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Chain Lightning Lyrics
Some turnout, a hundred grand;
Get with it, we'll shake his hand.
Don't bother to understand;
Don't question the little man.
Be part of the brotherhood;
Yes, it's chain lightning,
It feels so good.
Hush brother, we cross the square;
Act nat'ral, like you don't care.
Turn slowly and comb your hair;
Don't trouble the midnight air.
We're standing just where he stood;
It was chain lightning,
It feels so good.
[solo and fade]
Get with it, we'll shake his hand.
Don't bother to understand;
Don't question the little man.
Be part of the brotherhood;
Yes, it's chain lightning,
It feels so good.
Act nat'ral, like you don't care.
Turn slowly and comb your hair;
Don't trouble the midnight air.
We're standing just where he stood;
It was chain lightning,
It feels so good.
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But the lingo is so not Nazi Germany.
Surreal treatment of the topic.
There's a demo of this song floating around...on this demo, in between the verses, you hear Fagen whisper the words "Thirty years later..."
That pretty much sews it up for me. The first verse is about two German youths attending a fascist rally in late-30's Germany, wanting to meet 'the great man' and shake his hand, while being "part of the brotherhood".
The second verse is the same two people going back to the same site thirty years later, and casting their memories back to what they were a part of back then.
Wow... between the daisy chain rape allusion and Hitler references, y'all some dark mtherfckers, lol.
I always thought it was a description of Fagen, Becker and their musicians passing a marijuana joint amongst each other in deep satisfaction after a massive, 100,000+ turnout live show, and that chain lightning was a visual meditation on what the haze of smoke in the room looked like.
"We're standing just where he stood", to me, was always a reference to someplace Charlie Parker or one of their heroes who influenced them, once stood. Whereas Fagen and Becker, writing the tune, had once been in the audience worshiping and in awe of older jazz and rock gods, now THEY are the rock gods being worshiped and viewed with awe by hundreds of thousands.
Becker, to Fagen: "Man. Awesome, can you believe it? And now it's us!" Fagen, to Becker: "Right on. (Grin) Pass the dutchie."
Just kind of a smug, leaned-back "ain't life awesome?" realizing that they are now living the dream, enjoying the life of rock gods.
If you're looking for Steely Dan Nazi references, listen no further than "Western World": THAT is where they are.
@heatherfer you’re forgetting that. Fagan and Becker were sick fucks too. Fagan was born to Jewish parents so I doubt there is any glorification. Just using the ills of the real world as song motivation, and even to remind people there we still plenty of those people left. This was only 3 years after the Munich olympics
@heatherfer you’re forgetting that. Fagan and Becker were sick fucks too. Fagan was born to Jewish parents so I doubt there is any glorification. Just using the ills of the real world as song motivation, and even to remind people there we still plenty of those people left. This was only 3 years after the Munich olympics
Wow, yeah. At first I laughed at the first review, assuming it was another smarta$$. But upon reflection, I'm convinced without too much argument.
I always assumed it was about going to a concert with a chance to meet some sort of musical great - I met Tony Williams once, shook his hand. It kind of felt like this tune.
I'm a tantric, and so don't quite buy the fact that good and evil are separate poles, so to me there's maybe not so much cognitive dissonance here. That 'chain lightning' feeling comes in many forms, and always feels good, no matter if it's right or wrong.
That's the dangerous part.... make sure you're on the right side before you whip out that chain lightnin'.
Now that I think about it, that slow, lilting groove that this tune lays down actually does have that same feeling of standing in a place where you know something big once happened. I've been to Dealy Plaza, and felt that. Also been to the Place de la Concorde, Notre Dame cathedral, etc... similar feeling. Heavy and constant, just like this rhythm. Good tune.
I always thought it was a about the jazz scene--especially the rise of bop--and how it's not supposed to be music for the uninitiated (don't bother to understand/don't question the little man), "brotherhood"/"brother " being a term of camraderie between black musicians.
But the Hitler/Nazi interpretation works well, too.
@ProfessorKnowItAll
@ProfessorKnowItAll
@ProfessorKnowItAll I always thought it was about seeing Charlie Parker in NYC. The electricity of seeing one of the greats in a jazz club, an intimate setting, when the band was cooking.
@ProfessorKnowItAll I always thought it was about seeing Charlie Parker in NYC. The electricity of seeing one of the greats in a jazz club, an intimate setting, when the band was cooking.
Taking the Nazi interpretation..the lightning bolts were the insignia of the SS see: http://www.adl.org/hate_symbols/neo_nazi_symbols.asp
But, it is of course possible that F & B also thought that the SS insignia looked like chain lightning.
Post 1 & 3 had it right.
"Don't question the little man" = Hitler.
Right from Fagen:
http://books.google.com/books?id=olM4BEGfjmgC&pg=PA92&lpg=PA92&dq=chain+lightning+steely+dan&source=bl&ots=zDy_-oawTc&sig=a2w9uiFhyuotAM82P3RHPys57yk&hl=en&ei=xMb8S4jbGoe0MKufzd4H&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CCgQ6AEwBzgo#v=onepage&q=chain%20lightning%20steely%20dan&f=false
http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/riseofhitler/putsch.htm
I have to completely agree that it is set in the environment of a Nazi youth rally. I have always felt that "chain lightening" referred to the double "S" on the uniforms.
-P
I think that it is more the nuremberg rallies than youth rallies, but yes definitely.
I think that it is more the nuremberg rallies than youth rallies, but yes definitely.
Great call all the Nazi interpretation! It all fits...
Musically speaking I love Rick Derringer's blues solo over what is a modified 12-bar blues full of chord substitutions. Very subtle and nifty...
I've heard the Nazi interpretation before and while it fits, I don't like it. I much prefer the jazz interpretation. Given that these guys were really into jazz and that the song is very jazzy, this is the interpretation that "feels" right to me.
I've heard the Nazi interpretation before and while it fits, I don't like it. I much prefer the jazz interpretation. Given that these guys were really into jazz and that the song is very jazzy, this is the interpretation that "feels" right to me.