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Your Gold Teeth Lyrics
Got a feeling I've been here before
Watching as you cross the killing floor
You know you'll have to pay it all
You'll pay today or pay tomorrow
You fasten up your beaded gown
Then you try to tie me down
Do you work it out one by one
Or played in combination
You throw out your gold teeth
Do you see how they roll
I have seen your iron and your brass
Can't you see it shine behind the glass
Your fortune is your roving eye
Your mouth and legs
Your gift for the runaround
Torture is the main attraction
I don't need that kind of action
You don't have to dance for me
I've seen your dance before
Do you throw out your gold teeth
Do you see how they roll
Tobacco they grow in Peking
In the Year of the Locust
You'll see a sad thing
Even Cathy Berberian knows
There's one roulade she can't sing
Dumb luck my friend
Won't suck me in this time
Got a feeling I've been here before
Won't you let me help you find the door
All you got to do is use
Your silver shoes
A gift for the runaround
Use your knack darlin'
Take one step back darlin'
There ain't nothing in Chicago
For a monkey woman to do
Do you throw out your gold teeth
Do you see how they roll
Watching as you cross the killing floor
You know you'll have to pay it all
You'll pay today or pay tomorrow
You fasten up your beaded gown
Then you try to tie me down
Do you work it out one by one
Or played in combination
You throw out your gold teeth
Do you see how they roll
Can't you see it shine behind the glass
Your fortune is your roving eye
Your mouth and legs
Your gift for the runaround
Torture is the main attraction
I don't need that kind of action
You don't have to dance for me
I've seen your dance before
Do you throw out your gold teeth
Do you see how they roll
In the Year of the Locust
You'll see a sad thing
Even Cathy Berberian knows
There's one roulade she can't sing
Dumb luck my friend
Won't suck me in this time
Won't you let me help you find the door
All you got to do is use
Your silver shoes
A gift for the runaround
Use your knack darlin'
Take one step back darlin'
There ain't nothing in Chicago
For a monkey woman to do
Do you throw out your gold teeth
Do you see how they roll
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
"There ain't nothing in Chicago For a monkey woman to do"
I could be wrong, but is this a reference to "The Monkey" in Portnoy's Complaint?
The meme seems to be the same - a woman who uses sex and head games to lock down her man....
@loupgarous
@loupgarous
That line is from "Goin' to Chicago" by Count Basie, and I think that song came out in 1939.
That line is from "Goin' to Chicago" by Count Basie, and I think that song came out in 1939.
@loupgarous
@loupgarous
@loupgarous
@loupgarous
@loupgarous And according to a book cited in a 2009 WSJ article about the meaning of the mysterious Basie line "There's nothin' in Chicago that a monkey woman can do," a monkey woman is "An overly obliging or compliant female."
@loupgarous And according to a book cited in a 2009 WSJ article about the meaning of the mysterious Basie line "There's nothin' in Chicago that a monkey woman can do," a monkey woman is "An overly obliging or compliant female."
Jimmy Rushing's lyric with the Basic Band, later sung by Big Joe Williams; Joe said a monkey woman was a babe with a heroin habit (he would famously add "or by the size of her, a gorilla ...")
Jimmy Rushing's lyric with the Basic Band, later sung by Big Joe Williams; Joe said a monkey woman was a babe with a heroin habit (he would famously add "or by the size of her, a gorilla ...")
OOPS ... "Or by the size of her habit, a gorilla ..." https://youtu.be/hwVo7wGCa_s
OOPS ... "Or by the size of her habit, a gorilla ..." https://youtu.be/hwVo7wGCa_s
I hear a precursor to "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" in a little riff right after Donald sings, "Tobacco they grow in Peking." That song would appear on their next album after this one.
@ChiTownHustler Rikki was from their first album, so it can't have been a precursor.
@ChiTownHustler Rikki was from their first album, so it can't have been a precursor.
Sorry, got my wires crossed, and now it looks like there is not delete option. So my stupidity is here for all time.
Sorry, got my wires crossed, and now it looks like there is not delete option. So my stupidity is here for all time.
I think this song is about a 'goldbricker', a woman who tries to 'tie men down' with sex as a way to make them her sugar daddy. But she's a tease and a user. She'll throw out her own gold teeth in a gamble, just to get something better. She's got nothing to offer but her body and teasing (your mouth and legs, your gift for the runaround). Maybe she's even a grifter.
But she's not THAT good. The verse about Peking and Cathy Berberian is saying that even the best know that there's some things they can't pull off. And this woman won't get this protagonist.
He advises her to get real : "use your knack, take one step back". She's outclassed in a town like Chicago and should either go somewhere else or get a job.
God I love this damn band. Is there anything better than Steely Dan lyrics?
rainwalk: " He advises her to get real : "use your knack, take one step back". She's outclassed in a town like Chicago and should either go somewhere else or get a job."
rainwalk: " He advises her to get real : "use your knack, take one step back". She's outclassed in a town like Chicago and should either go somewhere else or get a job."
I'm not sure if she's outclassed in a town like Chicago, or if there simply aren't the right kind of marks for her special skills, with the right kind of money.
I'm not sure if she's outclassed in a town like Chicago, or if there simply aren't the right kind of marks for her special skills, with the right kind of money.
You nailed it. While Dan's music has always been obscure, I think you pretty much are spot on. You may find the book about them, Reelin' In The Years, and interesting read...
You nailed it. While Dan's music has always been obscure, I think you pretty much are spot on. You may find the book about them, Reelin' In The Years, and interesting read...
@rainwalk Great interpretation. I've always wondered what this meant.
@rainwalk Great interpretation. I've always wondered what this meant.
@rainwalk
@rainwalk
No. Nothing better.
No. Nothing better.
@rainwalk I spent many hours in college analyzing Steely Dan lyrics. More interesting than many of my classes and probably more complex. Excellent review!
@rainwalk I spent many hours in college analyzing Steely Dan lyrics. More interesting than many of my classes and probably more complex. Excellent review!
This is the best Steely Dan song ever.
Uh...yea. Can't argue with that.
Uh...yea. Can't argue with that.
It's about high-stakes casino gambling. The "killing floor" is the gaming tables. Gold teeth are dice. The woman he's singing about is a gambler, gold-digger, maybe prostitute, and tries to seduce rich guys in the casino. And yeah, the music is just amazing.
Yeah, there's something better than Steely Dan lyrics. Steely Dan melodies over Steely Dan chord progressions. "See how they roll..." it is possible to get euphoric feelings from music.
I think the keyboard being used is a Wurlitzer... great tone on the intro melody, break arpeggios, solos, and comping for the guitar solo.
@b4nt Yeah, I think so too.
@b4nt Yeah, I think so too.
I love the chorus of "tobacco they grow in Peking...." Don Fagen has one of the most electric voices I have ever heard. Libby Titus is al ucky woman
I love it how it goes all jazz-rock at the end. Wish it went on a bit longer. I bet they had some intense jams!
I have a nice live recording (instrumental) of 'Your Gold Teeth'. I have no idea where it's from, I think I picked it up in the Napster days. It was indeed an intense jam, with some especially great drumming happening.
I have a nice live recording (instrumental) of 'Your Gold Teeth'. I have no idea where it's from, I think I picked it up in the Napster days. It was indeed an intense jam, with some especially great drumming happening.
I always thought the keyboard was a Rhodes electric piano. I can also hear a Hammond B3 in there too, but could be wrong on both counts...