The Wikipedia page for the International Geophysical Year says it well. 1957-1958 featured a concerted effort to use new scientific instruments to get to know the planet Earth better than ever before. The optimism of that time suffuses this song.
"New Frontier", also on this album, describes a similarly heady atmosphere a few years later, with the Cold War adding a touch of excitement for a young man living in a world making rapid progress. IGY is without a protagonist but with all the optimism.
The Wikipedia page for the International Geophysical Year says it well. 1957-1958 featured a concerted effort to use new scientific instruments to get to know the planet Earth better than ever before. The optimism of that time suffuses this song.
"New Frontier", also on this album, describes a similarly heady atmosphere a few years later, with the Cold War adding a touch of excitement for a young man living in a world making rapid progress. IGY is without a protagonist but with all the optimism.
@rikdad I believe the whole album is about the fantasies of Fagen when he was growing up in NJ. It says that on the back of the album cover, IIRC
@rikdad I believe the whole album is about the fantasies of Fagen when he was growing up in NJ. It says that on the back of the album cover, IIRC
I.G.Y. is him dreaming of what the future will be like. New Frontier is about having sex with a girl in his dad's bomb shelter.
I.G.Y. is him dreaming of what the future will be like. New Frontier is about having sex with a girl in his dad's bomb shelter.