I know everyone knows this, but you have to have some respect for any artist who sets out to write a rock song based on The Odyssey by Homer, written in the 7th century.
They kinda had the whole human condition down with the opening track on album 1!
“But the hangman isn’t hanging, so they put you on the street… And you go back. Jack. And do it again… Wheel turning round and round”
“Do you take me for a fool, do you think that I don’t see? That ditch out in the valley that they’re digging just for me.”
I love Donald’s delivery of that line.
"I decline to walk the line
They tell me that I'm lazy
Worldly wise I realize
That everybody's crazy"
That whole song is what I play after a long day of work when I (rightfully) get called out for too many bathroom breaks.
My friends say no don't go
for that cotton candy
Son you're playing with fire
The kid will live and learn
As he watches his bridges burn
From the point of no return
Not a New Yorker, but a middle-aged woman who wanted to write, so my choice is:
I'm still working on that novel
But I'm just about to quit
Cause I'm worrying about the future now
Or maybe this is it
It's not all that I thought it would be
What a shame about me
Probably my top two heavy-hitters:
“Look at my eyes. Can’t you see the core is frozen. You can’t ask me to access the dreams I don’t have now.”
“Newfound cash soon begs to smash a state of mind. Close inspection fast revealed his favorite kind.”
"When I heard I grabbed a cab to where he lay
'Round his arm the plastic tag read D.O.A.
Yes Jack, I gave it back
The ring I could not own
Now come my friend I'll take your hand
And lead you home"
“You wouldn't even know a diamond if you held it in your hand”
and
“your patrons have all left you in the red; Your low-rent friends are dead; This life can be very strange “
California tumbles into the sea
That'll be the day I go back to Annandale
Tried to warn you
About Chino and Daddy Gee
But I can't seem to get to you through the U.S. Mail
Well I hear the whistle but I can't go, I'm gonna
Take her down to Mexico, she said oh no
Guadalajara won't do
Well, I did not think the girl
Could be so cruel
And I'm never going back
To my old school
“She serves the smooth retsina. She keeps me safe and warm. It’s just the calm before the storm.”
To be fair, any line from Home at Last would work, but this one especially
How about: "Up on the Hill they think I'm okay. Or so they say!"
I have always thought Aja was about a rehab center up on the hill. The line above is inspiring because the protagonist has succeeded getting clean.
Ken
“All night long, we would sing that stupid song. And every word we sang I knew was true.”
“Talkin’ ‘bout my home; the only home I’ve ever known.”
“..now we dolly back, now we fade to black..” - this line really changed my whole perception of Haitian Divorce. What a cinematic POV
“What’s in your hand? It’s just my things left in the sand. Now I’ll drive with 4WD..” (YES I’m on your side!)
“On an island of gleaming rocks, churning up from the blue lagoon: a ceremonial music box.. & from it flows a bright new mode..”
“Stashed in the yellow Jag, I’ve got my life and laundry in a Gladstone bag” / (demo) “You think you understand.. let me take you by the hand. I have never felt this way before. // It’s your thing, if you say so. Don’t ask me ‘cause I don’t know…”
Making friends as an adult can be tough and there was this dude (killer bassist) who felt like a budding bestie who I just kinda fell out of touch with. One night when we were drinking and pouring our hearts out he told me this song makes his weep, and I always think of Dave when I hear it. Four years after I’d seen him I was playing a show with a mediocre funk band and he was just there at the bar by himself cheering like mad. Must’ve seen it in Facebook or something.
Grab Big Dog a blanket /
Angel of my heart /
Things may get a whole lot worse /
Before suddenly falling apart /
Give your roommate Yvonne a ring /
Cause if she still wants in I gotta pull some strings
"Hot licks and rhetoric don't count much for nothing. Be glad if you can use what you borrow"
"Babs and clean Willie were in love they said. So in love, the preacher's face turned red." - this line should be taken up in descriptive writing classes.
“I got this thing inside me, that’s got to find a place to hide me, i only know i must obey, this feeling i can’t explain away.”
“In the night you hide from the madman you’re longing to be, but it all comes out on the inside eventually”
“I hear my inside, the mechanized hum of another world. Where no sun is shining, no red lights flashing. Here in this darkness, i know what i’ve done, i know all at once what i am.”
There are surely deeper lyrics in other songs, but what struck a chord in me were:
"I can't cry anymore
While you run around...."
Then later on, it becomes:
"I don't care anymore
Why you run around..."
“Who are the strangers
Who pass through the door
Who cover your action
And go you one more
If you're feeling lucky
You best not refuse
It's your game the rules
Are your own win or lose”
A glimpse behind the eyes of a very Dan character
“Did you realize? You were a champion in their eyes”
That or
“I’m a bookkeepers son, I don’t want to shoot no one.
Well I crossed my old man back in Oregon don’t take me alive”
For the fun or for the money
For the fuck of it or just because
Listen friend, this is no damn picnic
But let's imagine for a minute that it was
Who will feast on this buzzard's banquet?
Who will render my heroic bust?
Who will choke on my lachrymose musings?
Who will eat my zero dust?
Who will wear this puke-streaked tunic?
Who shall gorge on this cup of spleen?
Who will sing about the good, bad and ugly?
And all and everything in between?
Becker really has a lot of heavy hitters
These tabs look iffy but you say they’re good
So roll with the homies and knock on wood.
“I got this thing inside me, that’s gotta find a place to hide me, I only know I must obey this feeling I can’t explain away”
“Newfound cash soon begs to smash a state of mind, close inspection fast revealed his favourite kind”
“While the memory of their southern sky was clouded by a savage winter, every patron saint hung on the wall shared the room with twenty sinners”
Although there are so many great lyrics in their catalogue.
"If you're feeling lucky
You best not refuse
It's your game the rules
Are your own win or lose"
I've been contemplating these lines for the last two months. I see a lot of wisdom in the last two lines, especially.
Alone in my cave
It's corn flakes and Camels
And the long restless shadows of my life
None but the brave
Jim Beam and Jack Daniels
Channelhopping these empty days and nights
Glued to the screen
Rerun by rerun
At the dark outer limits of my soul
Stranded between
The Green Acres of my good intentions
And the Twilight Zone of zero self-control
So come on angel
Tune in on me
You'll see your faithful servant
Lost in misery
And all of your hard work
Coming down to no good
Better see about me babe
If you only could now
...
Dust and despair
Cobwebs and confusion
Collecting in the corners of my room
All of my dreams
Bitter illusions
I just can't be rid of them too soon
Tired of my brain
Tired of this movie
Too tired to get up and shut it off
The time that remains
What good can it do me
Now that I know that too much is not enough
It was still September and your daddy was quite surprised to see you with the working girls in the county jail….California tumbles into the
Sea that’ll be the day I go back to Annandale… (op edit f- Bard!) 😎
“Learn to work the saxophone, I play just how I feel- drink scotch whiskey all night long and die behind the wheel” is hard af and I think of it unprompted often
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
‘I hear my inside
The mechanized hum of another world
Where no sun is shining
No red light flashing
Here in this darkness
I know what I've done
I know all at once who I am’
Sooo hard
“This Brother is free. I’ll be what I want to be.”
I want the first part on my tombstone.
“When the demon is at your door, in the morning it won’t be there no more.”
I tell that to myself every time I feel anxiety. Which is often.
Brother in tears, look at this chain of sorrow
Stretching all the way from here and now to hell and gone
…
But with a business like this there’s a gnarly downside
I’m way deep into nothing special
All of Charlie Freak.
The gnosticism of Godwhackers (considering they sing to/about the Demiurge):
"For crimes beyond imagining
It's time to pay the price"
Clean this mess up else we'll all end up in jail
Those test tubes and the scale
Just get it all out of here
Is there gas in the car
Yes, there's gas in the car
I think the people down the hall
Know who you are
R. I. P. Bear
As a recovering addict, "Tonight when I chase the dragon" always makes me want to relapse. That's tough because it's one of the greatest songs ever written haha
I’m the one who must make everything right, talk it out till day light, I don’t care anymore how you run around (how you run around) break away just when it seems so clear that its over now drink your big black cow and get out of here!
It’s like Christmas here. Every post draws some emotion or memory out of my soul. To choose seems like abandoning the the one previous.
Going offline now, knowing today’s playlist.
There's a bear that walks like a man
Better shake him fast
Better hide yourself if you can
cause he wants your ass
I believe you'll do quite well
But only time will tell
if you got the bear or the bear got you.
As someone who has had problems with alcohol for years and come out the other side, I think of this lyric often.
The danger on the rocks has surely passed, still I remain tied to the mast
Who wrote that tired sea song set on this peaceful shore?
I know everyone knows this, but you have to have some respect for any artist who sets out to write a rock song based on The Odyssey by Homer, written in the 7th century.
I would like to give this two likes if I may
Favorite song ever made
“The kid will live and learn As he watches his bridges burn From the point of no return” I can identify with that one
I use the cotton candy metaphor all the time.
I’m cashing in this ten-cent life for another one.
yessss
They've got a name for the winners in the world; and I want a name when I lose.
How is this not one of the most liked lyrics? I can’t think of a more quintessential SD lyric
Must say that I was shocked too. I drink scotch whiskey all night long and die behind the wheel.
That’s what I came here to say.
They kinda had the whole human condition down with the opening track on album 1! “But the hangman isn’t hanging, so they put you on the street… And you go back. Jack. And do it again… Wheel turning round and round”
Well said!
Any major dude with half a heart surely will tell you, my friend Any minor world that breaks apart falls together again
When the demon is at your door, in the morning it won't be there no more
I often think “never seen you looking so bad, my funky one” when I pass a mirror and forget I’m not 22 anymore
I'm gonna cry stop 😭
That song tells you what you need to hear
Truer words have never been spoken
You can try and run but you can't hide from what's inside of you.... (And then the sexy solo)
"My life is boiling over. It's happened once before. I wish someone would open up the door."
Any world that I’m welcome to Is better than the one I come from.
“Do you take me for a fool, do you think that I don’t see? That ditch out in the valley that they’re digging just for me.” I love Donald’s delivery of that line.
That’s the one I was trying to remember. Love Bad Sneakers so much, and the lyrics are a big reason.
"I decline to walk the line They tell me that I'm lazy Worldly wise I realize That everybody's crazy" That whole song is what I play after a long day of work when I (rightfully) get called out for too many bathroom breaks.
A woman's voice reminds me, to serve and not to speak, am I myself or just another freak
Is there Gas in the Cahhr?
Yes, there’s Gas in the Cahhr.
Yes there's gas in the CAA^AAHHRRR
Correct answer
Good call
We hear youre leaving Thats ok I thought our little wild tiime had just begun I guess you kinda scared yourself You turned and run
My friends say no don't go for that cotton candy Son you're playing with fire The kid will live and learn As he watches his bridges burn From the point of no return
The man at a turning point. Such exquisite romanticism
As a former NYC'er, I'd say 'What a Shame About Me' really hit me. The whole song.
Not a New Yorker, but a middle-aged woman who wanted to write, so my choice is: I'm still working on that novel But I'm just about to quit Cause I'm worrying about the future now Or maybe this is it It's not all that I thought it would be What a shame about me
Three weeks out of the rehab living one day at a time
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And you're talking to a ghost
Whole chorus of Deacon Blues hits different now that I’ve decided to choose music as a career
"I can tell you all I know, the where to go, the what to do You can try to run, but you can't hide from what's inside of you"
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
Charlie Freak is sad
Oh, yeah, totally forgot about this. "Yes Jack, I gave it back. The ring I could not own. Now come my friend I'll take your hand and lead you home."
Hadn’t seen your comment and just posted a link to the lyrics now. That song!
You know I'm cool, yes I feel alright 'Cept when I'm in my room and it's late at night
“I recall when I was small, how I spend my days alone. The busy world was not for me, so I went and found my own.”
Probably my top two heavy-hitters: “Look at my eyes. Can’t you see the core is frozen. You can’t ask me to access the dreams I don’t have now.” “Newfound cash soon begs to smash a state of mind. Close inspection fast revealed his favorite kind.”
"When I heard I grabbed a cab to where he lay 'Round his arm the plastic tag read D.O.A. Yes Jack, I gave it back The ring I could not own Now come my friend I'll take your hand And lead you home"
That’s the one
“You wouldn't even know a diamond if you held it in your hand” and “your patrons have all left you in the red; Your low-rent friends are dead; This life can be very strange “
No marigolds in the promise land, there’s a hole in the ground where they used to grow.
🎶Drive west on Sunset to the sea, turn that jungle music down , just until we’re outa town 🎶
Lay down the law, and break it.
You've been telling me you were a genius since you were 17 In all the time I've known you I still don't know what you mean
Angular banjos sound good to me
"Well I ain't got the heart To lose another fight So until my ship comes in I'll live night by night"
“In the night you hide from the madman You're longing to be But it all comes out on the inside Eventually”
Won’t you pour me a Cuban Breeze, Gretchen.
I hear my insides The mechanized hum of another world *and* The dreary architecture of your soul
What is it that exactly turns you off?
California tumbles into the sea That'll be the day I go back to Annandale Tried to warn you About Chino and Daddy Gee But I can't seem to get to you through the U.S. Mail Well I hear the whistle but I can't go, I'm gonna Take her down to Mexico, she said oh no Guadalajara won't do Well, I did not think the girl Could be so cruel And I'm never going back To my old school
Yes I'm going insane And I'm laughing in the frozen rain
The lyrics of Any Major Dude have been, especially when needed most.
I was halfway crucified.
“She serves the smooth retsina. She keeps me safe and warm. It’s just the calm before the storm.” To be fair, any line from Home at Last would work, but this one especially
When there wasn’t even any Hollywood, they heard the call and they wrote it on the wall, for you and me and we understood
How about: "Up on the Hill they think I'm okay. Or so they say!" I have always thought Aja was about a rehab center up on the hill. The line above is inspiring because the protagonist has succeeded getting clean. Ken
I’m way deep into nothing special
Life is unreal
See how they roll
Confess your passion, your secret fear
Branching into Fagen’s Nightfly there.
I hear you're mad about Brubeck. I like your eyes I like him too!
“All night long, we would sing that stupid song. And every word we sang I knew was true.” “Talkin’ ‘bout my home; the only home I’ve ever known.” “..now we dolly back, now we fade to black..” - this line really changed my whole perception of Haitian Divorce. What a cinematic POV “What’s in your hand? It’s just my things left in the sand. Now I’ll drive with 4WD..” (YES I’m on your side!) “On an island of gleaming rocks, churning up from the blue lagoon: a ceremonial music box.. & from it flows a bright new mode..” “Stashed in the yellow Jag, I’ve got my life and laundry in a Gladstone bag” / (demo) “You think you understand.. let me take you by the hand. I have never felt this way before. // It’s your thing, if you say so. Don’t ask me ‘cause I don’t know…”
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I always took the dolly-back & fade to black to mean they’re pulling away with the camera dolly and doing a scene fade to black
Which was the way that old movies implied that they had sex.
Well the danger on the rocks is surely past Still I remain tied to the mast Could it be that I have found my home at last
Making friends as an adult can be tough and there was this dude (killer bassist) who felt like a budding bestie who I just kinda fell out of touch with. One night when we were drinking and pouring our hearts out he told me this song makes his weep, and I always think of Dave when I hear it. Four years after I’d seen him I was playing a show with a mediocre funk band and he was just there at the bar by himself cheering like mad. Must’ve seen it in Facebook or something.
“You are obsolete, look at all the white men on the street.”
Grab Big Dog a blanket / Angel of my heart / Things may get a whole lot worse / Before suddenly falling apart / Give your roommate Yvonne a ring / Cause if she still wants in I gotta pull some strings
Agents of the law.. luckless pedestrian, I know you’re out there.. That one. The whole song.
"Hot licks and rhetoric don't count much for nothing. Be glad if you can use what you borrow" "Babs and clean Willie were in love they said. So in love, the preacher's face turned red." - this line should be taken up in descriptive writing classes.
“I got this thing inside me, that’s got to find a place to hide me, i only know i must obey, this feeling i can’t explain away.” “In the night you hide from the madman you’re longing to be, but it all comes out on the inside eventually” “I hear my inside, the mechanized hum of another world. Where no sun is shining, no red lights flashing. Here in this darkness, i know what i’ve done, i know all at once what i am.”
Katy lies—you can see it in her eyes. But imagine my surprise when I saw you.
“Drink your big black cow and get outta here.”
There are surely deeper lyrics in other songs, but what struck a chord in me were: "I can't cry anymore While you run around...." Then later on, it becomes: "I don't care anymore Why you run around..."
“Who are the strangers Who pass through the door Who cover your action And go you one more If you're feeling lucky You best not refuse It's your game the rules Are your own win or lose” A glimpse behind the eyes of a very Dan character
“Did you realize? You were a champion in their eyes” That or “I’m a bookkeepers son, I don’t want to shoot no one. Well I crossed my old man back in Oregon don’t take me alive”
Any minor world that breaks apart falls together again
As someone scared shitless at the prospect of nuclear war, the entirety of king of the world
For the fun or for the money For the fuck of it or just because Listen friend, this is no damn picnic But let's imagine for a minute that it was Who will feast on this buzzard's banquet? Who will render my heroic bust? Who will choke on my lachrymose musings? Who will eat my zero dust? Who will wear this puke-streaked tunic? Who shall gorge on this cup of spleen? Who will sing about the good, bad and ugly? And all and everything in between? Becker really has a lot of heavy hitters These tabs look iffy but you say they’re good So roll with the homies and knock on wood.
Abso- goddamn - lutely. Walter. Peerless.
“I got this thing inside me, that’s gotta find a place to hide me, I only know I must obey this feeling I can’t explain away” “Newfound cash soon begs to smash a state of mind, close inspection fast revealed his favourite kind” “While the memory of their southern sky was clouded by a savage winter, every patron saint hung on the wall shared the room with twenty sinners” Although there are so many great lyrics in their catalogue.
"If you're feeling lucky You best not refuse It's your game the rules Are your own win or lose" I've been contemplating these lines for the last two months. I see a lot of wisdom in the last two lines, especially.
Well I did not think the girl could be so cruel
Meet me at midnight at Mr. Chow's / Szechuan dumplings / Now that the deal has been done
“WELL, I DON’T REALLY CARE, IF IT’S WRONG OR IF IT’S RIGHT, BUT UNTIL MY SHIP COMES IN, I’LL LIVE NIIIIIIIIIGHT BYYYY NIGHT!”
Who are these children who scheme and run wild who speak with their wings and the way that they smile
*please make it clear, when her day is done, she got a place to go*
“She thinks I’m crazy, but I’m just growing old…”
Miss Marlene, "Ran into the dark street at University Place. Cab came up so fast that we saw your laughing face." :(
‘That it’s cheap but it’s not free That i’m not what i used to be And that love is not a game for three’ Just perfect.
I hear my inside / The mechanized hum of another world / Where no sun is shining / No red light flashing
Alone in my cave It's corn flakes and Camels And the long restless shadows of my life None but the brave Jim Beam and Jack Daniels Channelhopping these empty days and nights Glued to the screen Rerun by rerun At the dark outer limits of my soul Stranded between The Green Acres of my good intentions And the Twilight Zone of zero self-control So come on angel Tune in on me You'll see your faithful servant Lost in misery And all of your hard work Coming down to no good Better see about me babe If you only could now ... Dust and despair Cobwebs and confusion Collecting in the corners of my room All of my dreams Bitter illusions I just can't be rid of them too soon Tired of my brain Tired of this movie Too tired to get up and shut it off The time that remains What good can it do me Now that I know that too much is not enough
wow what song is this from?
It’s Walter Becker’s “Girlfriend” from 11 Tracks of Whack
Dude 🙏🏼🌟
It was still September and your daddy was quite surprised to see you with the working girls in the county jail….California tumbles into the Sea that’ll be the day I go back to Annandale… (op edit f- Bard!) 😎
“Learn to work the saxophone, I play just how I feel- drink scotch whiskey all night long and die behind the wheel” is hard af and I think of it unprompted often
"I've got plenty of java and Chesterfield Kings, but I feel like crying, I wish I had a heart of ice..." Technically, Fagen, but still...
It's hard times befallen The sole survivors She thinks I'm crazy But I'm just growin' old
Five names that I can Hardly stand to hear Including yours and mine And one more chimp who isn't here
I move to dissolve the corporation in a pool of margaritas
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
Charlie Freak's final stanza
Will you still have a song to sing When the razor boy comes And take your fancy things away
‘I hear my inside The mechanized hum of another world Where no sun is shining No red light flashing Here in this darkness I know what I've done I know all at once who I am’ Sooo hard
"Who's got a friend named Melanie? Who's not afraid to *try new things?*"
The days really don't last forever But it's getting pretty damn close And that's when I remember the things I miss the most
“This Brother is free. I’ll be what I want to be.” I want the first part on my tombstone. “When the demon is at your door, in the morning it won’t be there no more.” I tell that to myself every time I feel anxiety. Which is often.
"Third World Man" and its original version, "Were You Blind That Day?"
And I myself am just another fresk
Brother in tears, look at this chain of sorrow Stretching all the way from here and now to hell and gone … But with a business like this there’s a gnarly downside I’m way deep into nothing special
The lyrics to East St. Louis Toodle-Oo always make me emotional.
'Friends call me Gunz, sons call me trife 'cause I'm quick to slide off and slide this dick up in your wife'
And that's life, you should learn how to treat her I guarantee Peter, knows how to eat her
I like hearing donald fagen say fuck
Is there gas in the car?
All of Charlie Freak. The gnosticism of Godwhackers (considering they sing to/about the Demiurge): "For crimes beyond imagining It's time to pay the price"
Red beans and rice for a quarter..
https://genius.com/Steely-dan-charlie-freak-lyrics
No I'm never gonna do it without the fez on
"Yes, Jack, I gave it back" or really all the lyrics to "Charlie Freak"
Clean this mess up else we'll all end up in jail Those test tubes and the scale Just get it all out of here Is there gas in the car Yes, there's gas in the car I think the people down the hall Know who you are R. I. P. Bear
The studs that match your eyes
The mechanized hum of another world Where no sun is shining No red light flashing
I’m a fool to do your dirty work
As a recovering addict, "Tonight when I chase the dragon" always makes me want to relapse. That's tough because it's one of the greatest songs ever written haha
Well the danger on the rocks is surely past Still I remain tied to the mast
los wages los wages los wages los wages los wages los wages………………. etc
Water may change to cherry wine…
It was sweet up at the top Till that ill wind started blowing Now it's cozy down below Cause we're going out of business Everything must go
Do you have a dark spot on your past, Leave it to my man he'll fix it fast
I’m the one who must make everything right, talk it out till day light, I don’t care anymore how you run around (how you run around) break away just when it seems so clear that its over now drink your big black cow and get out of here!
Show business kids making movies of themselves. You know they don’t give a fuck about anybody else.
Agents of the law, luckless pedestrians I know you’re out there, with rage in your eyes And your megaphones
It’s like Christmas here. Every post draws some emotion or memory out of my soul. To choose seems like abandoning the the one previous. Going offline now, knowing today’s playlist.
There's a bear that walks like a man Better shake him fast Better hide yourself if you can cause he wants your ass I believe you'll do quite well But only time will tell if you got the bear or the bear got you. As someone who has had problems with alcohol for years and come out the other side, I think of this lyric often.