This song is a reference to the Philip K. Dick short story "Second Variety", set in a post-war world overrun by robots disguised as women, children etc who trick rival soldiers into sympathetically letting them into their military bases, then immediately turn into a whirring ball of blades that slices up and kills everything in sight. Fagen is a known admirer of Dick and has referred to his work many times, most recently in his autobiography 'Eminent Hipsters'. This song is a variant on the tale in which ships full of them arrive on planet Earth disguised as beautiful women. In Dick's story, he described the nauseating whine of the blades: "I dream about a laughing angel / Then the laugh becomes a furious whine / Look out fellas / It's shredding time." As with much of Fagen's best work, this is an incredibly dark and funny song beneath the good-time, cruisy feel of the jazzy music.
This song is a reference to the Philip K. Dick short story "Second Variety", set in a post-war world overrun by robots disguised as women, children etc who trick rival soldiers into sympathetically letting them into their military bases, then immediately turn into a whirring ball of blades that slices up and kills everything in sight. Fagen is a known admirer of Dick and has referred to his work many times, most recently in his autobiography 'Eminent Hipsters'. This song is a variant on the tale in which ships full of them arrive on planet Earth disguised as beautiful women. In Dick's story, he described the nauseating whine of the blades: "I dream about a laughing angel / Then the laugh becomes a furious whine / Look out fellas / It's shredding time." As with much of Fagen's best work, this is an incredibly dark and funny song beneath the good-time, cruisy feel of the jazzy music.