The Boston Rag

I understand this song very well, even though it is very short on detail - by design. You don't need too much detail with a subject like this... it's about a basic set of circumstances, but moreso the feeling that goes along with it. Obviously it involves drug use and some interpersonal drama between the narrator, Lonnie, and the narrator's girlfriend. Lady Bayside is Walter's reference to ladies with 'tude that come from Bayside in NYC, which is where Walter grew up. So the narrator is caught between Lady Bayside and Lonnie, his friend, the drug kingpin, and surely the person he likes to hang around and do drugs with, and the fact that, and this is important, the party is about to come to an abrupt end. This is precipated by the whole lifestyle but is culminated, as is often the case, by a very real tragedy - Lonnie's overdose due to his overzealousness with the partyin'. This puts the author into a tailspin. He tries to turn to his girlfriend, but she doesn't even care because they're in the middle of a fight... so the bottom really falls out on this guy, especially because he's getting that gnarly depression that comes along with too much drug use immediately followed by the situation where no more stuff is avaialable and the shit is hitting the fan at the same time. A young person doesn't have the goods to handle this kind of turmoil, but many have found themselves faced with it. The narrator is the type who will probably eventually right the ship, and maybe this becomes just another song to him... but for many others they just get taken down for the count. The reference to the Boston Rag is also somewhat vague, but not when you take it in the context of the lyric itself in the chorus... bring back the Boston Rag, as a song the guy is always chanting, has a fairly understandable meaning... especially to me because it's something I've often thought about... it's about nostalgia with a touch of sadness... about the passing of a 'better time'. The feeling that you just want the Boston Rag, that perfect song or perfect time (1920's was when they had all the famous 'rags'... the piano tunes with the jump bass) that you are so nostalgic about, when you could be crazy like you are now, but not feel so worn out and depressed at the same time. And the knowledge, whether it is exactly true or not, that there is no way in hell that you can ever go back... and just that knowledge, right when it hits you... you are suffering a mental breakdown. All hail the Boston Rag. Better days will come down the road, or else (the guitar solo is one of the greatest and tells a lot of the story in itself that the sparse lyrics can't..) Writing sparsely is a real talent, because you still have to make things rhyme... so don't get too stuck on the exact words... it's meant to connect with you on a more simpler, you lived it yourself kind of way..

The guitarwork on this song is far better than the lyrics, I think.

As for the lyrics themselves...I read an interview where Becker said that he wrote the verses about a friend of his from his youth. Fagen apparently wrote the chorus. The only other thing I can remember is that Becker made some cryptic comment to the effect of "The nice thing about The Boston Rag is that it's set in New York City." So take that for what it's worth.

I think people are becoming confused because the story is not linear in time.

In the first 4 lines, Fagen and a friend (who we later find out is a woman) are waiting at home for news following the drug overdose of Lonnie. But we only find out that it was an overdose in the last 4 lines of the song.

The fact that Lonnie was a "kingpin" in the past (possibly a drug dealer or just a reference to being prosperous and popular) indicates that Lonnie has fallen from grace, presumably because of the impact of drugs over the years.

I also think that "came alive" and "came around" are references to the same thing - ie, Lonnie eventually reviving after his overdose.

The "Boston Rag" reference I see as a reference to ragtime jazz music, which symbolises an earlier, more innocent/hopeful time - ie, back when Lonnie was a kingpin and they all felt invincible, before the ravages of time and drug use took their toll and the reality of life set in.

Despite the song title, I think the story happens in New York, given the references to Seventh Avenue and Bayside.

The 4 lines starting "You were Lady Bayside" and ending "Seventh Avenue" are also happening after the overdose. From some research, I think "Lady Bayside" is a reference to the alleged apparitions of the Virgin Mary that happened in Bayside, NY in the 60s. I think Fagen is trying to engage with the woman (possibly to console here, but one might suspect that he has a romantic interest in her) but she's so pre-occupied with Lonnie's overdose that it's as though she isn't really there and so he leaves.

If you interpret Fagen as having a love interest in the woman, then it's possible that he realises, from seeing how torn up she is over Lonnie's condition, that she is in love with Lonnie, and so when Fagen leaves, he's resigning from trying to pursue her. But that's really writing your own story around the lyrics :-)

I love how Fagen and Becker are able to use a musical oxymoron of “The Boston Rag” as a jumpy ragtime dance tune, but the instrumentation during the versed & chorus being an off-color haze that almost makes the listener sick at his/her stomach. When I first analyzed the song, I knew I was off. User “caucasian” has a great analysis. Although I’d still like to say what I heard before researching the lyrics to see if anyone thought the same.

I felt as though Lonnie was a little toddler that died of an illness back in 1965, but died after choking on items in the “playroom.” The really odd and haunting atmospheric key/mode seemed as if the narrator had sung a chant (chorus) that summoned the ghost of the child back (Lonnie came alive) in the present day since he was recalling the year back when Lonnie had “came alive.”

"Rag" is slang for a newspaper. I read the details once, but don't remember them all ... essentially "Lonnie" is a reference to a real person who was editor or owner etc. of this publication, before getting booted out. None too happy with the situation, Lonnie goes on a bit of a bender.

Lyrics are pretty cryptic, I'm guessing Becker and Fagenwere pretty "out of their minds" too when they wrote this.

Be that as it may, this remains quite possibly my favourite Steely Dan tune. That second verse on a good set of headphones is pure audiogasm.

Lonnie refers to a guy who used to be the leader of their clique back in college. Supposedly he took a pile of pills and was out of it for two days. There were apparitions of the virgin Mary in Bayside NY back in the early 70's, so I'm guessing that line is referring to the fact that the girl was a virgin as well, or perhaps just too religious or moral for the scene they were in at the time.

The song, like American Pie, reflects the end of an era. Not the birth of rock but its death. A similar loss of innocence as the hopes of ‘65 (see ‘the night they drove old dixie down’) finally give way to the realities of a dying counter-culture! A dream of modernist populism hijacked by a post-modern band named after a dildo who reject ‘the showbiz kids’. In reality there is no escape. Even into irony and nostalgia. “This is your Haitian Divorce’.

ok just listened to Boston Rag. I have been listening to Countdown off and on for 40 years. But this time it hit me that the Skunk Baxter guitar solo is angry and massively important to whatever they are trying to tell us. That is all...

I wish I could figure out what this was about. Anyone know?