Ah Steely Dan, the only band I know of that has a "Getty Images" watermark on their bio photo on their own official website.
(No seriously, check it out. It's there.)
One of the most accomplished duos in music history; Donald Fagan and Walter Becker were the self-proclaimed “anti-hippies”, jazz enthusiasts, and possibly the ultimate epitomes of ‘studio rats’. The two ended up ditching all touring, as well as the majority of their bandmates, for studio sessions and some of the most accomplished session musicians of all time. The result was several award winning albums containing a combination of twisted satirical lyrics and some of the most technically complex tracks released by an artist in the ‘Popular’ realm.
Even more impressive than the groovy tracks are the twisted satirical words snuck into almost every song. Here is my list of the Top Five Steely Dan songs with hidden lyrical meanings.
In no particular order...
#5 glamour profession
From their 1980 album Gaucho, Glamour profession is a truly groovy, and melodically complex track. The song has a beat almost reminiscent of disco.
Glamour Profession has some fairly obscure lyrics, but a closer look shows what the song is really about.
Riddled with drug references, the song explores the use of cocaine by Hollywood's elite, or those in the Glamour Profession. Each of the three verses tells a different story of what is theorized to be a real person.
An athlete, a radio DJ and a movie executive are all suspects. Mocked in traditional Steely Dan satirical style. This is easily one of Steely Dan's best lyrical songs.
#4 Hey 19
The second track on Gaucho, Hey 19 is one of the first songs to ever feature a computerized drummer. The hidden meanings in this song aren't really hidden well at all.
The song is very clearly about an older man having a romantic affair with a teenage girl. The man realizes his age when he learns that his younger companion doesn't remember who Aretha Franklin is.
The narrator of the song obviously shows his age by explaining that he was a "Gamma Chi" "Way back when, in 67"
If he was a senior in College in 67, he would be about 30 by the time the song was sung. A 30 year old hitting on a 19 year old girl.
Clearly a classic mockery from Fagan and Becker, making fun of the older chaps who still think they are young. The lyrics combine well with the driving beat to make this one of the best Steely Dan songs.
#3 Deacon Blues
Deacon Blues can be found on Steely Dan's most popular album, Aja.
On the surface the lyrics seem to be about a man who is quitting his job to learn to play the saxophone. However, a closer look shows that the song is actually about a man who wishes he could play the saxophone but is so stuck in his dead-end life he wishes he could have a cool name, even when he loses. Thus the famous line “they call Alabama the Crimson Tide, call me Deacon Blues” Fagan and Becker believed that naming a football team something like “The Crimson Tide” was excessive. They parodied it with a story about a man daydreaming about becoming a star and comparing his own title to “the Crimson Tide”. Essentially saying that he was equally deserving of a name when he lost at life, since Alabama was simply a football team and they were allowed a regal name like “the Crimson Tide”.
#2 kid Charlemagne
This is one of my favorite songs. It also has some of the best hidden messages found in a Steely Dan song. Off the 1976 album, The Royal Scam:
Steeped in ambiguity, this song almost seems to have nonsensical lyrics at first glance. If one examines the lyrics closer, however, it becomes plain that the song is written about illegally creating LSD.
According to Becker, the song is loosely based around Owsley Stanley III one of the first chemists to start cooking LSD in the 1960s. Lines like “those San Francisco nights” point to Stanley, who operated in San Francisco
Fagan and Becker don't have a drop of sympathy for Stanley, mocking his downfall due to all the "dayglow freaks" or hippies "joined the human race" leaving Stanley "in the red."
#1 Gaucho
Possibly the best hidden message in a Steely Dan song, but for sure my favorite, is Gaucho.
While there is some argument on what the song is actually about, one thing is for sure:
The words are hilarious.
When have you ever heard a line like "bodacious cowboys, such as your friend will never be welcome here"
Or "who is the Gaucho, amigo, why is he standing in your spangled leather poncho with the studs that match your eyes"
The music is almost anthemic, which provides a proper contrast to the strange words.
Most agree that the song is about a homosexual relationship. Though some disagree whether the narrator is involved romantically or if the relationship is just business related.
Regardless, the narrator is clearly upset that his "special Friend" is making a fool out of him in front of the "high-rollers" who are "laughing" at him.
Based on the words, I would assume that the song involves business partners, one of which brings a flamboyant friend along to a very important business meeting.
The words and the music clearly don't fit thematically together, and I think that is partially why it is such a funny song.
Are you a Steely Dan fan? Comment Below what your favorite hidden meanings are in lyrics!
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