Steel Love
With all due respect to Leiber & Stoller, Lennon & McCartney and even, dare i say it, Jagger & Richards, my favorite songwriting duo are Steely Dan's Walter Becker and Donald Fagen. I own the entire Steely Dan catalogue and both men's solo efforts and can honestly say there are no songs of theirs that i dislike. Steely Dan is most definitely one the most underrated classic rock bands ever.


Can't Buy A Thrill
Dirty Work
Words by: Walter Becker and Donald Fagen
Performed by: Steely Dan on the album Can't Buy A Thrill (1972)
Times are hard You're afraid to pay the fee So you find yourself somebody Who can do the job for free When you need a bit of lovin' Cause your man is out of town That's the time you get me runnin' And you know I'll be around I'm a fool to do your dirty work, oh yeah I don't wanna do your dirty work, no more I'm a fool to do your dirty work, oh yeah Light the candle Put the lock upon the door You have sent the maid home early Like a thousand times before Like the castle in its corner In a medieval game I foresee terrible trouble And I stay here just the same I'm a fool to do your dirty work, oh yeah I don't wanna do your dirty work, no more I'm a fool to do your dirty work, oh yeah
This is probably one of my five favorite songs, and definitely my favorite Dan song. For some reason i've always been able to relate to this song - i guess it's the hopeless romantic i used to be. This is one of a few SD songs not sung by Fagen, it was sung by David Palmer, who was with the band for just this album.



Cousin Dupree
Words by: Walter Becker and Donald Fagen
Performed by: Steely Dan on the album Two Against Nature (2000)
Well I've kicked around a lot since high school I've worked a lot of nowhere gigs From keyboard man in a rock 'n' ska band To haulin' boss crude in the big rigs Now I've come back home to plan my next move From the comfort of my Aunt Faye's couch When I see my little cousin Janine walk in All I could say was "Ouch" Honey how you've grown, like a rose Well we used to play, when we were three How about a kiss for your cousin Dupree She turned my life into a living hell In those little tops and tight capris I pretended to be readin' the National Probe As I was watchin' her wax her skis On Saturday night she walked in with her date And backs him up against the wall I tumbled off the couch and heard myself sing In a voice I never knew I had before Honey how you've grown, like a rose Well we used to play, when we were three How about a kiss for your cousin Dupree I'll teach you everything I know If you teach me how to do that dance Life is short and quid pro quo And what's so strange about a down-home family romance One night we're playin' gin by a cracklin' fire And I decided to make my play I said, "Babe, with my boyish charm and good looks How can you stand it for one more day" She said, "Maybe its the skeevy look in your eyes Or that your mind has turned to applesauce The dreary architecture of your soul" I said, "But what is it exactly turns you off" Honey how you've grown, like a rose Well we used to play, when we were three How about a kiss for your cousin Dupree
From Dan's first album to their most recent. For some perverse reason, i can see myself turning into this guy. I can see myself schlepping around and having to move back home. And i do have some attractive cousins.*
*Note to my relatives: Before you call my father up and start hurling obscenities at him, just remember i'm joking.



Glamour Profession {excerpt}
Words by: Walter Becker and Donald Fagen
Performed by: Steely Dan on the album Gaucho (1980)
6:05 Outside the stadium Special delivery For Hoops McCann
This line takes me back to this past summer when i saw Steely Dan in concert with my roommate (great show, by the way). For some reason after the show we were desperately try to discover the whereabouts of Mr. McCann. Hoops! Where have you gone?



Hey Nineteen {excerpt}
Words by: Walter Becker and Donald Fagen
Performed by: Steely Dan on the album Gaucho (1980)
Hey Nineteen That's 'Retha Franklin She don't remember The Queen of Soul It's hard times befallen The sole survivors She thinks I'm crazy But I'm just growing old
Because i've always been a fan of classic rock and "older" music, even as a teenager i could relate to these lines. And now, the older i get the truer (is that a word?) they get.

Gaucho


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