It's the Bizzarro version of Fagen. d;^)
Posted on 09/30/2024 3:29:13 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Countless artists and bands have come and gone over the years, each leaving their own mark on the landscape of American rock. In such an oversaturated scene, striking upon something truly original can often be difficult, but it was never one that particularly troubled jazz fusion legends Steely Dan. From their initial formation in 1971, the band—spearheaded by Donald Fagen and Walter Becker—operated on an entirely different level from their contemporaries in New York, pioneering a truly original new sound.
Admittedly, Steely Dan’s fusion of jazz, rock, and pop proved somewhat controversial, alienating both jazz fans and rock fans in equal measure. Nevertheless, the duo managed to capture the attention of a cult audience right in the middle of the jazz-rock Venn diagram. Along the way, Steely Dan achieved a commendable level of commercial success, too, regularly finding itself in the US singles charts with its unique style of songwriting and performance.
As is to be expected for a band with such an original sound, Fagen and Becker explored a wide variety of different themes and narratives throughout the discography of Steely Dan. There never seemed to be one particular motif in terms of lyricism. If you look across their work, the duo wrote about everything from the horrors of capitalism to time travel, the ageing process, and even the widespread themes of love and drugs. Any decent writer will tell you to write about your own experiences, but the songs of Steely Dan were very rarely autobiographical, at least in an overt sense.
Of course, when you write as many songs as Steely Dan, you are bound to draw from your own life experiences eventually. This autobiographical songwriting was perhaps most obvious on the 1977 track ‘Deacon Blues’, from the album Aja.
Using a strange mixture of references to sci-fi novels, American football teams, and even academic essays, Steely Dan tells the story of a “loser” trying to carve out a life for himself as a musician. The song is a sort of rallying cry against mainstream society, sports, and ‘jocks’ – something that the band could certainly resonate with.
Reflecting on the themes explored within the track, Becker once shared, “The protagonist is not a musician; he just sort of imagines that would be one of the mythic forms of loser-dom to which he might aspire. And who’s to say that he’s not right?” Expanding upon this, Fagen chimed in, confirming, “‘Deacon Blues’ is about as close to autobiography as our tunes get. We were both kids who grew up in the suburbs, we both felt fairly alienated. Like a lot of kids in the ’50s, we were looking for some kind of alternative culture, an escape from where we found ourselves.”
Looking back to the lyrics of ‘Deacon Blues’, it is clear to see the autobiographical aspects of the song. In particular, lines like “Learn to work the saxophone, I play just what I feel” could be direct quotes from Becker and Fagen, who had aspired to be jazz musicians from a very young age. The various references to college football, with “the Crimson Tide”, a nickname for the University of Alabama football team, certainly add to the idea of the duo being on the outside of popular, mainstream culture, looking in with a kind of self-righteousness.
‘Deacon Blues’ was certainly not the only time that Becker or Fagen wrote about their own life experiences within the discography of Steely Dan. Their lives are a constant underlying theme throughout the Dan’s music, but no other effort was as overtly autobiographical as ‘Deacon Blues’. Perhaps that goes some way to explaining why the song is such a cult favourite among fans of the jazz fusion pioneers.
Been on freerepublic for a LONG time. Adding a like button for posts would make this great platform 1000 times better.
Bump
Was Donald Fagan’s autobiography suggested by Dr.Wu or Haitian Divorce?
I think you know what I mean. :::Wink :::nod nod
Same here.
Hubby took me to see them in Birmingham, UK for my B’day. 3rd row center in an arena. Fab!
I’ve seen that band 4 times over the last 20 odd years. Incredible musicianship and great shows but they never played my favorite song of theirs, Deacon Blues which was kinda disappointing. Was lucky enough to see them before Becker passed on which I am grateful for.
I lucked into a pair of tickets for the Eagles here in Omaha in February at the last minute. My buddy and his wife both had the ‘vid so I got a $3k pair of tickets for free. I ended taking my nephew cuz my wife was also sick. He is in his late thirties. I told him that he got to see two of the best bands of the seventies that night and he was highly impressed. Sure wish they would have played Deacon Blues though.....
An impressively shallow article. I went to the link assuming there was more, but nope.
Why Birmingham?
Two of my favorite bands are Genesis and Steely Dan.
They are the only two bands I know of who have referenced “Squonk” in their songs.
I loved Steely Dan the first time I heard them. They never produced a bad song.
Birmingham, England. They performed there. I used to live in the UK at the time.
I loved Genesis, too.
Until you mentioned it, I never noticed that Steely Dan also referenced the “Squonk” in a song.
The closest thing to a love song Steely Dan ever did “Pearl of The Quarter”
Skunk’s pedal steel solo was fantastic.
Probably my favorite SD song of all is “King Of The World”.
Maybe he had The Birmingham Blues.
(Going to see ELO next week)
Great seats! :-)
I think their lyrics are a big reason why their songs work.
That is a really good song (King of the World).
It's the Bizzarro version of Fagen. d;^)
Here At The Western World is another good, one, it was on one of their Greatest Hits collections, but not on any of the albums.
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