Again is one of the first songs I remember loving as a young-in, because my Dad had a close friend named Jack and because I was way to young to pick up on the dark undertones. I like this band quite a bit, one of my favorites of the "classic rock" genre. Plus their legendary feud with the Eagles made for some damn fine internet television Yacht Rock 10

 

--Mike

It'll be one of my kids' early memories too. They love singing "Back Jack..."

[thermocaster]

There should be no guilt whatsoever in loving the Dan.

 

I first got hooked by an old, old reel-to-reel mixtape that my father had cobbled together off of radio broadcasts in the late 70's. It had "Peg" on it...that was my entry point. Still one of my favorite songs ever, even moreso because I understand what the lyrics mean now.

 

I've been on a kick here lately, trying to collect all of the available torrents from the 1974 live shows. It's a shame that there's so little bootleg live material out there from the band. Despite Becker and Fagen's loathing of touring in the 70's, they put on a hell of a concert. "This All Too Mobile Home" FTW!

[owl]

Kid. Charlemagne.

[mpolak21]

Kid. Charlemagne.

 

Is there gas in the car? Yes, there's gas in the car.

 

--Mike

[bjorn_skurj]

She prays like a Roman with her eyes on fire!