Am I the only one here who sees this song as an ironic (Steely Dan ironic ... who'd 'a thunk it?) comment on cynicism itself?
This is my favorite 'Dan song (I love the remake by Ivy too), and maybe I have been taken in by the irrepressibly upbeat melody. Despite the exhausted working man counterpoint in the lyrics, I always kind of put some mental quotation marks around "fool", with the idea that we should all be such "fools."
As for the idea that Lennon or Dylan are being called out for hypocrisy of some sort, that just seems way more overt than the Becker and Fagen I have experienced. They might allude to the contradictions in a situation and let listeners draw their own conclusions, but directly going after individuals is not their MO.
@waybackmachine Yes, I've always seen this song more as a lament than as an attack on idealism. In this reading the first person 'voice' is that of a character, not Becker & Fagen, The world could be a beautiful place, but we're so shackled by cynicism that we can't even see the possibilities and assume the rat race is the only way to be. (Many of the comments on here bear this out).
@waybackmachine Yes, I've always seen this song more as a lament than as an attack on idealism. In this reading the first person 'voice' is that of a character, not Becker & Fagen, The world could be a beautiful place, but we're so shackled by cynicism that we can't even see the possibilities and assume the rat race is the only way to be. (Many of the comments on here bear this out).
Am I the only one here who sees this song as an ironic (Steely Dan ironic ... who'd 'a thunk it?) comment on cynicism itself?
This is my favorite 'Dan song (I love the remake by Ivy too), and maybe I have been taken in by the irrepressibly upbeat melody. Despite the exhausted working man counterpoint in the lyrics, I always kind of put some mental quotation marks around "fool", with the idea that we should all be such "fools."
As for the idea that Lennon or Dylan are being called out for hypocrisy of some sort, that just seems way more overt than the Becker and Fagen I have experienced. They might allude to the contradictions in a situation and let listeners draw their own conclusions, but directly going after individuals is not their MO.
@waybackmachine Yes, I've always seen this song more as a lament than as an attack on idealism. In this reading the first person 'voice' is that of a character, not Becker & Fagen, The world could be a beautiful place, but we're so shackled by cynicism that we can't even see the possibilities and assume the rat race is the only way to be. (Many of the comments on here bear this out).
@waybackmachine Yes, I've always seen this song more as a lament than as an attack on idealism. In this reading the first person 'voice' is that of a character, not Becker & Fagen, The world could be a beautiful place, but we're so shackled by cynicism that we can't even see the possibilities and assume the rat race is the only way to be. (Many of the comments on here bear this out).