Josie Lyrics

Lyric discussion by WritingIsMyReligion 

Cover art for Josie lyrics by Steely Dan

This song always makes me laugh, and I'm not sure why. :>)

Josie seems to be the local "go-to girl" for fun--the gal you go to for, among other various illicit acts, sex. I don't think Josie is actually Catholic, but she's so fervent and wild and generally intense that she may act like a pious Roman Catholic deep in prayer. She sounds like a capricious young lady, which is why she is at both once your best friend and your worst enemy.

I heard one person speculating that Josie is a wild child sent away to a convent, or some such thing, for "reform," and though she continues to live a wild life when she comes home during the summer or whatever, part of her is guilty, and so she prays fervently even as she sleeps with every guy in town, loiters around the town center at midnight, whatever. This theory definitely has its merits, and its irony would certainly make it trademark 'Dan.

@WritingIsMyReligion She doesn't pray like a "Roman Catholic," she prays like an ancient Roman. Debauchery, orgies, pagan rites. She's a no-holds-barred party girl.

That one was one of their easier ones. I still don't know what "Spanish kissing" or "Turkish union dues" are, though. (I can make good guesses, but SD are the only ones I can find who have ever used those terms.)