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Steely Dan - Reelin' In The Years

Steely Dan - Reelin' In The Years Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Can't Buy A Thrill
Released: 1972

Reelin' In The Years Lyrics

Your everlasting summer
You can see it fading fast
So you grab a piece of something
That you think is gonna last
But you wouldn't know a diamond
If you held it in your hand
The things you think are precious
I can't understand

Are you Reelin' In The Years
Stowin' away the time
Are you gatherin' up the tears
Have you had enough of mine

Are you reelin' in the years
Stowin' away the time
Are you gatherin' up the tears
Have you had enough of mine

You been tellin' me you're a genius
Since you were seventeen
In all the time I've known you
I still don't know what you mean
The weekend at the college
Didn't turn out like you planned
The things that pass for knowledge
I can't understand

Are you reelin' in the years
Stowin' away the time
Are you gatherin' up the tears
Have you had enough of mine

Are you reelin' in the years
Stowin' away the time
Are you gatherin' up the tears
Have you had enough of mine

I spend a lot of money
And I spent a lot of time
The trip we made in Hollywood
Is etched upon my mind
After all the things we've done and seen
You find another man
The things you think are useless
I can't understand

Are you reelin' in the years
Stowin' away the time
Are you gatherin' up the tears
Have you had enough of mine

Are you reelin' in the years
Stowin' away the time
Are you gatherin' up the tears
Have you had enough of mine

Writer/s: DONALD JAY FAGEN, WALTER CARL BECKER
Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Reelin' In The Years

This song is about recalling times with a girlfriend and a romantic breakup. It's one of the most popular Steely Dan songs, but also one of their least favorite. In Rolling Stone, September 17, 2009, Donald Fagan said, "It's dumb but effective." Walter Becker added, "It's no fun."

Steely Dan are known for their meticulous sound - every note must be perfect. This song is sometimes criticized for bringing on overly polished mainstream '70s music.

Elliot Randall, who was not a member of Steely Dan, stopped by on an invite from Skunk Baxter while they were recording this and ended up playing the guitar solo. This was one of the first of many times Walter Becker and Donald Fagen would use studio musicians, and by their fourth album, nearly every player was a studio musician. Randall also played on their albums Katy Lied and The Royal Scam.

The quadraphonic mix of this song has extra Elliot Randall guitar fills not heard on the familiar stereo version.

Randall's guitar solo earned high praise from Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page. According to Classic Rock magazine (January 1999), Page has said it is his favorite guitar solo of all time.

Steely Dan - Deacon Blues

Steely Dan - Deacon Blues Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Aja
Released: 1977

Deacon Blues Lyrics

This is the day of the expanding man
That shape is my shade
There where I used to stand
It seems like only yesterday
I gazed through the glass
At ramblers, wild gamblers
That's all in the past

You call me a fool
You say it's a crazy scheme
This one's for real
I already bought the dream
So useless to ask me why
Throw a kiss and say goodbye
I'll make it this time
I'm ready to cross that fine line

[Chorus]
I'll learn to work the saxophone
I play just what I feel
Drink Scotch whiskey all night long
And die behind the wheel
They got a name for the winners in the world
And I want a name when I lose
They call Alabama the Crimson Tide
Call me Deacon Blues

My back to the wall
A victim of laughing chance
This is for me
The essence of true romance
Sharing the things we know and love
With those of my kind
Libations
Sensations
That stagger the mind

I crawl like a viper
Through these suburban streets
Make love to these women
Languid and bittersweet
I'll rise when the sun goes down
Cover every game in town
A world of my own
I'll make it my home sweet home

[Chorus]

This is the night of the expanding man
I take one last drag
As I approach the stand
I cried when I wrote this song
Sue me if I play too long
This brother is free
I'll be what I want to be

Writer/s: BECKER, WALTER CARL / FAGEN, DONALD JAY
Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Deacon Blues

This song has the curious chorus line of:

They call Alabama the Crimson Tide
Call me Deacon Blues

At the same time, the University Of Alabama was a football powerhouse, winning the National Championship in 1973 and losing just one game in each of their next two seasons under the direction of their famous coach Paul "Bear" Bryant. Alabama is known as "The Crimson Tide," a grandiose name that Steely Dan's Walter Becker and Donald Fagen found amusing.

The "Deacon" is often thought to be the Wake Forest University "Demon Deacons," whose football team struggled for much of the '70s, winning just 7 games from 1972-1975. According to Fagen, however, that name came from Deacon Jones, a star football player with the Rams and Chargers who got a lot of attention in the media because of his aggressive play and outsized personality. The name fit well into the song, with "Deacon" matching up sonically with "Crimson."

The song is about a guy who Becker describes as a "Triple-L loser." He told The Wall Street Journal: It's not so much about a guy who achieves his dream but about a broken dream of a broken man living a broken life."

Fagen added: "Many people have assumed the song is about a guy in the suburbs who ditches his life to become a musician. In truth, I'm not sure the guy actually achieves his dream. He might not even play the horn. It's the fantasy life of a suburban guy from a certain subculture. Many of our songs are journalistic. But this one was more autobiographical, about our own dreams when we were growing up in different suburban communities—me in New Jersey and Walter in Westchester County."

When asked about the line, "They call Alabama the Crimson Tide, they call me Deacon Blues," Donald Fagen told Rolling Stone magazine: "Walter and I had been working on that song at a house in Malibu. I played him that line, and he said, 'You mean it's like, 'They call these cracker a--holes this grandiose name like the Crimson Tide, and I'm this loser, so they call me this other grandiose name, Deacon Blues?' and I said 'Yeah!' He said, 'Cool, let's finish it.'"

The Scottish rock group Deacon Blue, who enjoyed seven Top 20 UK hits between 1988 and 1994, took their name from this song.

Regarding the opening line, "This is the day of the expanding man," Donald Fagen cites the 1953 sci-fi novel The Demolished Man, by Alfred Bester, as an influence. The book finds the main character "expanding" is mind and thinking of all the possibilities in his life.

When our hero is "ready to cross that fine line" in this song, that's the line between being a loser and being a winner, a line that according to Becker he has tried to cross before, but without success.

Musicians on this track are:

Lead Vocals, Synthesizer: Donald Fagen
Bass: Walter Becker
Drums: Bernard Purdie
Electric Piano (Fender Rhodes): Victor Feldman
Guitar: Larry Carlton, Lee Ritenour
Tenor Saxophone: Pete Christlieb
Backing Vocals: Clydie King, Sherlie Matthews, Venetta Fields

The 12-second intro on this track is one of the most distinctive openings in rock. It was created by having guitarist Larry Carlton and piano player Victor Feldman play the same chords, which were layered together with drummer Bernard Purdie's cymbals.

When this song was near completion, Becker and Fagen decided they wanted a sax solo, and they had a very specific sound in mind: the tenor sax that played going to commercial on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. They tracked down the sax player in the Tonight Show band, Pete Christlieb, who recorded his part after a taping of the show. There are many tales of musicians being asked to do take after take during a Steely Dan session, but Christlieb was done in 30 minutes, and it was his second take they used. His part, and the rest of the horns, were arranged by Tom Scott.

Steely Dan - Green Earrings

Steely Dan - Green Earrings Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: The Royal Scam
Released: 1976

Green Earrings Lyrics

Cold, daring
No flies on me
Sorry, angel
I must take what I see
Green Earrings
I remember
The rings of rare design
I remember
The look in your eyes
I don't mind

Greek medallion
Sparkles when you smile
Sorry, angel
I get hungry like a child

Green earrings
I remember
The rings of rare design
I remember
The look in your eyes
I don't mind

Writer/s: BECKER, WALTER CARL / FAGEN, DONALD JAY
Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Green Earrings

This is about a jewel thief who feels no remorse whatsoever in what he does, even when he steals from a lover. (thanks, John - Wilmington, NC)

Steely Dan - Rikki Don't Lose That Number

Steely Dan - Rikki Don't Lose That Number Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Pretzel Logic
Released: 1974

Rikki Don't Lose That Number Lyrics

We hear you're leaving, that's OK
I thought our little wild time had just begun
I guess you kind of scared yourself, you turn and run
But if you have a change of heart

[Chorus]
Rikki Don't Lose That Number
You don't want to call nobody else
Send it off in a letter to yourself
Rikki don't lose that number
It's the only one you own
You might use it if you feel better
When you get home

I have a friend in town, he's heard your name
We can go out driving on Slow Hand Row
We could stay inside and play games, I don't know
And you could have a change of heart

[Chorus]

You tell yourself you're not my kind
But you don't even know your mind
And you could have a change of heart

[Chorus]

Writer/s: BECKER, WALTER CARL / FAGEN, DONALD JAY
Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Rikki Don't Lose That Number

The keyboard riff was taken from "Song For My Father," which was released in 1964 by Jazz composer and pianist Horace Silver. The opening of both songs is nearly identical. It's a good example of how Steely Dan used elements of jazz in pop songs.

According to a 2006 interview with Entertainment Weekly, the Rikki of the title is Rikki Ducornet, a New York writer and artist. Steely Dan co-front Donald Fagen had met her while both were attending Bard College, a small liberal arts college located in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. Ducornet says they met at a college party, and even though she was both pregnant and married at the time, he gave her his number, although not in the same context as the song. Ducornet was intrigued by Fagen and tempted to call him, but she decided against it. A complete write-up of this incident is at ew.com , and it kind of sounds like it came straight out of a Doonesbury strip.

This is Steely Dan's highest-ever charting single, reaching #4 on the Hot 100 in 1974. The B-side was "Any Major Dude Will Tell You."

Frank Zappa fans of course have a different context for this song. Go to your CD collection and get out You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore (volume 2), select Disc 2, and play Track 2: "Dupree's Paradise."

Zappa sings a couple of joke lines from "Rikki Don't Lose That Number," with a hilarious deadpan. It's just after the bass-player rant and just before Frank makes another crack about Suzi Quatro cassettes. Zappa and his gang around this time frequently commented on whatever music was popular at the moment.

Speaking on the subject of playing their hit songs in concert, Donald Fagen told Rolling Stone in 2013: "Walter and I aren't fond of 'Rikki Don't Lose That Number.' It's not a bad song. I think it's 'well-written,' but it's so simple. I just have listening fatigue. It's been played so much. Same with 'Reeling in the Years.'"

The beginning of this song features a flapamba, a rare and unusual instrument that is a variant of a marimba. Although the introduction, played by British jazz musician Victor Feldman, was cut from the original ABC single version, the MCA single reissue restored the flapamba intro but fades out just before the actual end of the track. (thanks, Annabelle - Eugene, OR)

Jeff "Skunk" Baxter played the guitar solo on this track. Baxter, who joined the Doobie Brothers in 1975, later became a consultant in the audio industry and also leant his technical expertise to the defense industry.

John Mahoney sings part of this song in the movie Say Anything... when he finds out his daughter is accepted into a prestigious study program.

Steely Dan - Do It Again

Steely Dan - Do It Again Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Can't Buy A Thrill
Released: 1972

Do It Again Lyrics

In the mornin' you go gunnin' for the man who stole your water
And you fire till he is done in but they catch you at the border
And the mourners are all singin' as they drag you by your feet
But the hangman isn't hangin' and they put you on the street

You go back, Jack, Do It Again, wheels turinin' 'round and 'round
You go back, Jack, do it again

When you know she's no high climber then you find your only friend
In a room with your two timer, and you're sure you're near the end
Then you love a little wild one, and she brings you only sorrow
All the time you know she's smilin'; you'll be on your knees tomorrow

You go back, Jack, do it again, wheels turinin' 'round and 'round
You go back, Jack, do it again

Now you swear and kick and beg us that you're not a gamblin' man;
Then you find you're back in Vegas with a handle in your hand
Your black cards can make you money so you hide them when you're able
In the land of milk and honey you must put them on the table

You go back, Jack, do it again, wheels turinin' 'round and 'round
You go back, Jack, do it again

Writer/s: BETHA, MASON/VANDERPOOL, DAVIN PAUL/ARGABRIGHT, STUART
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Do It Again

This was the breakout hit from Steely Dan's first album. Like many of their songs, it's hard to make sense of the lyrics, which seem to be about some combination of addiction, second chances and the inevitability of fate. It's an example of a Steely Dan song that doesn't make literal sense, but creates a mood.

The instrument used on the first instrumental break is an electric sitar, which was played by Steely Dan mainstay Denny Dias (who later became a computer programmer). This is followed by an organ solo, which was played by Donald Fagen. This was described in the album liner notes as "an inexpensive, imported plastic organ (an instrument which long ago fell into disuse in most rock circles)." This was later revealed to be a Yamaha YC-30 with something called a portamento ribbon, which could create the slide effect.

This was Steely Dan's first single. It became a hit in both the US and UK, earning the group a lot of press coverage. The group's sound was very unusual, and when asked to explain it, they sometimes described it as "smart rock."

In 1983, an Italian act called Club House released a mash-up of this song with Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean," which was released as "Do It Again (Medley With Billie Jean)." It made #75 US and #11 UK.

On the original release of Can't Buy A Thrill, this song is credited as "Trad" (meaning "traditional," like many folk songs) in the album credits. This is a fairly typical Donald Fagen/Walter Becker prank. (thanks, Michael - Somerville, MA)

Waylon Jennings, Falco, Tori Amos and Smash Mouth have all covered this song.

Steely Dan - Everything You Did

Steely Dan - Everything You Did Youtube Music Videos and Lyrics

Album: The Royal Scam
Released: 1976

Everything You Did Lyrics

Where did the bastard run
Is he still around
Now you gotta tell me Everything You Did baby
I'm gonna get a gun

Shoot the lover down
Are you gonna tell me everything you did baby
Traces are everywhere
In our happy home

Now you better tell me everything you did baby
I jumped out of my easy chair
It was not my own
Now I want to hear about everything you did baby

I never knew you
You were a roller skater
You gonna show me later
Turn up the Eagles the neighbors are listening

You know how people talk
I wonder what they say
I think you better tell me everything you did baby

I never knew you
You were a roller skater
You gonna show me later

You never came to me
When you were so inclined
Yes you could have told me everything you did baby
I know where baby's at
I know your filthy mind
Now you're gonna do me everything you did baby

Writer/s: BECKER, WALTER CARL / FAGEN, DONALD JAY
Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Everything You Did

This is an angry song directed to a lover. It's one of Steely Dan's lesser-known compositions; NME called it "relaxed and hummable, but hardly memorable" in their review.

The line, "Turn up the Eagles; the neighbors are listening" has become the mythologized in rock. Steely Dan admired the Eagles, and the group's had the same manager: Irving Azoff. The duo has been coy about the line, but legend has it that Walter Becker's girlfriend loved the Eagles and played them all the time, which bothered him a bit. One day they got in a fight, and he came up with that line.

A story with more veracity is how the Eagles returned the favor on "Hotel California" with the line, "They stab it with their steely knives but they just can't kill the beast." With the clear intention of getting a Steely Dan mention in the song, the line was written as "They stab it with their Steely Dan," but they decided to make it a little more vague. As Glenn Frey has pointed out, changing it to "steely knives" retains the phallic imagery.

Asked by Uncut what he thought when he heard the line, Don Henley replied: "I know them pretty well, and it was like he was sort of saying, 'Everybody's in LA's playing this f--kin' record, and I'm sick of it.!' It was a little bit of an acknowledgment and a little bit taking the piss, because we had the same management – still do- but you know, they're very droll, Fagen in particular."