Steely Dan

Steely Dan is an American jazz rock band based around musicians and songwriters Walter Becker and Donald Fagen.

Musical and lyrical style

The band's heyday was in the 1970s, when they released a half dozen consummate albums, which skilfully blended jazz, rock and roll, funk, rhythm and blues, pop and everything in between. Their music, which may at first appear 'smooth' and 'easy listening', is characterized by complex jazz-influenced structures and harmonies, witty and literate lyrics and adroit musicianship. Steely Dan's albums are found by fans to be satisfying on many levels.

Related Topics:
1970s - Jazz - Rock and roll - Funk - Rhythm and blues - Pop - Easy listening

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Their enigmatic, sardonically humorous and topical lyrics add enormously to the appeal of the songs. Although Becker and Fagen might have at first owed a certain lyrical debt to Bob Dylan, they rapidly developed their own distinctive style and have since become one of the most accomplished and respected songwriting teams of their age. Perhaps influenced by their early hardships as songwriters for hire, the duo have never given songs to other performers.

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Musically, their sound is full of energy, though not an energy of aggression or speed. This comes partly from the tightness of the musicians and partly from Becker and Fagen's deep grounding in and love for jazz and rhythm & blues. Their major musical focus has always been to create a precise mood or 'feel' that underscores the lyrics.

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Long known as perfectionists, they often recorded take after take before selecting the player or performance that made the final cut on their albums. The guitar solo on "Peg", for example, was attempted by four fine guitarists before Jay Graydon's chorus became the 'keeper'.

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Becker and Fagen also favour a distinctly soul-influenced style of backing vocal, which after the first few albums were almost always performed by a female chorus (although Michael McDonald features prominently on the 1975 song "Black Friday" and the 1977 song "Peg"). On several albums they used the famous session trio of Venetta Fields, Shirley Matthews and Clydie King, who have appeared on many other famous recordings including albums by The Rolling Stones and Boz Scaggs.

Related Topics:
Michael McDonald - Venetta Fields - Shirley Matthews - Clydie King - The Rolling Stones - Boz Scaggs

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The attraction of Steely Dan's music also comes partly from the structure of each song, which will often contain counter-melodies and solid but supple rhythms. It also comes from the sound of each instrument, which is recorded with utmost fidelity and attention to sonic detail, in a style that appeals to the ear and is mixed such a way that all instruments are heard and none are given undue priority. For example, in the song "Parker's Band", two drum kits are used (a technique which was standard in the Big Band era). This gives the song an unexpected drive, without overpowering the sound; it is not even immediately apparent. Their albums are also notable for the characteristically 'warm' and 'dry' production sound, and the sparing use of echo and reverberation -- effects which were often heavily over-used on other rock recordings of this period.

Related Topics:
Big Band - Echo - Reverberation

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Lyrically, their songs cover a wide range of topics, but in their basic approach Becker and Fagen's writing can be compared with the observational, novelistic style of Lou Reed, and with songwriters such as Randy Newman, who specialises in creating fictional personae that narrate the song. The duo have said that in retrospect, most of their albums have a 'feel' of either Los Angeles or New York, the two main bases where Becker and Fagen lived and operated (see below). Characters appear in their songs that evoke these cities. Themes of sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll appear, but never in a straightforward manner, neither encouraging or discouraging, and many (if not all) of their songs are tinged with an ironic edge.

Related Topics:
Lou Reed - Randy Newman - Personae - Los Angeles - New York - Sex - Drugs

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Some lyrics are notable for their unusual scansion patterns; a prime example of this is their 1972 hit "Reelin' In The Years", which crams an unusually large number of words into each line, giving it a highly syncopated quality, similar to rap:

Related Topics:
Scansion - Rap

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:Your everlasting summer, you can see it fading fast,

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:So you grab a piece of something that you think is gonna last.

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:Well, you wouldn't even know a diamond if you held it in your hand.

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:The things you think are precious I can't understand.

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Another good example of their '70s writing style is "Kid Charlemagne" from The Royal Scam. Although the lyrics are, at first glance, typically oblique and allusive, Becker and Fagen have hinted that it was partly inspired by the exploits of the infamous 1960s San Francisco-based LSD chemist Owsley -- although it conflates the core story with numerous other images of the Sixties. This is evident in the following lines:

Related Topics:
San Francisco - LSD - Owsley

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:On the hill the stuff was laced with kerosene,

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:But yours was kitchen clean.

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:Everyone stopped to stare at your technicolor motor home.

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The first two lines draw on the fact that Owsley's acid was famed for its purity, although the last line is clearly a reference to the famous psychedelic bus named Furthur, which was used by the Merry Pranksters.

Related Topics:
Furthur - Merry Pranksters

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Other intriguing themes are also present, such as prejudice, growing old, failure, poverty and middle-class ennui, but typically seen from an ironic and detachedly intelligent perspective. Many of their songs concern love, but none can be classed as straightforward love songs, since there is inevitably an ironic or disturbing twist in the lyrics which sets them apart from the typical love song fare.

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A good example of this aspect of their writing can be found in the song "Janie Runaway" (from Two Against Nature). At first glance it reads like an optimistic love song, with the narrator singing the praises of his new love, but a closer examination reveals a relationship between a teenage (and probably underage) runaway and a jaded, wealthy, New York roue who, by song's end, part threatens, part bribes the girl into joining him for an out-of-state 'threesome' weekend with another young woman.

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"Gaslighting Abbie" (2000), also from the Two Against Nature album, likewise presents itself at first as a love song, but further examination of the lyrics reveal that the narrator is conspiring with his lover on a sadistic plan to drive his wife insane. As the title suggests, the song was inspired by the famous 1944 George Cukor thriller Gaslight, starring Ingrid Bergman, in which the husband of Bergman's character (played by Charles Boyer) attempts to drive her mad.

Related Topics:
George Cukor - Gaslight - Ingrid Bergman - Charles Boyer

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Steely Dan's lyrics are unusually challenging and interesting, and can attract and hold one's attention alongside the music, inviting repeated listenings to their songs. Many songs contain subtle coded references, word-games, unusual (and sometimes original) slang expressions and intriguing lyrical choices and constructions, all of which enable the songs to be analysed in considerable depth. Jazz is a recurring theme, with references abounding in their songs, and there are numerous other film, television and literary references and allusions, such as "Home At Last" (from Aja), which was inspired by The Odyssey.

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'Namechecking' is another classic Dan lyrical device, and references to real places and people abound in their songs. The Two Against Nature album (2000) contains numerous references to the duo's original home region, the New York metro area, including the district of Gramercy Park and the well-known upmarket food business .

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The song "Black Friday" (1975) contains one of their most fascinating 'namechecks', a surprising reference to the town of Muswellbrook in northern New South Wales, Australia:

Related Topics:
Muswellbrook - New South Wales - Australia

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:When Black Friday comes,

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:I'll fly down to Muswellbrook.

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This reference has startled and amused many Australian fans, but is believed that Becker and Fagen in fact selected the name from an atlas, primarily because it worked effectively with the next rhyme:

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:I'm gonna strike all the big red words

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:From my little black book.

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and also because it allowed them to create the amusing couplets in the next stanza:

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:I'm gonna do just what I please.

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:Gonna wear no socks and shoes,

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:With nothin' to do

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:But feed all the kangaroos.

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It is typical of their wry sense of humour that the reference to kangaroos makes no particular sense unless one knows that Muswellbrook is located in Australia.

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