Deacon Blues Lyrics

Lyric discussion by WritingIsMyReligion 

Cover art for Deacon Blues lyrics by Steely Dan

To me, this is partly autobiographical for Fagen/Becker. It is literal in that I think it isabout a guy who wants to be a jazzman, and who has very naive standards about what his new, twisted, dangerous life will entail.

He becomes a kind of bohemian, a "loser," and because the University of Alabama was the premier football team at this time, he makes a sardonic reference to it in the context of it being a winner.

"Hey," he seems to be saying, "if UoA can have a nickname, and all, why can't I, Mr. Everyman, have a nickname, too?"