Posted on 03/09/2022 12:46:42 PM PST by Bullish
Like many of the biggest groups of the early 1970s, Steely Dan grew up under the shadow of The Beatles. When Donald Fagen and Walter Becker came together in 1971, the pioneering group had already been broken up for more than a year. They may have wondered if they had somehow absorbed the ghost of ‘The Fab Four’ and that it was their responsibility to carry the flame in their absence. Indeed, Fagen and Becker intentionally modelled themselves off The Beatles, choosing to emphasise writing and recording than relentless touring. However, Steely Dan could also be highly critical of The Beatles’ former members at times, as the song ‘Only A Fool Would Say’ makes devastatingly clear.
By the mid-1970s, Steely Dan was less of a band and more of a musical operation with Becker and Fagen in the directorial chair. When the pair formed Steely Dan in 1971, they’d always dreamt of it being a space for them to showcase their “special material”. But for a long time, they were forced to write bubblegum pop tunes for artists like Tommy Roe or The Grass Roots. After Donald Fagen’s panic disorder made it impossible for him to front the group and money problems began making touring unfeasible, they decided to take a turn inwards and make their home in the studio, where they quietly honed their ecstatic brand of jazz-infused rock, relying on a stream of talented session musicians.
As time went by, Steely Dan garnered a huge fanbase and several notable fans, including Paul McCartney. However, Macca’s former bandmate, John Lennon, wasn’t so enamoured. The two artists likely crossed paths during Lennon’s time in New York, where Steely Dan had been based since their inception, but it’s unlikely they ever became particularly close. Not least because Steely Dan wrote a song mocking Lennon’s 1971 track ‘Imagine’.
One of the most intoxicating tracks from Steely Dan’s 1972 album Can’t Buy A Thrill, ‘Only A Fool Would Say’, opens with an upbeat bossa nova groove crafted from layers of conga, snare, strummed acoustic guitar, and undulating bass. Floating above mellow electric guitar lines, Donal Fagen paints a picture of Lennon as an ignorant aristo whose talk of world peace is completely at odds with the life of the poor and impoverished. “Our world become on/ Of salads and sun / Only a fool would say that,” he begins “A boy with a plan / A natural man /Wearing a white stetson hat”.
Fagen’s image of Lennon as the highfalutin elitist is quickly contrasted with another artfully rendered portrait: this time of the “man in the street” who doesn’t have the luxury of believing in some hippie’s utopian ideal. Fagen tells Lennon to have a little more empathy, to understand that asking somebody with nothing to abandon their worldly possessions and pursue a life of immaterialism is, at best, laughable, and at worst, dangerously insensitive. “You do his nine to five / Drag yourself home half alive / And there on the screen / A man with a dream,” Fagen sings.
The sentiment behind Steely Dan’s lyrics is likely quite familiar. When Gal Gadot organised a Hollywood singalong of Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ in the first month of the Covid-19 pandemic, she was immediately criticised for misreading the room. Far from sparking a surge in benevolent acts of kindness, listeners found a disconnect between Gadot and the gang’s call for the jobless to “imagine no possessions”, and that fact the various stars who contributed to the rendition were singing from multi-million dollar mansions. Clearly, Fagen was right to mock Lennon; his lyrics are still causing outcry to this day.
One of the worst bands ever.
Just horrible.
I floated the idea of doing that song for my solo gig. The falsetto part makes it difficult. My target wouldn’t be Lenon, but most of the people in the audience
Thanks for posting that, I appreciate it
Boddhisatvah on “Countdown to Ecstasy” was also a knock on all the rich folks suddenly buying into Eastern Mysticism.
Dude, just leave. Just kidding, kinda.
A great song from one of the greatest debut albums ever.
And here I thought these liberal artists were all about peace and love and getting along with everyone.
But, I enjoy the much of the music of these lefties.
One of the most intellectual of all rock bands.
One that I wanted to see but never could..............
How about “King of the World” giving our current masters the business. https://youtu.be/7Ay8tPN8Rys
I referenced that one the other day. Probably my all-time favorite SD song.
Guilty as charged, LOL!
They still tour w/o Becker of course. I've seen them 4-5 times. My only complaint was the set list hardly changed each year. I wanted to go to NYC a few years ago when they were performing whole albums, never could arrange it.
I haven’t before heard that it was connected to John Lennon.
There’s not one of their albums I can pick as an absolute favorite. Listening to them raises your IQ a couple points. But then the other organics takes it right back down. So it’s a wash.
Great song. It’s Steely Dan.
Lyrics
Only a Fool Would Say That
Steely Dan
Our world become one
Of salads and sun
Only a fool would say that
A boy with a plan
A natural man
Wearing a white stetson hat
Unhand that gun begone
There’s no one to fire upon
If he’s holding it high
He’s telling a lie
I heard it was you
Talkin’ ‘bout a world
Where all is free
It just couldn’t be
And only a fool would say that
The man in the street
Draggin’ his feet
Don’t wanna hear the bad news
Imagine your face
There is his place
Standing inside his brown shoes
You do his nine to five
Drag yourself home half alive
And there on the screen
A man with a dream
I heard it was you
Talkin’ ‘bout a world
Where all is free
It just couldn’t be
And only a fool would say that
Anybody on the street
Has murder in his eyes
You feel no pain
And you’re younger
Then you realize
Only a fool would say that
Only a foooo oooooo ooooo oooool
I heard it was you
Talkin’ ‘bout a world
Where all is free
It just couldn’t be
And a fool would say that
And a fool would say that
And a fool would say that
The Beatles were bad but they weren’t the worst.
The album was their best.
I did see them in concert in early 70s in Long Beach Ca.
Best music I have ever heard done live. They were masters at sounding exactly like their records. They were unbelievably good and they did most of their hits up to that point. It was the Pretzel Logic tour so I got to hear that album for the very first time played live.
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