I would get very sentimental to this song in my youth. I thought it was about romance. Donald was inspired by Thelonious Monk. That's where he gets the inverted chords. Also, he takes elements from like a Lionel Hampton or Charlie Parker. In that sense, I really think Fagen is one of the most underrated jazz legends. He pays homage to all the greats.
One of the reasons we still listen to Steely Dan is that, in addition to the sophisticated music, melodies and musicianship, the lyrics(!) continue to reveal themselves over decades of listening. Lyrics that invite/demand you to come up with your own personal interpretation are the best! 😸👍
The drums are personified by the great Jeff Porcaro..best know as the drummer to the also legendary band Toto! Sadly he is also no longer with us..as is Becker 😢 I was fortunate enough to see SD live twice. Once in 2006 for the “Sugartooth” McDan tour which had the great Michael McDonald with them! And the second time was very shortly before Becker passed. God bless SD and their incredible music
My favorite SD song. Really. That Phil Woods alto sax solo kills me every time. And then there's this: "Katy lies/you can see it in her eyes/but imagine my surprise when I saw you". A+
One interpretation is that "Katy" is heroin. At the time this song was written, a lot of Vietnam vets were coming back home with full-blown addictions they had procured in Nam. Back home, they would seek medical help from doctors who would put them on methadone as a way to wean them from the real thing. However, Dr. Wu's "skill" is oversold as the methadone doesn't provide the same high as heroin. IOW, Katy lies. And Dr. Wu's just an ordinary guy, no medical savior. Could be? Who knows. Fagen has never come clean about the song. LOL.
This was the song for me that got me hooked. A friend gave me the Katy Lied and Pretzel Logic CD's and I didn't bother for months. He called and asked what I thought and I said I hadn't listened. He got mad and drove over to the house. Played this one and Your Gold Teeth II and the rest is history. I just love this song.
The first time I heard "Doctor Wu" was in 2002, I think. When it was over, I just sat in my deskchair, unmoving, wordless. It's as if my system couldn't handle anything this damn good. Then I immediately replayed it. Today, "Dr. Wu" easily makes my personal playlist.
Phil Woods blessed Steely Dan with his saxophone, just as he did with Billy Joel on "Just the Way You Are". Phil Woods provided an atmosphere of transcendent beauty at a memorial service I attended for a mutual friend in a small Pennsylvania church in 1980.
You want sinister? Same album, and otherworldly beautiful - but packs a moral gut punch - "Everyone's gone to the movies". So good and dark at the same time. I get goosebumps every time the backing vocals girls sing.
I think he aimed to in the last solo- that quick vibrato reminds me of some of the chilling licks coltrane would play when he was in his deepest addictions.
From Songfacts, regarding the meaning behind the lyrics: If you read a drug connection into this song, you're on the right track. Donald Fagen describes it as "kind of a love-dope triangle," adding, "I think usually when we do songs of a romantic nature, one or more of the participants in the alliance will come under the influence of someone else or some other way of life, and that will usually end up in either some sort of compromise or a split. In this song the girl meets somebody who leads another kind of life, and she's attracted to it. Then she comes under the domination of someone else, and that results in the ending of the relationship or some amending of the relationship. In 'Dr. Wu' that someone else is a dope habit. personified as Doctor Wu."
If you like the way this song sounds, as I do, you need to check out: Here at the Western World (on the SD Gold Cd) Razor Boy (Countdown to Ecstacy) Bad Sneakers (also on Katy Lied) Gaucho title track. And you might get a kick out of the funky "Daddy Doesn't Live in that NYC No More", also from Katy Lied. Its hard to rank SD songs because they are all so great, but Dr. Wu has long been right up there with Aja as my favorites. Steely Dan has only played Dr. Wu SEVEN TIMES live ever. I was fortunate to see and hear TWO of those 7. Pure nirvana.
tonight when I chase the dragon. I never knew chasing the dragon was inhaling heroin in gas form off of tin or aluminum. "Chasing the dragon", or "foily" in Australian English, referring to inhaling the vapor from a heated solution of a powdered psychoactive drug on a sheet of aluminum foil. The moving vapor is chased after with a tube through which the user inhales
OMG! I was listening to this in the late 70's when it came out. Steely Dan at the top of their game, and they stayed at the top for decades like no other group. Steely Dan stands alone in their genre, whatever that is.
There are already lots of nice comments here praising Phil Woods’ alto solo on Doctor Wu. Studio cats like Dave Sanborn or Lou Marini could consistently craft a decent (and sometimes perhaps even memorable) solo on a first or second take. But seldom could session guys like them play as elegantly or profoundly as Phil Woods. After Charlie Parker’s untimely and ufortunate demise, Phil Woods was a standard bearer for Bird’s musical legacy, along with other alto players such as Jackie McLean and Cannonball Adderly. Phil Woods even took in Parker’s widow and child after his death. I have to think that when Fagen and Becker brought in Phil Woods to play the solo on Doctor Wu it was because they were looking for something much deeper than merely a passable first or second take. I have to think they were looking for a truly iconic solo; the kind of solo that music students would still be transcribing fifty years later. And they turned to a true bebop legend to make it happen.
Phil Woods would spend his down time here in Forest Knolls in Marin County CA at a dive bar that my wife's family owned with his friends who had a local band, a pretty good one, and sit in on some nights and do his wonderful thing for us locals. He had a ranch nearby. I saw him regularly at the bar and he once asked me: "do you know who I am?" I replied "yes", but I really did not know nearly all that he did and was. He was a really nice human being- I knew that much for sure.
Yes, they are great!! So many great songs. If you ever hear a bad one let us know. Seven albums from 1972-80(and more 20yrs later). BTW, check out Donald's solo albums. Nightfly is a masterpiece by a legend Donald Fagen. Great stuff...
I read that the story behind this song is as follows. When some of the members of the group became dependent on drugs, they heard about Dr. Wu. He really turned them around and got them back on track. So they were able to get back to making music again. They owed a great debt of gratitude to him. That, in short is the story.
SD is the Best. They have no bad tunes and all their albums are great. Regarding the lyrics meaning, I once heard a Rolling Stone writer once say about their lyrics....." we really don't know whats going on in the song, but were pretty sure, someone is doing things they shouldn't be doing" 😂
1975. Before crack. Dr. Wu is the dealer. Ksty is heroin. At the end the Dr. gets hooked on his own supply. "Are you with me Doctor? Can you hear me Doctor?"
It's literally a "dope-azz" song. Under that pleasant facade, this is a song about a strung out drug addict and his/her drug dealer is yes, Dr. Wu. Katy is the dope that "lies" to him. From what I can gather, Dr Wu himself is strung out on drugs also. "She (Katy) has got to him too." The Dan is sneaky that way. Songs about the dark fringes of society yet clothed in a deceptive veneer of pleasant cool jazz fusion music.
"Katy" is Heroin. the protagonist is going through withdrawals "halfway crucified"being on the other side of no tomorrow" Dr Wu is the same protagonist when he gets his fix. He's just a shadow of himself because he knows he is a junkie Verse 2 just like the first. Strung out and waiting for his taste. in the end he knows Katy (Heroin) lies, but is happy when gets more(Imagine my surprise when I saw you) Great Lyrics...
Ok, here is my take. One of the ways Steely Dan make songs thought provoking is by not only using symbolism, but by using 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person in their songs. In this case, Katy is the drug, I believe heroin. "You" walked in, he is still talking about the drug. Together, "we would sing that stupid song", again, the guy and the drug. Dr. Wu is the version of himself who has been doing this for a while and is now strung out. "Are you crazy, are you high, or just an ordinary guy"? Imagine my surprise when "I" saw you. I is the 1st person. The part of him that woke up and realized that it happened to him too, and that he is just a strung out junky. The Dr. Wu version of himself wasn't cool after all, and Katie ( heroin ) Lied.
One of my favorite Steely Dan songs. The late, great Phil Woods on sax. As far as the lyrics- -1st heard this song as a teen. I thought Dr Wu was an older retired doctor who hung out with the cuban gentlemen in FL. He meets and falls for a beautiful young woman (Katy), but she is only using him for his money..Couldn't have been more wrong ha
TNT, you can pretty much assume almost every Steely Dan song is about Drugs, prostitutes, pervs, gambling or some other addiction and activities by bad characters on the fringes and edges of society. Even their "happiest" tunes. That's what makes them so inscrutably cool 😎!
The Katy Lied name has two elements. Katydid is an old-fashioned name for the insect shown on the cover, named for the sound it makes. The name implies that Katy in fact didn’t deliver as promised.
People disagree on the meaning of this song. The singer is addicted to heroin, and it’s unclear if his dealer is Katy or Dr. Wu. Are they symbols, or are they real? You can go down the rabbit hole of deciding the meaning, but whatever. The singer is torn. I love this song, it does take me away, and part of that is the killer sax by guest Phil Woods. It’s a fabulous song.
I think the drug dealer is Dr. Wu, and the dope is Katy, who lies to both the addict and the dealer, because Wu is strung out too. "Are you with me Doctor Wu Are you really just a shadow Of the man that I once knew She is lovely yes she's sly And you're an ordinary guy Has she finally got to you Can you hear me Doctor?" She=the drugs he was waiting to get from Wu, she is lovely and sly, and Wu is just a shadow of what he once was, and he asks "has SHE finally got to you"
To judge by Fagen's remarks, quoted below, the song is about loving, or at least dating, a drug addict or perhaps about being a drug addict and the way it affects your relationships. What heartbreaking lyrics, and read off so nonchalantly, this bouncy jazzy song about something awful.
It has been one of my top favorites for 35 years, and I finally figured it out. I finally found a story that makes it all make sense, every phrase falls into line, very comfortably. Yes, Katy is the drug, which our protagonist has a problem with, but not like Dr Wu, who becomes addicted to at the end. The most important line in the song is "You walked in, and my life began again." To whom would you ever say such a thing, if not to a lover?
You will like one of their hits from Two Against Nature album called Cousin Dupree but you will want Tasha with you for that reveal. Just because and you'll understand why after the first chorus
....and if you want another great song, with some unscrupulous characters, you need to give "Here at the western world" a listen. A song from the cutting room floor when SD was putting together The Royal Scam. When you hear this song with the great Dean Parks guitar work flowing through it and you realize it was not good enough to make the album...WOW. Any band in the world would love to make a song of this quality, yet it ends up on the cutting room floor of Steely Dans recordings.
Steely has the voise of a alto sax with alost octve key. his side men use liks from MILES constantly add a rockenroll drumer. there is nothing like it enjoy.
Heroin. It was an issue for Walter Becker who wrote a lot of the lyrics for their songs while Donald sang and wrote the music. Seems a part of the genius.
Each of us has a voice in our head and heart. As children, our parents, coaches, priests and teachers ( among a whole host of others) hope their voice (their values) sets up residence in our lives. To guide us through life - helping us to make better choices. Empowering us to see more holistically before making decisions that lead to actions that have consequences. In this song, that voice is called "Dr Wu". Dr Wu is a drug rehabilitation counsellor who teaches people to personify addiction. That is to call it a name - to make it a person you can know and criticise (an exercise in psychological existentialism - like talking to an empty chair pretending someone is sitting in it you can talk with or to). In this song heroin addiction is called "Katy". "Katy" is like a beautiful women no man can say "no" to. She is so lovely and attractive and seductive with no bad consequences to being with her or letting her always have her way. Dr Wu teaches "Katy lies" - don't be fooled by her seductive ways. Dr Wu teaches a song about addiction - the song is silly and stupid to sing. The rhymes are intentionally dumb. Singing It reminds us not to be a fool in decision making. Basically "Katy lies - you can see it in her eyes". And "she is lovely - yes she's sly - and you're an ordinary guy". And "only the crazy get high - have you done all you can do to combat Katy"? For you are no Superman - you are easily tempted back into addiction. Remind your self of all the lies addiction tells and make better choices. Remember the look of heroin addiction in your eyes. You may feel fantastic but look in the mirror - you're drugged out of your rational mind. Access to the present moment has been stollen from you. You are enslaved to Ego. Your eyes tell the truth - look at (or remember) the trouble you get your self in. Addiction does not remind you of all the hell it takes you through. It can't tell you the truth. It's a liar by nature. Remind your self of this and don't be fooled to fall back into addiction. The group that Dr Wu runs has each member sing their own addiction song. Thus "all night long we would sing that stupid song - and every word we sang I knew was was true". The song stays in your head and heart - because you can't take the doctor or the group with you into the "real world". When facing future temptation - sing the song. Listen to the song in your head and heart. Remind yourself of the very seductive dangers of addiction. Even as adults we all remember the silly instructive moral led songs of our youth. When (for example - crossing a busy road) we sing In our heads and hearts "look to the left. Look to the right. Look to the left again (well in Australia we do). If we cross without looking and get our selves in danger we remind our selves "did we look before crossing" - have we "done all we can do" to stay safe? Now in a medical emergency a hospital triage doctor may ask the patient (who is semi-conscious) "can you hear me patient - are you with me patient". In this song, this investigative, deeply troubled, concern driven statement from the empowered to the disempowered is reversed. The patient (the addict) is asking the doctor (the song of Dr Wu) "Can you hear me Dr - are you with me Dr"? This could simply be the addict asking the voice in their head and heart (their stupid addiction "Katy" song) "are you still with me - do you have any real authority here and now - can you help at all? Remind me of my foolishness and the lies of addiction"? Thus "Katy (the drug) tried - I was half way crucified and was on the other side of no tomorrow (full blown addiction). You (Dr Wu) walked in (to the counselling room) and my life began again just when i'd spent the last piaster (a now worthless ancient currency) I could borrow (IE you'd burnt through all your good relationships and even your worst ones in seeking to feed your out of control addiction). Dr Wu may not have charged his clients any fees as they were all desperate and broke and out of hope or access to any support networks. "All night long we would sing that stupid song and every word we sang I knew was true". But in reality, when faced with temptation and you look in the mirror at your own eyes for the truth have you succumb to your own addiction. Does the song have any real power? Where is the sober, clean and empowered You? The one from the support group - the one who boldly learnt to sing the song. Thus "Are you with me Dr Wu? Are you really just a shadow of the man that I once knew - are you crazy are you high or just an ordinary guy - have you done all you can do - are you with me Dr"? The song continues to describe the addict returning to addiction "I went searching for the song you used to sing to me whilst I remained strung out all night waiting for the TASTE you said you'd bring to me". For the addict may very well invert the intention of the addiction warning song and make it the very reason the addiction even exists in the first place. "But imagine my surprise when I saw you"is either the addict discovering the actual Dr Wu is now himself addicted to heroin. Or Dr Wu is symbolic of the struggle inside the addict who when he went to a place where you can see people strung out ("Biscayne Bay where the Cuban gentleman sleep all day") he recognised himself in them and it shocked him and confronted him. All in all it's a great song told in a non-linear fashion (as is the effects of addiction) - the song is dreamlike and disjointed (as is the effects of addiction). The ending fades out into obscurity - just like heroin kicking in and driving you down the hole of loss of contact with reality. The song, like so many other Steely dan songs, serves as a warning for any with ears to listen. These are just my thoughts on the song. I could so easily be completely wrong about everything above. But isn't that the purpose of great art?
Katy's a metaphor for heroin. Dr. Wu is the desperate narrator's dealer who helps his habit but now can't. The Dr. has become addicted to Katy as well to be of any help. The lyrics seem tricky but once you understand the metaphors and the basic dilemma, it's pretty straight forward. Good observation, beautiful music that's also "sinister" in its way.
Dr. Wu is his Psychiatrist helping him cope with his girlfriend Katy, who has a heroin addiction, and she said she was free, but lied to him and was doing the drugs behind his back..
I think the last verse tells us that Wu is the addicts drug dealer, and Katy is the dope that lies. And Dr Wu ends up being strung out on drugs too, "Has she finally got to you". She =Katy the drugs.
People always overthink SteelyDan lyrics … yeah Fagan wrote a few twisted words and content here and there but the music overwrites the darkest shit he ever penned …
Pure talent not a bad song on any of their albums. Katy Lied is a great album. Check out their album Royal Scam or Ajia. You won't be disappointed. These lyrics are about drugs
I was 13 to 23 in the 1970s and when the FAKE POP and ANGRY PUNK or RAP came in the 80s, I could barely take it after all the good music before that, even as far back as the 1930s. I had to put music on hold until the 1990s to hear that RHYTHM be introduced again. I know a lot of people liked 80s music but my taste was way too eclectic for that.
"Sinister?".... Steely Dan has this unique ability to wrote songs that sound beautiful .... yet the lyrics do not necessarily match the beauty of the song. They can write cryptic at times but this song is fairly straight forward. This song is about a love triangle, between a man, a woman, and heroin. Dr. Wu is either the drug dealer or the drug itself, and the narrator of the song keeps going through varying stages of addiction and getting clean, losing touch with the woman he loves to get back on the horse and coming back to find her.
not sinister, but swanky. Let's be real, even the name of the band reflects that it is jazzy noir Red Light District music. It's for night prowler lounge lizard party people.
What's going on? A Miami heroin binge before he got out of it. I can drink too much. If I was out of it in Miami when younger and was out of money, I would have loved the saving of a friend walking in. But was it instead more booze?
No, the song is not sinister, the girl is.. the narrator exposes the sinister motives and duplicitous, destructive actions of an apparently "lovely and fine.." girl who destroys the narrator's friendship with the once deeply admired Dr, Wu...this "ordinary guy" betrays his friend and becomes her latest dupe.
I would get very sentimental to this song in my youth. I thought it was about romance. Donald was inspired by Thelonious Monk. That's where he gets the inverted chords. Also, he takes elements from like a Lionel Hampton or Charlie Parker. In that sense, I really think Fagen is one of the most underrated jazz legends. He pays homage to all the greats.
"All night long, we would sing that stupid song, and every word we sang I knew was true". My favorite Steely Dan tune, out of many, many great ones!
One of the reasons we still listen to Steely Dan is that, in addition to the sophisticated music, melodies and musicianship, the lyrics(!) continue to reveal themselves over decades of listening. Lyrics that invite/demand you to come up with your own personal interpretation are the best! 😸👍
Very awesome musician my fav. musicgroup Steely Dan .Thanks for this incredible amazing music❤
The drums are personified by the great Jeff Porcaro..best know as the drummer to the also legendary band Toto! Sadly he is also no longer with us..as is Becker 😢
I was fortunate enough to see SD live twice. Once in 2006 for the “Sugartooth” McDan tour which had the great Michael McDonald with them! And the second time was very shortly before Becker passed. God bless SD and their incredible music
All you had to say is Steely Dan !🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Probably the most beautiful song ever recorded about heroin addiction.
Fegan and Steely Dan always made the most beautiful music about the dregs of drug addiction and heroin glam/chic.
And always a Joy to see younger folks enjoying timeless music from my era.
You got the theme right. Not even close to greatest song recorded about addiction though. Listen to some Alice in Chains or Mad Season.
@@justsomedood67 They didn't say greatest... they said most beautiful... and it's all subjective. Take a chill.
Doctor Wu is their all time best.
“Katy Lies
You could see it in her eyes.
But imagine my surprise when I saw you”
My favorite SD song. Really. That Phil Woods alto sax solo kills me every time. And then there's this: "Katy lies/you can see it in her eyes/but imagine my surprise when I saw you". A+
I love this song. My favorite Dan song
Greatest Steely Dan song ever. And considering how many great songs they have no small feat
One interpretation is that "Katy" is heroin. At the time this song was written, a lot of Vietnam vets were coming back home with full-blown addictions they had procured in Nam. Back home, they would seek medical help from doctors who would put them on methadone as a way to wean them from the real thing. However, Dr. Wu's "skill" is oversold as the methadone doesn't provide the same high as heroin. IOW, Katy lies. And Dr. Wu's just an ordinary guy, no medical savior. Could be? Who knows. Fagen has never come clean about the song. LOL.
There's another story that it's about Walter Becker's problems with addiction to heroin back in the day.
They literally had a friend named katy wu who was a doctor. I think. Or I just made that up.
That is a very astute observation…I think it has merit considering his cerebral Fagan and Becker are…were in case of Becker sadly 😢
@@bluesrock1He died of liver disease most likely from his heroin use and alcohol
This was the song for me that got me hooked. A friend gave me the Katy Lied and Pretzel Logic CD's and I didn't bother for months. He called and asked what I thought and I said I hadn't listened. He got mad and drove over to the house. Played this one and Your Gold Teeth II and the rest is history. I just love this song.
good call on gold teeth 2:
"Who are these children
Who scheme and run wild?
Who speak with their wings
And the way that they smile "
@@TrueBagPipeRock Denny's guitar solo with Don's piano chords still brings tears its so beautiful.
No such thing as a bad Steely Dan song.
The first time I heard "Doctor Wu" was in 2002, I think. When it was over, I just sat in my deskchair, unmoving, wordless. It's as if my system couldn't handle anything this damn good. Then I immediately replayed it. Today, "Dr. Wu" easily makes my personal playlist.
One of the best saxophone solos in Steely Dan's catalog in my opinion.
Phil Woods on this. It was Wayne Shorter on the "Aja" album.
Phil Woods blessed Steely Dan with his saxophone, just as he did with Billy Joel on "Just the Way You Are".
Phil Woods provided an atmosphere of transcendent beauty at a memorial service I attended for a mutual friend in a small Pennsylvania church in 1980.
Yes sir…also the great Jeff Porcaro on drums on the album didn’t hurt one bit either 😊
You want sinister? Same album, and otherworldly beautiful - but packs a moral gut punch - "Everyone's gone to the movies". So good and dark at the same time. I get goosebumps every time the backing vocals girls sing.
That one IS dark.
Always creeps me.. but the music is so captivating
@@danielkesselring9172 That's where I'm at.
One of the creepiest.
The drummer, Jeff Porcaro, is 20 yo. He formed Toto with his HS mates. Your Gold Teeth II, Jeff kills, Chain Lightning; the groove master.
That Phil Woods alto sax solo still sends shivers up and down the spine after half a century
I think he aimed to in the last solo- that quick vibrato reminds me of some of the chilling licks coltrane would play when he was in his deepest addictions.
From Songfacts, regarding the meaning behind the lyrics: If you read a drug connection into this song, you're on the right track. Donald Fagen describes it as "kind of a love-dope triangle," adding, "I think usually when we do songs of a romantic nature, one or more of the participants in the alliance will come under the influence of someone else or some other way of life, and that will usually end up in either some sort of compromise or a split. In this song the girl meets somebody who leads another kind of life, and she's attracted to it. Then she comes under the domination of someone else, and that results in the ending of the relationship or some amending of the relationship. In 'Dr. Wu' that someone else is a dope habit. personified as Doctor Wu."
Steely Dan equates to fabulous, quality music!! 👍👍👍
try don't take me alive' the intro alone finest guitar carlton is a gem
Best hook of all times
Agreed
The song is fire. As is almost everything Steely Dan have done!
If you like the way this song sounds, as I do, you need to check out:
Here at the Western World (on the SD Gold Cd)
Razor Boy (Countdown to Ecstacy)
Bad Sneakers (also on Katy Lied)
Gaucho title track.
And you might get a kick out of the funky "Daddy Doesn't Live in that NYC No More", also from Katy Lied.
Its hard to rank SD songs because they are all so great, but Dr. Wu has long been right up there with Aja as my favorites.
Steely Dan has only played Dr. Wu SEVEN TIMES live ever. I was fortunate to see and hear TWO of those 7. Pure nirvana.
"Time Out of Mind" deals directly with Walter Becker's heroin addiction.
tonight when I chase the dragon. I never knew chasing the dragon was inhaling heroin in gas form off of tin or aluminum. "Chasing the dragon", or "foily" in Australian English, referring to inhaling the vapor from a heated solution of a powdered psychoactive drug on a sheet of aluminum foil. The moving vapor is chased after with a tube through which the user inhales
One of their best vibes is from one of their earliest LP's called Pretzel Logic. The title song, Pretzel Logic, is a GREAT vibe ! ✌
Love this song. I never have tried to decipher the lyrics. Or any of their other songs.
OMG! I was listening to this in the late 70's when it came out. Steely Dan at the top of their game, and they stayed at the top for decades like no other group. Steely Dan stands alone in their genre, whatever that is.
There are already lots of nice comments here praising Phil Woods’ alto solo on Doctor Wu. Studio cats like Dave Sanborn or Lou Marini could consistently craft a decent (and sometimes perhaps even memorable) solo on a first or second take. But seldom could session guys like them play as elegantly or profoundly as Phil Woods.
After Charlie Parker’s untimely and ufortunate demise, Phil Woods was a standard bearer for Bird’s musical legacy, along with other alto players such as Jackie McLean and Cannonball Adderly. Phil Woods even took in Parker’s widow and child after his death.
I have to think that when Fagen and Becker brought in Phil Woods to play the solo on Doctor Wu it was because they were looking for something much deeper than merely a passable first or second take. I have to think they were looking for a truly iconic solo; the kind of solo that music students would still be transcribing fifty years later. And they turned to a true bebop legend to make it happen.
Phil Woods would spend his down time here in Forest Knolls in Marin County CA at a dive bar that my wife's family owned with his friends who had a local band, a pretty good one, and sit in on some nights and do his wonderful thing for us locals. He had a ranch nearby. I saw him regularly at the bar and he once asked me: "do you know who I am?" I replied "yes", but I really did not know nearly all that he did and was. He was a really nice human being- I knew that much for sure.
You're listening to some of the best ringers ever hired for studio sessions! Great stuff you're right. Timeless.
Yes, they are great!! So many great songs. If you ever hear a bad one let us know. Seven albums from 1972-80(and more 20yrs later). BTW, check out Donald's solo albums. Nightfly is a masterpiece by a legend Donald Fagen. Great stuff...
More Steely Dan! 🙏🏽✌🏽♥️
I read that the story behind this song is as follows. When some of the members of the group became dependent on drugs, they heard about Dr. Wu. He really turned them around and got them back on track. So they were able to get back to making music again. They owed a great debt of gratitude to him. That, in short is the story.
I can’t help but sing along to the chorus, it’s beautiful
You got it. Definitely about drugs.
SD is the Best. They have no bad tunes and all their albums are great. Regarding the lyrics meaning, I once heard a Rolling Stone writer once say about their lyrics....." we really don't know whats going on in the song, but were pretty sure, someone is doing things they shouldn't be doing" 😂
1975. Before crack. Dr. Wu is the dealer. Ksty is heroin. At the end the Dr. gets hooked on his own supply.
"Are you with me Doctor? Can you hear me Doctor?"
It's literally a "dope-azz" song. Under that pleasant facade, this is a song about a strung out drug addict and his/her drug dealer is yes, Dr. Wu. Katy is the dope that "lies" to him. From what I can gather, Dr Wu himself is strung out on drugs also. "She (Katy) has got to him too." The Dan is sneaky that way. Songs about the dark fringes of society yet clothed in a deceptive veneer of pleasant cool jazz fusion music.
I knew it!
Don't forget the great Phil Woods (from my hometown Springfield, MA !) on the alto sax solo 🎷 .
"Katy" is Heroin. the protagonist is going through withdrawals "halfway crucified"being on the other side of no tomorrow"
Dr Wu is the same protagonist when he gets his fix. He's just a shadow of himself because he knows he is a junkie
Verse 2 just like the first. Strung out and waiting for his taste. in the end he knows Katy (Heroin) lies, but is happy when gets more(Imagine my surprise when I saw you)
Great Lyrics...
Katy is a metaphor for heroin, Dr Wu is his dealer
Ok, here is my take. One of the ways Steely Dan make songs thought provoking is by not only using symbolism, but by using 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person in their songs. In this case, Katy is the drug, I believe heroin. "You" walked in, he is still talking about the drug. Together, "we would sing that stupid song", again, the guy and the drug. Dr. Wu is the version of himself who has been doing this for a while and is now strung out. "Are you crazy, are you high, or just an ordinary guy"? Imagine my surprise when "I" saw you. I is the 1st person. The part of him that woke up and realized that it happened to him too, and that he is just a strung out junky. The Dr. Wu version of himself wasn't cool after all, and Katie ( heroin ) Lied.
Ah one of my favourite Steely Dan songs. I just love it. The hook is fantastic and surprisingly lengthy Thanks.
One of my favorite Steely Dan songs. The late, great Phil Woods on sax. As far as the lyrics- -1st heard this song as a teen. I thought Dr Wu was an older retired doctor who hung out with the cuban gentlemen in FL. He meets and falls for a beautiful young woman (Katy), but she is only using him for his money..Couldn't have been more wrong ha
TNT, you can pretty much assume almost every Steely Dan song is about Drugs, prostitutes, pervs, gambling or some other addiction and activities by bad characters on the fringes and edges of society. Even their "happiest" tunes. That's what makes them so inscrutably cool 😎!
This song is a miracle.
Katy is the drug that he sings to in the verses. He is Dr Wu, the chorus is another persona singing to him.
The Katy Lied name has two elements. Katydid is an old-fashioned name for the insect shown on the cover, named for the sound it makes. The name implies that Katy in fact didn’t deliver as promised.
I woke up with this song in my head….and here you are!!!! ☮️❤️😎
Had em all from the beginning - great to hear this again.
Never heard a bad song from them...EVER!!!!...BOTH Music& Lyrics!!!
This is called how many times can T say “dope”! lol!
I absolutely love your name!
Holy shit! you're a real martial arts Dojo! Oh wow.
@@TheAdventuresofTNT lol! Been a fan of you guys from the jump! Keep on rockin! ❤️✌🏼👊🏼
People disagree on the meaning of this song. The singer is addicted to heroin, and it’s unclear if his dealer is Katy or Dr. Wu. Are they symbols, or are they real? You can go down the rabbit hole of deciding the meaning, but whatever. The singer is torn. I love this song, it does take me away, and part of that is the killer sax by guest Phil Woods. It’s a fabulous song.
Phil Woods 🎷✅
I think the drug dealer is Dr. Wu, and the dope is Katy, who lies to both the addict and the dealer, because Wu is strung out too.
"Are you with me Doctor Wu
Are you really just a shadow
Of the man that I once knew
She is lovely yes she's sly
And you're an ordinary guy
Has she finally got to you
Can you hear me Doctor?"
She=the drugs he was waiting to get from Wu, she is lovely and sly, and Wu is just a shadow of what he once was, and he asks "has SHE finally got to you"
To judge by Fagen's remarks, quoted below, the song is about loving, or at least dating, a drug addict or perhaps about being a drug addict and the way it affects your relationships. What heartbreaking lyrics, and read off so nonchalantly, this bouncy jazzy song about something awful.
It has been one of my top favorites for 35 years, and I finally figured it out. I finally found a story that makes it all make sense, every phrase falls into line, very comfortably.
Yes, Katy is the drug, which our protagonist has a problem with, but not like Dr Wu, who becomes addicted to at the end.
The most important line in the song is "You walked in, and my life began again." To whom would you ever say such a thing, if not to a lover?
In this instace... Katie lied is not a reference to a person....
Genius has entered the room.......
There may be songs of their you like better than others but they have never made a bad song.
A dope a$$ song, literally
Steely Dan's catalog is filled with sinister feel-good songs.
You will like one of their hits from Two Against Nature album called
Cousin Dupree
but you will want Tasha with you for that reveal. Just because and you'll understand why after the first chorus
Yeah. Hear we go!
Heroin...SD were heroin users
So sick.. Steely .. second favorite behind the Dead..💀🌺.. and the Allman’s
Yea. It is amazing.
Critic Joe S. Harrington called Katy Lied the best album of all time, every song is as good as this.
....and if you want another great song, with some unscrupulous characters, you need to give "Here at the western world" a listen.
A song from the cutting room floor when SD was putting together The Royal Scam. When you hear this song with the great Dean Parks guitar work flowing through it and you realize it was not good enough to make the album...WOW. Any band in the world would love to make a song of this quality, yet it ends up on the cutting room floor of Steely Dans recordings.
Here At The Western World ✅
Steely dan never fails. ... Give and ear to 'Babylon Sisters' with Tasha. ... You're welcome.
Steely has the voise of a alto sax with alost octve key. his side men use liks from MILES constantly add a rockenroll drumer. there is nothing like it enjoy.
Katy lied features a katydid on the cover to help cover up the meaning.
Heroin. It was an issue for Walter Becker who wrote a lot of the lyrics for their songs while Donald sang and wrote the music. Seems a part of the genius.
Each of us has a voice in our head and heart. As children, our parents, coaches, priests and teachers ( among a whole host of others) hope their voice (their values) sets up residence in our lives. To guide us through life - helping us to make better choices. Empowering us to see more holistically before making decisions that lead to actions that have consequences.
In this song, that voice is called "Dr Wu".
Dr Wu is a drug rehabilitation counsellor who teaches people to personify addiction. That is to call it a name - to make it a person you can know and criticise (an exercise in psychological existentialism - like talking to an empty chair pretending someone is sitting in it you can talk with or to). In this song heroin addiction is called "Katy". "Katy" is like a beautiful women no man can say "no" to. She is so lovely and attractive and seductive with no bad consequences to being with her or letting her always have her way.
Dr Wu teaches "Katy lies" - don't be fooled by her seductive ways.
Dr Wu teaches a song about addiction - the song is silly and stupid to sing. The rhymes are intentionally dumb. Singing It reminds us not to be a fool in decision making. Basically "Katy lies - you can see it in her eyes". And "she is lovely - yes she's sly - and you're an ordinary guy". And "only the crazy get high - have you done all you can do to combat Katy"? For you are no Superman - you are easily tempted back into addiction. Remind your self of all the lies addiction tells and make better choices. Remember the look of heroin addiction in your eyes. You may feel fantastic but look in the mirror - you're drugged out of your rational mind. Access to the present moment has been stollen from you. You are enslaved to Ego. Your eyes tell the truth - look at (or remember) the trouble you get your self in. Addiction does not remind you of all the hell it takes you through. It can't tell you the truth. It's a liar by nature. Remind your self of this and don't be fooled to fall back into addiction.
The group that Dr Wu runs has each member sing their own addiction song. Thus "all night long we would sing that stupid song - and every word we sang I knew was was true".
The song stays in your head and heart - because you can't take the doctor or the group with you into the "real world". When facing future temptation - sing the song. Listen to the song in your head and heart. Remind yourself of the very seductive dangers of addiction.
Even as adults we all remember the silly instructive moral led songs of our youth. When (for example - crossing a busy road) we sing In our heads and hearts "look to the left. Look to the right. Look to the left again (well in Australia we do). If we cross without looking and get our selves in danger we remind our selves "did we look before crossing" - have we "done all we can do" to stay safe?
Now in a medical emergency a hospital triage doctor may ask the patient (who is semi-conscious) "can you hear me patient - are you with me patient".
In this song, this investigative, deeply troubled, concern driven statement from the empowered to the disempowered is reversed. The patient (the addict) is asking the doctor (the song of Dr Wu) "Can you hear me Dr - are you with me Dr"? This could simply be the addict asking the voice in their head and heart (their stupid addiction "Katy" song) "are you still with me - do you have any real authority here and now - can you help at all? Remind me of my foolishness and the lies of addiction"?
Thus "Katy (the drug) tried - I was half way crucified and was on the other side of no tomorrow (full blown addiction). You (Dr Wu) walked in (to the counselling room) and my life began again just when i'd spent the last piaster (a now worthless ancient currency) I could borrow (IE you'd burnt through all your good relationships and even your worst ones in seeking to feed your out of control addiction). Dr Wu may not have charged his clients any fees as they were all desperate and broke and out of hope or access to any support networks.
"All night long we would sing that stupid song and every word we sang I knew was true".
But in reality, when faced with temptation and you look in the mirror at your own eyes for the truth have you succumb to your own addiction.
Does the song have any real power? Where is the sober, clean and empowered You? The one from the support group - the one who boldly learnt to sing the song.
Thus "Are you with me Dr Wu? Are you really just a shadow of the man that I once knew - are you crazy are you high or just an ordinary guy - have you done all you can do - are you with me Dr"?
The song continues to describe the addict returning to addiction "I went searching for the song you used to sing to me whilst I remained strung out all night waiting for the TASTE you said you'd bring to me".
For the addict may very well invert the intention of the addiction warning song and make it the very reason the addiction even exists in the first place.
"But imagine my surprise when I saw you"is either the addict discovering the actual Dr Wu is now himself addicted to heroin. Or Dr Wu is symbolic of the struggle inside the addict who when he went to a place where you can see people strung out ("Biscayne Bay where the Cuban gentleman sleep all day") he recognised himself in them and it shocked him and confronted him.
All in all it's a great song told in a non-linear fashion (as is the effects of addiction) - the song is dreamlike and disjointed (as is the effects of addiction).
The ending fades out into obscurity - just like heroin kicking in and driving you down the hole of loss of contact with reality.
The song, like so many other Steely dan songs, serves as a warning for any with ears to listen.
These are just my thoughts on the song. I could so easily be completely wrong about everything above. But isn't that the purpose of great art?
Great backdrop, mas than dope !
You nailed it.
Top Self band
Absolutely!
Tasha missed a fantastic song you should do her reaction to Doctor Wu. 🙏🏽✌🏽♥️
Steely Dan 😃
No Tasha 😢
I've loved this song for years, but have always thought they mixed the sax solo ( in the beginning) too loud. Great stuff.
If you ever get a chance go see them live at Jones beach theater.
"Katy" is the drug. Wu is the dealer. You analyzed it perfectly. Good vibes, yet sinister.
Katy's a metaphor for heroin. Dr. Wu is the desperate narrator's dealer who helps his habit but now can't. The Dr. has become addicted to Katy as well to be of any help. The lyrics seem tricky but once you understand the metaphors and the basic dilemma, it's pretty straight forward. Good observation, beautiful music that's also "sinister" in its way.
The warped, disjointed, paranoid perspective inside a drug rehabilitation program.
It's about heroin. Walter Becker struggled with it.
Dr. Wu is his Psychiatrist helping him cope with his girlfriend Katy, who has a heroin addiction, and she said she was free, but lied to him and was doing the drugs behind his back..
I think the last verse tells us that Wu is the addicts drug dealer, and Katy is the dope that lies. And Dr Wu ends up being strung out on drugs too, "Has she finally got to you". She =Katy the drugs.
@@kbrewski1 got it.
We live dr wu
People always overthink SteelyDan lyrics … yeah Fagan wrote a few twisted words and content here and there but the music overwrites the darkest shit he ever penned …
Pure talent not a bad song on any of their albums. Katy Lied is a great album. Check out their album Royal Scam or Ajia. You won't be disappointed. These lyrics are about drugs
He's already done the full Aja album.
I was 13 to 23 in the 1970s and when the FAKE POP and ANGRY PUNK or RAP came in the 80s, I could barely take it after all the good music before that, even as far back as the 1930s. I had to put music on hold until the 1990s to hear that RHYTHM be introduced again. I know a lot of people liked 80s music but my taste was way too eclectic for that.
Your right. Katy is heroin and Dr Wu is the dealer.
Dr wu
The acupuncturist
Not music that is supposed to make you comfortable. Steely Dan makes you think and listen as well as just plain enjoy the music.
Mr. Dirty don play.
It is about dope ???
"Sinister?".... Steely Dan has this unique ability to wrote songs that sound beautiful .... yet the lyrics do not necessarily match the beauty of the song. They can write cryptic at times but this song is fairly straight forward. This song is about a love triangle, between a man, a woman, and heroin. Dr. Wu is either the drug dealer or the drug itself, and the narrator of the song keeps going through varying stages of addiction and getting clean, losing touch with the woman he loves to get back on the horse and coming back to find her.
not sinister, but swanky. Let's be real, even the name of the band reflects that it is jazzy noir Red Light District music. It's for night prowler lounge lizard party people.
You're good. I love you.
Def about an addict and his supplier.
What's going on? A Miami heroin binge before he got out of it. I can drink too much. If I was out of it in Miami when younger and was out of money, I would have loved the saving of a friend walking in. But was it instead more booze?
SD lyrics are meant to be ambiguous.
No, the song is not sinister, the girl is.. the narrator exposes the sinister motives and duplicitous, destructive actions of an apparently "lovely and fine.." girl who destroys the narrator's friendship with the once deeply admired Dr, Wu...this "ordinary guy" betrays his friend and becomes her latest dupe.
all their songs are about drugs cmon man, this music was all written in the 70s but you millenials don't know about that shit.
Lol
@@TheAdventuresofTNT 😂
Seriously though do 'glamour profession' That that's the one 🤯
You cant go wrong with steely dan
Try Black Friday
is this Dr Wu the same fellow as the Wu of Wu Tang fame?
Don’t think so this song is 40 years old
Uhhh, no.
@@kellydelay18 More than that, closer to 50.