I just love listening to this song for its musicality, The sax solos after each chorus just blow me away every time. I think the meanings expressed are pretty spot on, a sleezy rich older guy predator toying with a teen. Quite disturbing really, it's what I find uncomfortable about steely dan, that juxtaposition of awesome,uplifting, complex and perfectly engineered sound and similarly complex and in this case sorta unpleasant lyrics. Maybe this added layer makes the music sound even better? That said they are my favorite band of all time hands down. I liked JudeJaded's other interpretation of the song as an exploration of drugs interesting but maybe too cryptic for steely dan even.. Personally I don't think it's about drugs. " grab some takeout from dean and delucas " is something a new yorker would say. Dean and Delucas are like a fancy supermarket/deli where you can also purchase your " hearty gulping wine"!
But I could be as far wrong as the next guy! Awesome song , awesome band , their two reunion albums standup and standout, sometimes I consider them favorites. Iveseen them live twice when they came out to Australia a few times a few years back and have to say awesome amazing live band as well.
@laconic I like your interpretation. And it is disturbing and yet a tad mesmerizing when you have beautiful music mixed with perversion. I don’t always know what to do with it because it’s hard to square the two in my mind. I just tell myself to be aware of what you’re actually listening to (as much as possible with the lyrics) and focus on the music. What I don’t want to do is listen and pretend that the lyrics aren’t really what they really are. Might as well face the music —and the lyrics so you don’t gloss over the...
@laconic I like your interpretation. And it is disturbing and yet a tad mesmerizing when you have beautiful music mixed with perversion. I don’t always know what to do with it because it’s hard to square the two in my mind. I just tell myself to be aware of what you’re actually listening to (as much as possible with the lyrics) and focus on the music. What I don’t want to do is listen and pretend that the lyrics aren’t really what they really are. Might as well face the music —and the lyrics so you don’t gloss over the dark stuff and assume they are just your average contemporary artist.
I just love listening to this song for its musicality, The sax solos after each chorus just blow me away every time. I think the meanings expressed are pretty spot on, a sleezy rich older guy predator toying with a teen. Quite disturbing really, it's what I find uncomfortable about steely dan, that juxtaposition of awesome,uplifting, complex and perfectly engineered sound and similarly complex and in this case sorta unpleasant lyrics. Maybe this added layer makes the music sound even better? That said they are my favorite band of all time hands down. I liked JudeJaded's other interpretation of the song as an exploration of drugs interesting but maybe too cryptic for steely dan even.. Personally I don't think it's about drugs. " grab some takeout from dean and delucas " is something a new yorker would say. Dean and Delucas are like a fancy supermarket/deli where you can also purchase your " hearty gulping wine"! But I could be as far wrong as the next guy! Awesome song , awesome band , their two reunion albums standup and standout, sometimes I consider them favorites. Iveseen them live twice when they came out to Australia a few times a few years back and have to say awesome amazing live band as well.
@laconic I like your interpretation. And it is disturbing and yet a tad mesmerizing when you have beautiful music mixed with perversion. I don’t always know what to do with it because it’s hard to square the two in my mind. I just tell myself to be aware of what you’re actually listening to (as much as possible with the lyrics) and focus on the music. What I don’t want to do is listen and pretend that the lyrics aren’t really what they really are. Might as well face the music —and the lyrics so you don’t gloss over the...
@laconic I like your interpretation. And it is disturbing and yet a tad mesmerizing when you have beautiful music mixed with perversion. I don’t always know what to do with it because it’s hard to square the two in my mind. I just tell myself to be aware of what you’re actually listening to (as much as possible with the lyrics) and focus on the music. What I don’t want to do is listen and pretend that the lyrics aren’t really what they really are. Might as well face the music —and the lyrics so you don’t gloss over the dark stuff and assume they are just your average contemporary artist.