Things I Miss the Most

Maybe the song is about a divorce, but the line "But sometimes in the corner of my eye I see that adorable ghost" makes me think that his wife died. Both are plausible...

Since no one has commented on this song, I will offer mine up to the group. I interpret this as a divorce song. The protagonist is reminiscing about what he did and didn’t like about his lost relationship. The line “somebody to trust” is so important to any lasting relationship.

I am not a huge fan of the post-1970’s Steely Dan records (a bit too jazzy for my tastes) but this song is a real gem. The lyrics/vocals and musical groove presented in this song are perfectly paired. Who does this better than Becker and Fagan?

He's bored and lonely after a divorce where he lost a measurable amount of material things.

But, he repeats the talk, the sex, and somebody to trust, whereas with the material goods he interchanges them.

I agree with BigFire, it sounds like he's making model ships and 'learning how to meditate' to keep his mind off of what he actually misses the most.

SS Andrea Doria is an Italian ocean liner that crashed into MS Stockholm in 1956. Guess our narrator is having problem spending his time meaningfully that he's now building models.

The narrator likes the quiet after a loud, hot, crazy passionate relationship. He's ok with being by himself..Because the girl was so hi energy, on occasion she got an attitude. And anybody who has been in this type of relationship can tell you...you fight. Passionately. It's crazy, but it's one of the things that attracts you to the girl, until you just cant take it anymore. Good with the bad, I suppose.

Because he has no one, he falls asleep on the couch a lot. He' beating off....a lot. When you live with someone for a while, you sometimes forget there're gone and expect to see them coming around the corner. Or down the hall. Something triggers...the way the light falls on a Sunday afternoon, a smell, a sound, and there you go...you're back.

Of course, you try to get on with a too-young thing. But you're old now. It just doesn't work.

You are looking for relationships that won't sink. Balsa woody. And you don't have that much time left. You are older, much older now.

Yeah I see this as a quite funny song. Guy misses the talk, the sex and somebody to trust, sure, but it is impossible to ignore how the song expresses mild frustration when he sings that line compared to "The comfy Eames chair / The good copper pans / The '54 Strat", when the harmony really takes the listener to feel the singer's yearning.

I think the song expresses precisely that the "important" thing to him was the material stuff. The relationship probably wasn't very good after all, and the divorce settlement was even worse.

Also love this song! It was the first Steely Dan song I listened to.

[Edit: Wanted to add that I love this song]

yeah this song sounds like someone reminiscing about an ended relationship but after saying things they miss like talk and sex they really just miss all the stuff. the car the vineyard etc.

yeah this song sounds like someone reminiscing about an ended relationship but after saying things they miss like talk and sex they really just miss all the stuff. the car the vineyard etc.

I think the divorce interpretation is more plausible. "The Audi TT...The house on the Vineyard...The house on the gulf coast"- houses and cars are things that are commonly lost in divorce settlements. If it were the wife/gf dying, why would the narrator have lost these things?

It's interesting to me the sly humor in this song, of framing a song ostensibly about divorce, in terms of (for the most part) objects. The truest, least irony-laced aspect of the song, for me, is the general tone of loss and reminiscence... a running theme with SD and one that they expounded upon nicely with this song (and this album).