Black Friday Lyrics
And catch all the grey men as they dive from the fourteenth floor.
When Black Friday comes I'll collect everything I'm owed,
And before my friends find out I'll be on the road.
Don't let it fall on me.
Gonna strike all the big red words from my little black book.
Gonna do just what I please, gonna wear no socks and shoes,
With nothing to do but feed all the Kangaroos.
You know I will
Gonna lay down in it 'til I satisfy my soul
Gonna let the world pass by me, the Archbishop gonna sanctify me
And if he don't come across I' m gonna let it roll.
I guess I'll change my name.

I think this is more about the next "Black Friday" that starts the next depression. He's jumping out as soon as possible. The men diving from the fourteenth floor are the next wave of men to commit suicide in the Great Depression fashion.
He's going to collect up all the money he can and get out, before his friends - and the police - learn about it. He isn't going to suffer like everyone else.
Muswellbrook is a small town in Australia. He is going to escape to there and, having destroyed the records (the red numbers being financial losses), live a life of leisure. He will have jumped ship and live outside the world of worry.
He closes by saying that he may have to be creative to evade the authorities, but he'll do it.

'Katy Lied' was the first Steely Dan album on which Becker and Fagen fully broke from their old band, and some its songs address this. "Your Gold Teeth II" is a reference to this break (the first person ousted from the band was "Dirty Work" singer David Palmer Jones, who, just before being fired, had spent part of his new money on fixing his teeth--his firing was commemorated in the first "Gold Teeth"). "Bad Sneakers" is another obvious example: "Five names I can hardly stand to hear..."
"Black Friday," in which only the singer makes his escape from the panic of the Great Crash, also seems partly inspired the band's split. The seclusion Fagen describes ("Gonna dig myself a hole....Gonna let the world pass by me") is the no-touring, no-bandmates, studio existence that was the Dan's new life. (The choice of Muswellbrook as a destination probably has mostly to do with its hugging the tune so nicely--just as Guadalajara did in "My Old School.")
Of course, the song is also about an actual financia/societal crash, and I agree with those who have said the song's end-of-the-party mood prefigures the title track of 'Everything Must Go.'
Just David Palmer (not David Palmer Jones, as I said above, and who is actually the CEO of a waste management company in the UK).
Just David Palmer (not David Palmer Jones, as I said above, and who is actually the CEO of a waste management company in the UK).

To me, this song is about preparing for a break-up. The subject is emotionally "check out" of the relationship before it ends. To compare these actions to the stock market crash of 29' is epic.

The song is basically about seeing a looming catastrophe (economic crisis, war, social upheaval or whatever) and running like hell to a simpler life in some rural backwater where you can hunker down and ride it out in safety.

I was always lead to believe this was about Black Friday the day after thanksgiving? Hmm.
@MrJaggers I personally don't see it ... unless we're to assume that they make their money on Black Friday then to only escape it all with everyone's money spent
@MrJaggers I personally don't see it ... unless we're to assume that they make their money on Black Friday then to only escape it all with everyone's money spent

This is my favorite SD song, a bouncy blues shuffle with terrific instrumental work (Walter Becker's superb guitar solo!) and clever, cutting lyrics. The title refers to the 1929 stock market crash that was a precursor to the Great Depression, not to post-Thanksgiving shopping sprees. Fagen and Becker (RIP) are commenting on those people who speculate and attempt to profit from oncoming catastrophes. With the reelection of Donald Trump and the democracy-destroying maelstrom that portends here November 2024, the song is more relevant than ever.

Great tune. A blues shuffle with a "jazzy-pop" turnaround, and Walter Becker plays one of the best guitar solos in the Steely Dan catalog (according to him in an interview, on Denny Dias's Fender Tele). The darned shame is these guys hate the sound of this whole album (Katy Lied) as they had HUGE problems with the then-brand new DBX noise reduction system they were using....me? I think they sound pretty good even 30+ years later.

Is it just about a stock market crash from all perspectives i.e. Joe Ordinary clearing up the businessmen jumping from buildings and the fat cats escaping to Australia with virtually nothing. I think the hole digging and soul satisfying is where hes basically going to top himself. Only Steely Dan can write a great song about financial ruin

It’s Satan having some fun in bad times; collecting souls that are owed him, and checking out of town before he can be blamed. Then taunting; he will be back; re-anointed as the Anti-Christ (“the Archbishop gonna sanctify me”) for another even worse round of playtime.

"And catch all the grey men as they dive from the fourteenth floor."
The 14th floor is actually the 13th; the owners usually skip 13 for the obvious reason. This is just another example of the subtle cleverness found in most every Steely Dan song.
As for who the protagonist is, a stock broker or Satan, both interpretations are appropriate, although the Stock Market Crash is the more obvious and implied meaning. However, the devilish one also fits, lending the song a more frightening effect.......