Nice try associating "God" in this song with Saddam Hussein, but Reagan and the Bushes didn't create Saddam; you've got him mixed up with Manuel Noriega. Saddam was created by European bankers and his buddy/fellow Baathist Hafez al-Assad in Syria; he was just the least slimy of two alternatives when the Iraq-Iran War broke out (as horrible as Saddam was to HIS people, Khomeini and the Green Bands were even worse to the people of Iran; we backed what we thought was the least nasty of two nasty alternatives).
No, this song isn't allegorical at all - it's Manichaean fantasy, the story of a pair of cosmic Super Flys who hunt down a god (lower case) guilty of "crimes beyond imagining," and then treat him like the cook at Benihana treats a cut of wagyu steak. Although the tagline "at the start of the end of history" tempts the listener to believe he's listening to an allegory of post-Cold War politics, this is just Fagen and Becker doing riffs on Gnosticism. Again.
I believe you (along with Bolosky and TMiller68) are correct. There's no allegory here at all. The only place I believe you're incorrect is the "lower case". This is, as Bolosky said (below your comment) about the God of the Bible. For me, as much as I know that Steely Dan music has always been worldly, fleshly, in a word evil to some degree (I mean even the name of the group for crying out loud, is from Naked Lunch ... but I digress ...), but I've always enjoyed the imagination, high talent, and execution. I suppose it's inevitable...
I believe you (along with Bolosky and TMiller68) are correct. There's no allegory here at all. The only place I believe you're incorrect is the "lower case". This is, as Bolosky said (below your comment) about the God of the Bible. For me, as much as I know that Steely Dan music has always been worldly, fleshly, in a word evil to some degree (I mean even the name of the group for crying out loud, is from Naked Lunch ... but I digress ...), but I've always enjoyed the imagination, high talent, and execution. I suppose it's inevitable that the truth comes out when Christ said, in so many words "They are either for us or against us". There's no inbetween. And sooner or later it just comes out clearly. :(
Nice try associating "God" in this song with Saddam Hussein, but Reagan and the Bushes didn't create Saddam; you've got him mixed up with Manuel Noriega. Saddam was created by European bankers and his buddy/fellow Baathist Hafez al-Assad in Syria; he was just the least slimy of two alternatives when the Iraq-Iran War broke out (as horrible as Saddam was to HIS people, Khomeini and the Green Bands were even worse to the people of Iran; we backed what we thought was the least nasty of two nasty alternatives).
No, this song isn't allegorical at all - it's Manichaean fantasy, the story of a pair of cosmic Super Flys who hunt down a god (lower case) guilty of "crimes beyond imagining," and then treat him like the cook at Benihana treats a cut of wagyu steak. Although the tagline "at the start of the end of history" tempts the listener to believe he's listening to an allegory of post-Cold War politics, this is just Fagen and Becker doing riffs on Gnosticism. Again.
I believe you (along with Bolosky and TMiller68) are correct. There's no allegory here at all. The only place I believe you're incorrect is the "lower case". This is, as Bolosky said (below your comment) about the God of the Bible. For me, as much as I know that Steely Dan music has always been worldly, fleshly, in a word evil to some degree (I mean even the name of the group for crying out loud, is from Naked Lunch ... but I digress ...), but I've always enjoyed the imagination, high talent, and execution. I suppose it's inevitable...
I believe you (along with Bolosky and TMiller68) are correct. There's no allegory here at all. The only place I believe you're incorrect is the "lower case". This is, as Bolosky said (below your comment) about the God of the Bible. For me, as much as I know that Steely Dan music has always been worldly, fleshly, in a word evil to some degree (I mean even the name of the group for crying out loud, is from Naked Lunch ... but I digress ...), but I've always enjoyed the imagination, high talent, and execution. I suppose it's inevitable that the truth comes out when Christ said, in so many words "They are either for us or against us". There's no inbetween. And sooner or later it just comes out clearly. :(