When I first heard this song. I had your same reaction. Aja is very complex. It took me years to full grasp this song. The drums solo is quite possible one of the greatest of all time. I didn’t hear it the first time. Steely Dan is one of my favorite groups of all time. I highly recommend you to invest an hour in watching the video on how they created Aja the album. Donald & Walter are pure genius. RIP Walter. Becker
A very complex Steely Dan song for a first listen. FM, Hey Nineteen or Black Cow might be better songs to cut your SD teeth on. Thumbs up for allowing the song to play through...and always a thumbs up to Mr. Gadd for killin' it on the drums.
This song is amazing because it has multiple chord changes throughout the song. It's almost as if there are several different songs in one, and they're ALL great, and never break the song apart.
Wow, you picked a difficult, complex one. This is arguably their most Jazz influenced track. They have other ones where the Pop/R&B and Funky elements are stronger, and which are much more vocally rich, where the balance between instrumental and vocal elements is much more even. This here is basically the one track that Jazz players love to jam over.
Steely Dan was a group of great musicians that turned out some great music in the 70s we would listen to their whole albums cranked up on stereo equipment bought in Thailand while stationed there in the service and it could literally shake the house when cranked up but between the nine of us we had not only great stereo systems but a very extensive album collection also we recorded some of it to reel to reel we could push play and we could go 4 to 5 hours non-stop
I'm not a jazz person either. I do love this album and own every Steely Dan album. Compared to other Steely Dan records, Aja took me a bit to fall in love. For someone like me and Angela, I think the best song on Aja to start with is Home at Last. It definitely fits the feel of Aja, but is a bit less "jazzy". From there, step over to Josie, and with a few listens through, the album becomes a must for a "stranded on a desert island" list.
First reaction of Aja I ever saw with barely a smile. Liking jazz is one thing, but not even smiling for the sax/drum double solos near the end is a shame.
I'm not sure people groove these days. I'm not big on Jazz either but back then Free Form Jazz was the rage so Steely Dan was a relief. I should add that we used to listen to the entire album instead of individual songs so we got to ride the various moods.
This album was Steely Dan at their peak on the 7o's. Having morphed from a more free swinging style to a mellow and hip progressive jazz formula of easy listening. Just put in the album, pour yourself a glass of whatever sends you and take it all in. JOSIE is great but the sailing truly gets underway with the stellar DEACONBLUES. Fagan and Becker are sharp, relaxed and cool. Just checkout FM, BLACK COW, PEG, and from their album Gaucho, TIME OUT OF MIND.
Hi Ms. D., Steely Dan is one of my favorite bands (I have a lot of them) ☺ They are a blend of Jazz Rock & Jazz Fusion and couple more.. Try "Deacon Blues", "Reelin In The Years", "Do It Again", "Ricki Don't Lose That Number", "Hey Nineteen", "Pretzel Logic".. Some of these songs have great guitar solos; Mr. Larry Carlton is on some of them, he is one of favorite guitarist.. ♠W.G.
This is one of my all time favorites by the Dan. Such a smooth, luxurious groove. So much to take in, instrumentally and vocally. "Black Cow" is another one that is completely sumptuous. "Peg" and "Josie" will be more on the pop groove end and are other great ones. The entire album, Aja, is beyond. And yes, being in the mood for jazz is something that is not uncommon for many. Another great review.
Steely Dan is and always will be one of my favorite groups. To me, AJA was their pinnacle album, loaded with masterful songs. My favorite single on that album is Deacon Blues. I wish you had reacted to that instead of the single, Aja….
This is a very good pic and your reaction was perfect this is a side b didn't play on the radio very often but it was one of those songs when you're at the house party and you move from the kitchen to the living room it just made everything smooth and cool cheers people
... trend here; binge watching ... Yes, as others have commented, Steely Dan is complex music. Aja was rated as one of the most sonically perfect albums ever produced. It is not easy to listen to the first time. Each track features a selected group of studio musicians, often chosen in production. The guitar solos here are Larry Carlton; the drums are by Steve Gadd (he does a clinic segment on this track on UA-cam). Again, it isn't easy! Try it again. Yes, as others have said, this is a tough first track, even for this album. Don't give up!!! You'll get it. Also, maybe entering through something off Gaucho or Royal Scam might be helpful.
This was one of the first albums I ever purchased. I was in Junior high school when this came out. It was my favorite album at the time. I guess I've always had a nerdy side to me.
I'm a big Steely Dan. Thank you ! Thank you ! Thank you ! for being honest. Almost all reaction(whatever you call yourselves) shy away from expressing how they feel. I guess because they don't want to alienate their followers. But it' s all about expressing ideas and tastes. I would like to see(whatever you call yourselves) play music they like and purchase themselves, every now and then. I'm like a "Star War's Generation" long time ago in a generation far far away. I like to hear music of today but don't always have a chance. 🎶
The whole album Aja is a master piece. Steely Dan is Funk, Jazz and Rock all in one. Try "Hey 19" you'll love it and it'sa not Jazz. Also try "Do It Again".
I totally respect your fair reaction. I think that is why most of us are here because your reaction seemed to be genuine and fair. On a side note Steely Dan is more of the music to chill out to when you're home alone and just chilling.
One of the 2 main members of Steely Dan, Donald Fagen, has an excellent 1982 solo album called The Nightfly. The whole album is great, but especially I.G.Y. & New Frontier. Check them out; I think you’ll like them. If you ever want to try more jazz, I recommend Grover Washington, Jr. & the album Winelight. It’s my favorite Smooth Jazz album. It features the big hit “Just the Two of Us” with vocals by Bill Withers.
My fears go away when I hear music like this...God can take me so I can hear my deceased sister sing to me....wish Karen Carpenter! That's not much to ask?
Steely Dan rose to fame in the mid-'70's, which was a time rock music had broken out from its restrictive roots and moved into new sounds and idioms while still retaining some rockiness to it. This band is actually two guys, Walter Fagan and Donald Becker, at least one of whom must have had a lot of great melodies stuck inside his head. The original plan was just to go into the studio and produce albums of exquisite, detailed music, and never tour or perform the songs live. Fagan and Becker enlisted most of the very best studio musicians in the L.A. area to enhance the instrumentation for each song. As an aside, I have always wondered what makes a world-class musician opt for the relatively anonymous and not particularly financially rewarding career of on-call studio guy? Fear of flying? Dislike of intra-band politicking? A wife and kids and aversion to be away from home? Just a loner by nature? Who knows? It seems to me that Steely Dan worked as a way those guys could join in the changes in popular music and show off their chops. A lot of all-time greats can be heard on Steely Dan albums. Most of them are jazz guys, probably because they just did not like the blatant simplicity of standard 4/4 beat, 3-chord progression chorus-verse-chorus-instrumental-chorus, 2-minute pop music songs. It's a free country and people get to choose their own pathways through life. But I digress. The Venn diagram for Steely Dan music wouldn't really have a huge intersection with the one for jazz, although I'd agree that Aja would fall within the intersection. It's more just a rejection of the simplicity of standard pop music and an escape from the strictures of the 2-minute radio songs we are grew up on. It's not really jazz, but shares a lot of the same characteristics. Little of their output was danceable. It is music mainly for listening, filled with time signature changes, sub-parts, multiple layers, and wonderful, nearly poetic, lyrics, oftentimes about dating and romance from the perspective of musicians living in a L.A. and environs pocket universe warped by recreational drugs and meaningless sex. I wonder if the protagonist in Aja ever got together with her?
ASIA :) HEY ANGELA THEY HAVE A GREAT LIBRARY, MANY BIG RADIO HITS I'M SURE YOU'VE HEARD AND JUST DIDN'T KNOW. AND OF COURSE A BIG R.I.P TO WALTER BECKER :(
A late comment. This whole album has some of the most soothing vibes you'll ever experience! You won't appreciate the artistry of the song and album until you have more Life experience. Nice choice! ✌️😎
I"m so glad that your are discovering Steely Dan. They have a catalog of a lot of GEMS. Check out Hey Nineteen, BABYLON SISTERS, kid charlemagne just to name a few.
I didn't pay much attention to this at first. But, man, giving it time has it ever grown on me. Very rich, very deep. My appreciation of Steve Gadd's drum work has soared. Maybe the same will happen for you. Or maybe not. Either way, it's better to have an honest reaction. Not sure how much attention I'd give to Mr. or Ms. Thumbs Up to Everything! It's either not honest, or they might as well do one 30 second thumbs up reaction and say "There. This is for everything," and be done with it.
Glad you reacted to this masterpiece. If you're not ready for it, then you're not. This is not Jazz, but Rock with Jazz leanings. You kind of needed to work yourself up to this song in their catalog which is vast, and then your ears might've been ready . Please react to "Dialogue Parts 1 and 2(Long version) by Chicago. It's a relevant song in which two voices have a conversation about the world.
Don't give up on Steely Dan, Angela. Try "Do It Again". It was the first song that made me like them. I really think you would like it. They are brilliant.
I never cared for straight jazz or free form jazz. But then jazz fusion came along, and I found plenty to like. Spyro Gyra immediately springs to mind.
I like a lot of your other reactions, but they tended to be commercially oriented songs which, while showcasing the talents of the writers or performers, do not take a lot of investment by the listener. A good ear-worm, voice, or groove can hook anyone with one listen. But this is something different. It has jazz elements ... complex chord changes and delightfully unpredictable improvisations. Some jazz purists would call this "Yacht Rock" for the trendy moneyed-class. But like I've read elsewhere, Steely Dan is your favorite musician's favorite musicians. But two names in particular send shivers down my spine ... Wayne Shorter and Steve Gadd. Kind of like an earlier era of prog rock (thinking of Yes's "Close to the Edge"), other than other musicians, I don't think anyone would get this song in a single listen. There are so many layers, nuances, and subtleties to discover, it takes some people decades to hear this masterpiece unfurl. The lyrics for example, take some time to grok. If "Double helix" is the shape of DNA, then "throwing out the hardware" means dispensing with artificial insemination. Buried deep in this song, there is a story about caste ... a good book to read to supplement this is "Caste" by Isabel Wilkerson. But as much as I love this song as my favorite on the album, I'd have to say "Deacon Blues" is the theme song of my life. I resigned in protest from a tenured college position in Japan ... and after having invested so much time and resources into grad school, research, and community outreach, only to become unemployed, I can really identify with the lyrics. The Dan, at its best takes time. But as time is our only currency, some choose to spend it elsewhere. Still, one thing that has me addicted to your reactions, is that you keep it real. When the tears flow, I know they are real because if it's not your thing, you don't hold back. And most of your reactions to those shorter songs are similar to my own. Keep up the good work, and cheers from Japan. steve
After a little investigation I think I found out that “the Dude Ranch above the sea” that he’s singing about was the Esalen Institute near Monterey, CA (Big Sur). It figures that Donald was hanging out there, where all those spiritual heavyweights, writers and thinkers of his generation flocked to for retreats. He earned a place in the vanguard for sure !
Could tell you're not into music without vocals. Saw you getting impatient on this one. Understandable this is a studio musicians' dream and is like listening to a foreign movie without knowing the language. Love your reactions all the same.
This is the same album that Peg comes from so maybe you need to check out other songs from it. Josie would be one, I’ve Got The News would be another and maybe Black Cow too.
Not the easiest steeydan song to listen too straight of the bat Angela. Don't be disheartened by this one there are plenty more songs your gonna love by this band I promise ✌
Such a beautiful song. Well arranged and presented. You could literally let this whole album play from start to finish.
This became my favorite SD album. And this is one of my favorite tracks. Steve Gadd on drums had some nice touches.
One word..masterpiece..whole album too
Can’t go wrong with Steely! Thx! We used to test our stereo equipment with their albums!
Why? Most of their albums had a lot of treble distortion (except Gaucho, and that 1973 album, whatever it was called).
When I first heard this song. I had your same reaction. Aja is very complex. It took me years to full grasp this song. The drums solo is quite possible one of the greatest of all time. I didn’t hear it the first time. Steely Dan is one of my favorite groups of all time. I highly recommend you to invest an hour in watching the video on how they created Aja the album. Donald & Walter are pure genius. RIP Walter. Becker
I liked watching your face as you were trying to process this masterpiece. Listen again and it will grow on you, I promise you that!
A very complex Steely Dan song for a first listen. FM, Hey Nineteen or Black Cow might be better songs to cut your SD teeth on. Thumbs up for allowing the song to play through...and always a thumbs up to Mr. Gadd for killin' it on the drums.
This song is amazing because it has multiple chord changes throughout the song.
It's almost as if there are several different songs in one, and they're ALL great, and never break the song apart.
Been a pleasure to have listened to Steely Dan for 50+ years. Never gets old!
when all my dime dancing is through, i run to you. what a fucking lyric. almost 45 years later it still holds.
This is known as one of the best recorded songs ever.
A late comment.
This whole album has some of the most soothing vibes you'll ever experience!
Nice choice! ✌️😎
Wow, you picked a difficult, complex one. This is arguably their most Jazz influenced track. They have other ones where the Pop/R&B and Funky elements are stronger, and which are much more vocally rich, where the balance between instrumental and vocal elements is much more even. This here is basically the one track that Jazz players love to jam over.
It doesn't hurt that Wayne Shorter does his saxophone solo 🎶👍🏾
Steely Dan was a group of great musicians that turned out some great music in the 70s we would listen to their whole albums cranked up on stereo equipment bought in Thailand while stationed there in the service and it could literally shake the house when cranked up but between the nine of us we had not only great stereo systems but a very extensive album collection also we recorded some of it to reel to reel we could push play and we could go 4 to 5 hours non-stop
I'm not a jazz person either. I do love this album and own every Steely Dan album. Compared to other Steely Dan records, Aja took me a bit to fall in love. For someone like me and Angela, I think the best song on Aja to start with is Home at Last. It definitely fits the feel of Aja, but is a bit less "jazzy". From there, step over to Josie, and with a few listens through, the album becomes a must for a "stranded on a desert island" list.
Great advice
I agree home at last is just perfect.
First reaction of Aja I ever saw with barely a smile. Liking jazz is one thing, but not even smiling for the sax/drum double solos near the end is a shame.
I'm not sure people groove these days. I'm not big on Jazz either but back then Free Form Jazz was the rage so Steely Dan was a relief.
I should add that we used to listen to the entire album instead of individual songs so we got to ride the various moods.
This album was Steely Dan at their peak on the 7o's. Having morphed from a more free swinging style to a mellow and hip progressive jazz formula of easy listening. Just put in the album, pour yourself a glass of whatever sends you and take it all in. JOSIE is great but the sailing truly gets underway with the stellar DEACONBLUES. Fagan and Becker are sharp, relaxed and cool. Just checkout FM, BLACK COW, PEG, and from their album Gaucho, TIME OUT OF MIND.
Hi Ms. D., Steely Dan is one of my favorite bands (I have a lot of them) ☺ They are a blend of Jazz Rock & Jazz Fusion and couple more..
Try "Deacon Blues", "Reelin In The Years", "Do It Again", "Ricki Don't Lose That Number", "Hey Nineteen", "Pretzel Logic".. Some of these
songs have great guitar solos; Mr. Larry Carlton is on some of them, he is one of favorite guitarist.. ♠W.G.
Check out more Steely Dan and come back to this one someday. I promise you'll find the groove within all that jazz as so many of us have.
I appreciate your honesty! You are more focused on vocals, and that's perfectly fine (I share your love of Karen Carpenter).
The more I listen to this song the more I love it!
Absolute perfection. Growing up with SD has been a blessing.
Always been one of my go to album to chill out ...
Nice Reaction! Steely Dan has a lot complexities that kind of have be savored on subsequent listens.
THIS 77 GEM ALBUM ( AJA ) ALONE HAD BIG HITS FROM IT :) PEG, JOSIE, BLACK COW, DEACON BLUES ALLLLLLL HITS ANGELA
That song is a masterpiece of composition!
The older I get the more I appreciate their music. I'LL BE 70 IN January
This is one of my all time favorites by the Dan. Such a smooth, luxurious groove. So much to take in, instrumentally and vocally. "Black Cow" is another one that is completely sumptuous. "Peg" and "Josie" will be more on the pop groove end and are other great ones. The entire album, Aja, is beyond. And yes, being in the mood for jazz is something that is not uncommon for many. Another great review.
rikki don't lose that number - steely dan
This is one you just let wash over you… 😁❤️
If you're in the mood for a smooth R&B groove. Check out "Black Cow"
Steely Dan is a band mostly for musicians.. 🔥😊 love your reaction
Love the whole album, played many times over and over in my truck on cassette tape when it first came out. California coastal life.
Hey What an Iconic Band. That is the most perfect Jazz/Rock Fusion Band EVER! 😎👏👏👏👏👏
Fagan and Becker hand pick the best of session players for each track because different artists can bring a new perspective to certain styles of music
That album is a masterpiece 🤓👍👍👍👍
Great song...
Steely Dan is and always will be one of my favorite groups. To me, AJA was their pinnacle album, loaded with masterful songs.
My favorite single on that album is Deacon Blues. I wish you had reacted to that instead of the single, Aja….
Very, very nice Sis..
Most reaction creators would not have taken a chance on music with this complexity...
Much Love Much Respect
😎
One of my top 5 albums. Graduated high school 1977
Steve Gadd on drums. Simply incredible track. Killer Album 😎
A legend
This is a very good pic and your reaction was perfect this is a side b didn't play on the radio very often but it was one of those songs when you're at the house party and you move from the kitchen to the living room it just made everything smooth and cool cheers people
You picked a awesome SD track, their music is so diverse, my favourite music after 45 years, 65, now, time less🎶😄👍, enjoy
Steely Dan were the band that other musicians chilled to. Aja the album is simply fantastic
... trend here; binge watching ... Yes, as others have commented, Steely Dan is complex music. Aja was rated as one of the most sonically perfect albums ever produced. It is not easy to listen to the first time. Each track features a selected group of studio musicians, often chosen in production. The guitar solos here are Larry Carlton; the drums are by Steve Gadd (he does a clinic segment on this track on UA-cam). Again, it isn't easy! Try it again. Yes, as others have said, this is a tough first track, even for this album. Don't give up!!! You'll get it. Also, maybe entering through something off Gaucho or Royal Scam might be helpful.
You know you hitting on one of my favorites . Great request pick.
This was one of the first albums I ever purchased. I was in Junior high school when this came out. It was my favorite album at the time. I guess I've always had a nerdy side to me.
I'm a big Steely Dan. Thank you ! Thank you ! Thank you ! for being honest. Almost all reaction(whatever you call yourselves) shy away from expressing how they feel. I guess because they don't want to alienate their followers. But it' s all about expressing ideas and tastes. I would like to see(whatever you call yourselves) play music they like and purchase themselves, every now and then. I'm like a "Star War's Generation" long time ago in a generation far far away. I like to hear music of today but don't always have a chance. 🎶
Best track on the album... great song choice!
The title track of Steely Dan's best lp, which is saying a lot in the case of SD, IMO...
That's Wayne Shorter playing the tenor sax solo - he played with Miles Davis for many years.
You need headphones to fully appreciate all the layers. A masterpiece work of art 🙏😎♥️👍
In my humble opinion, the BEST drumming on any of their tracks. Oh way, of ANY track!!
The whole album Aja is a master piece. Steely Dan is Funk, Jazz and Rock all in one. Try "Hey 19" you'll love it and it'sa not Jazz. Also try "Do It Again".
Steely Dan fantastic body of work! Fagan still tours too!
Long great song
Amazing album ❤️
she prefers songs with Auto-Tune
Great song! Album!
I totally respect your fair reaction.
I think that is why most of us are here because your reaction seemed to be genuine and fair.
On a side note Steely Dan is more of the music to chill out to when you're home alone and just chilling.
It's Jazz baby!
One of the 2 main members of Steely Dan, Donald Fagen, has an excellent 1982 solo album called The Nightfly. The whole album is great, but especially I.G.Y. & New Frontier. Check them out; I think you’ll like them.
If you ever want to try more jazz, I recommend Grover Washington, Jr. & the album Winelight. It’s my favorite Smooth Jazz album. It features the big hit “Just the Two of Us” with vocals by Bill Withers.
My fears go away when I hear music like this...God can take me so I can hear my deceased sister sing to me....wish Karen Carpenter! That's not much to ask?
thanks for your honesty.
Steely Dan rose to fame in the mid-'70's, which was a time rock music had broken out from its restrictive roots and moved into new sounds and idioms while still retaining some rockiness to it. This band is actually two guys, Walter Fagan and Donald Becker, at least one of whom must have had a lot of great melodies stuck inside his head. The original plan was just to go into the studio and produce albums of exquisite, detailed music, and never tour or perform the songs live. Fagan and Becker enlisted most of the very best studio musicians in the L.A. area to enhance the instrumentation for each song. As an aside, I have always wondered what makes a world-class musician opt for the relatively anonymous and not particularly financially rewarding career of on-call studio guy? Fear of flying? Dislike of intra-band politicking? A wife and kids and aversion to be away from home? Just a loner by nature? Who knows? It seems to me that Steely Dan worked as a way those guys could join in the changes in popular music and show off their chops. A lot of all-time greats can be heard on Steely Dan albums. Most of them are jazz guys, probably because they just did not like the blatant simplicity of standard 4/4 beat, 3-chord progression chorus-verse-chorus-instrumental-chorus, 2-minute pop music songs. It's a free country and people get to choose their own pathways through life. But I digress.
The Venn diagram for Steely Dan music wouldn't really have a huge intersection with the one for jazz, although I'd agree that Aja would fall within the intersection. It's more just a rejection of the simplicity of standard pop music and an escape from the strictures of the 2-minute radio songs we are grew up on. It's not really jazz, but shares a lot of the same characteristics. Little of their output was danceable. It is music mainly for listening, filled with time signature changes, sub-parts, multiple layers, and wonderful, nearly poetic, lyrics, oftentimes about dating and romance from the perspective of musicians living in a L.A. and environs pocket universe warped by recreational drugs and meaningless sex.
I wonder if the protagonist in Aja ever got together with her?
ASIA :) HEY ANGELA THEY HAVE A GREAT LIBRARY, MANY BIG RADIO HITS I'M SURE YOU'VE HEARD AND JUST DIDN'T KNOW. AND OF COURSE A BIG R.I.P TO WALTER BECKER :(
Not a bad song on that whole album.
A late comment.
This whole album has some of the most soothing vibes you'll ever experience!
You won't appreciate the artistry of the song and album until you have more Life experience.
Nice choice! ✌️😎
I"m so glad that your are discovering Steely Dan. They have a catalog of a lot of GEMS. Check out Hey Nineteen, BABYLON SISTERS, kid charlemagne just to name a few.
I didn't pay much attention to this at first. But, man, giving it time has it ever grown on me. Very rich, very deep. My appreciation of Steve Gadd's drum work has soared.
Maybe the same will happen for you. Or maybe not.
Either way, it's better to have an honest reaction. Not sure how much attention I'd give to Mr. or Ms. Thumbs Up to Everything!
It's either not honest, or they might as well do one 30 second thumbs up reaction and say "There. This is for everything," and be done with it.
Pop Jazz ... time slows down for the Dan ! 💕💕💕💕
Not a "jazz" person? If you think, if you reflect, if you seek truth...you will feel the possibilities of jazz.
Jazz could be daunting. Like you said, appreciation is perfect!
It's nearly impossible to overstate how Steely Dan owned the radio airwaves in the 1970's 😎🎸🎤🎷
One of my all time favorite bands this is a rabbit hole you can get really caught up to listen to their older stuff but this whole album was fire 🔥
Glad you reacted to this masterpiece. If you're not ready for it, then you're not. This is not Jazz, but Rock with Jazz leanings. You kind of needed to work yourself up to this song in their catalog which is vast, and then your ears might've been ready
. Please react to "Dialogue Parts 1 and 2(Long version) by Chicago. It's a relevant song in which two voices have a conversation about the world.
Damn girl you are continuing to be in my wheelhouse. Great tune from a Great fng album
What great production and flawless playing.
Don't give up on Steely Dan, Angela. Try "Do It Again". It was the first song that made me like them. I really think you would like it. They are brilliant.
You can never go wrong with Steely Dan - one of the greatest bands ever.
Check out "Do It Again". It's amazing.
The best studio band next to the Beatles
The drummer Steve Gadd is a god!
I never cared for straight jazz or free form jazz. But then jazz fusion came along, and I found plenty to like. Spyro Gyra immediately springs to mind.
AJA like Asia.
Take anytime of Season and any place where you are at the time, add this as the soundtrack & it will have a much higher meaning, no matter what lol.
They Were what We now call organic
Not one bad song in their entire catalog
Love your beautiful hair !
Great song
COOL as the,other side of the pillow 😅😊
steve gadd on drums...epic
I like a lot of your other reactions, but they tended to be commercially oriented songs which, while showcasing the talents of the writers or performers, do not take a lot of investment by the listener.
A good ear-worm, voice, or groove can hook anyone with one listen.
But this is something different.
It has jazz elements ... complex chord changes and delightfully unpredictable improvisations.
Some jazz purists would call this "Yacht Rock" for the trendy moneyed-class.
But like I've read elsewhere, Steely Dan is your favorite musician's favorite musicians.
But two names in particular send shivers down my spine ... Wayne Shorter and Steve Gadd.
Kind of like an earlier era of prog rock (thinking of Yes's "Close to the Edge"), other than other musicians, I don't think anyone would get this song in a single listen.
There are so many layers, nuances, and subtleties to discover, it takes some people decades to hear this masterpiece unfurl.
The lyrics for example, take some time to grok.
If "Double helix" is the shape of DNA, then "throwing out the hardware" means dispensing with artificial insemination.
Buried deep in this song, there is a story about caste ... a good book to read to supplement this is "Caste" by Isabel Wilkerson.
But as much as I love this song as my favorite on the album, I'd have to say "Deacon Blues" is the theme song of my life.
I resigned in protest from a tenured college position in Japan ... and after having invested so much time and resources into grad school, research, and community outreach, only to become unemployed, I can really identify with the lyrics.
The Dan, at its best takes time.
But as time is our only currency, some choose to spend it elsewhere.
Still, one thing that has me addicted to your reactions, is that you keep it real.
When the tears flow, I know they are real because if it's not your thing, you don't hold back.
And most of your reactions to those shorter songs are similar to my own.
Keep up the good work, and cheers from Japan.
steve
After a little investigation I think I found out that “the Dude Ranch above the sea” that he’s singing about was the Esalen Institute near Monterey, CA (Big Sur). It figures that Donald was hanging out there, where all those spiritual heavyweights, writers and thinkers of his generation flocked to for retreats. He earned a place in the vanguard for sure !
"Haitian Divorce" is one of there very best
Could tell you're not into music without vocals. Saw you getting impatient on this one. Understandable this is a studio musicians' dream and is like listening to a foreign movie without knowing the language. Love your reactions all the same.
This is the same album that Peg comes from so maybe you need to check out other songs from it. Josie would be one, I’ve Got The News would be another and maybe Black Cow too.
Not the easiest steeydan song to listen too straight of the bat Angela. Don't be disheartened by this one there are plenty more songs your gonna love by this band I promise ✌
Loved your reaction. More Steely Dan❤️
What woman? This song is great!
YEAH, STEELY DAN now My Request is Pat Metheny First Circle!
"Josie" is the Song for You. Very Funky