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Length: 7:20
Plays (last 30 days): 1
That shape is my shade, there where I used to stand
It seems like only yesterday I gazed through the glass
At ramblers, wild gamblers
That's all in the past
You call me a fool, you say it's a crazy scheme
This one's for real, I already bought the dream
So useless to ask me why, throw a kiss and say goodbye
I'll make it this time
I'm ready to cross that fine line
Learn to work the saxophone
(I) I play just what I feel
Drink Scotch whisky all night long
And die behind the wheel
They got a name for the winners in the world
(I) I want a name when I lose
They call Alabama the Crimson Tide
Call me Deacon Blues
(Deacon Blues)
My back to the wall, a victim of laughing chance
This is, for me, the essence of true romance
Sharing the things we know and love with those of my kind
Libations, sensations
That stagger the mind
I crawl like a viper through these suburban streets
Make love to these women, languid and bittersweet
I'll rise when the sun goes down, cover every game in town
A world of my own
I'll make it my home sweet home
Learn to work the saxophone
(I) I play just what I feel
Drink Scotch whisky all night long
And die behind the wheel
They got a name for the winners in the world
(I) I want a name when I lose
They call Alabama the Crimson Tide
Call me Deacon Blues
(Deacon Blues)
This is the night of the expanding man
I take one last drag as I approach the stand
I cried when I wrote this song, sue me if I play too long
This brother is free
I'll be what I want to be
I'll learn to work the saxophone
(I) I play just what I feel
Drink Scotch whisky all night long
And die behind the wheel
They got a name for the winners in the world
(I) I want a name when I lose
They call Alabama the Crimson Tide
Call me Deacon Blues
(Deacon Blues)
"...a victim of laughing chance".
Don't forget: Curly of the Three Stooges was "a victim of circumstance" and testified to that, in the courtroom...the one with the parrot and the phrase:
"that's no vernacular...that's a derby"
Don't forget: Curly of the Three Stooges was "a victim of circumstance" and testified to that, in the courtroom...the one with the parrot and the phrase:
"that's no vernacular...that's a derby"
A measly 6.8...shameful Paradisers...
Why so many criticising taste? It's like telling someone they are bad for not liking tomatoes. Folks just like different things. That's OK.
When I was in high school and this was on the radio, I thought it was pretty cool. Sure, Rock ruled, but this was hip and smooth as silk; slick production, bad-assed lyrics. Later, I realized it was even cooler. I think it's a masterpiece of poetic and musical brilliance!
You are 100% correct.
Well, some like to chill outside with a tasty libation, maybe a smoke of some sort and listen to great music, and some would rather sit in their bedroom in a depressing flat somewhere and sob into their pillow and bemoan their existence. I'll take Steely Dan.
Weather Report would be nice, Or that crazy stuff he did with Miles.
Or the really fine stuff he did with McCoy.
This is not yacht rock...not even close, same era for sure. This band, this record transcends all labels...they are a category on their own...pure brilliance!!
I Agree!! Completely!!
Many American stations play the "popular hits" so frequently that they can be easily played 10 plus times/day. I grew up riding a school bus to school that played the local top 40 radio station very loudly. Even though some of the songs were, in fact, actually good songs, they were played so frequently that they lost their luster and are now associated by many of us only with being played ad neaseum and conjour memories of things such as long school bus rides while being force-fed Mariah Carey and Poison. By the way, if I never hear "Every rose has a thorn" again, it's too soon, lol. Also, the "good" music (i.e. punk/alternative music) was never played on the radio so being played on the popular radio stations was generally short-hand for crappy, unimaginative, stale, corporate rock. I learned to dislike almost every song played by that radio station. I have to remind myself now that if I hear one of those songs played on RP, it is for a reason and I have to drop my preconceived notions and listen to the song without the baggage I put on it. Often I then find the song is actually pretty good, and was played so often for a reason.
Very well stated!
As Steely Dan hasn't obviously gotten better w/ age (in my opinion, and I was there in the 70's too), I would have stayed punk. Overrated FM radio (and now RP radio) pabulum.
Learn how to spell "pablum", genius! If you don't like it, hit the SKIP BUTTON!!
I regularly read Americans complaining that Radio Paradise is playing songs that were on FM radio. Not sure why exposure on FM radio makes a song invalid for Radio Paradise? Also this is a truly international station and I think we foreigners usually outnumber Americans on the “Who is listening where chart”. I for one am therefore delighted that featuring on FM, back in the day, doesn’t amount to an automatic veto for a song!
Many American stations play the "popular hits" so frequently that they can be easily played 10 plus times/day. I grew up riding a school bus to school that played the local top 40 radio station very loudly. Even though some of the songs were, in fact, actually good songs, they were played so frequently that they lost their luster and are now associated by many of us only with being played ad neaseum and conjour memories of things such as long school bus rides while being force-fed Mariah Carey and Poison. By the way, if I never hear "Every rose has a thorn" again, it's too soon, lol. Also, the "good" music (i.e. punk/alternative music) was never played on the radio so being played on the popular radio stations was generally short-hand for crappy, unimaginative, stale, corporate rock. I learned to dislike almost every song played by that radio station. I have to remind myself now that if I hear one of those songs played on RP, it is for a reason and I have to drop my preconceived notions and listen to the song without the baggage I put on it. Often I then find the song is actually pretty good, and was played so often for a reason.
I regularly read Americans complaining that Radio Paradise is playing songs that were on FM radio. Not sure why exposure on FM radio makes a song invalid for Radio Paradise? Also this is a truly international station and I think we foreigners usually outnumber Americans on the “Who is listening where chart”. I for one am therefore delighted that featuring on FM, back in the day, doesn’t amount to an automatic veto for a song!
Willie, can you take it seriously when one spells pablum like that? I hope RP plays their song FM in honour of your comment.
I wish RP would put Steeleye Span on their play list for a change of pace.
They have; I've heard Black Jack Davy here for certain, pretty sure they've played one or two others though (and not All Around My Hat).
1) I loved the jazz-rock blend that made their music so distinctive; and
2) I wanted their band name to be my nickname. (Alas, it never happened.)
Half a century later, I've aged chronologically, but probably not in maturity, because I'm still a fan for the same two reasons.
FYI - Chevy Chase played with these guys at one time...but went elsewhere....
Chevy Chase has perfect pitch...That's only as regards music. As
regards comedy, he's perfectly pitiful...
Tony in NJ
W.A.S.T.E.
One of my all time fave records. Here's a video that attempts to explain why it's darn cool...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSDD8rgUiNc
Thanks - that's a cool video.
I question the sincerity of imagery presented within this tune. Might this be parody; intended to be gobbled up by the self congratulatory who only later discover the poisonous content concealed within?
Scotch whiskey & fastfood behind the wheel of a large automobile. Um Um good!
Colleges alluded to in this song:
Alabama
Wake Forest
Alabama was (and still is) a football powerhouse, with the pretentious nickname "The Crimson Tide". I'm guessing that Becker and Fagan relate more to Wake Forest, which lost a lot of football games at that time. Perhaps they were like the marching band ("learn to play the saxophone..."), working behind the scenes, cleverly amused by bizarre rituals of American football.
We talked to a guy named Kenny Vance, who worked with what would become Steely Dan when he was with Jay & The Americans. He confirmed what we suspected: they are weird.
The president of Columbia University was being chided on some talk show
about how dismal the football team was and comparing them unfavorably
to other "powerhouse" college teams...To which he replied, "I can field an
oldtimers team of Nobel Prize winners. Can they?"
Tony in NJ
W.A.S.T.E.
Foot in mouth.
You either get Steely Dan's genius or not. Personally, I think there is no one out there that can top them in originality, pure musical and lyrical excellence and the total avoidance of cliche'. Thank you RP.
I guess you haven't listened much to the amazing genius of Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Brent Mydland, Billy Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead, or Bob Marley, for starters. Check out Peter Rowan too!
Twirlin' in the kitchen.
ScottishWillie wrote:
I regularly read Americans complaining that Radio Paradise is playing songs that were on FM radio. Not sure why exposure on FM radio makes a song invalid for Radio Paradise? Also this is a truly international station and I think we foreigners usually outnumber Americans on the “Who is listening where chart”. I for one am therefore delighted that featuring on FM, back in the day, doesn’t amount to an automatic veto for a song!
Sawyer wrote:
I have to think that it was ironic comment. I can't imagine 90% of this content being played on the AM band.....
Talk about ironic, I can't imagine 90% of this being played on any broadcast over the air radio station. But to your point, your lack of ability to imagine such a scenario may be age related. First concert I saw was Queen at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC in 1975 while promoting the Sheer Heart Attack album. I won the tickets from a local AM radio rock station. Times and technology change.
FM was the BEST back in the day, when they were inventive with their formats. I remember when "Born to Run" came out, WNEW in NY played it 10 TIMES in a ROW. You will never see that now on FM radio, it's all robots.
I regularly read Americans complaining that Radio Paradise is playing songs that were on FM radio. Not sure why exposure on FM radio makes a song invalid for Radio Paradise? Also this is a truly international station and I think we foreigners usually outnumber Americans on the “Who is listening where chart”. I for one am therefore delighted that featuring on FM, back in the day, doesn’t amount to an automatic veto for a song!
I have to think that it was ironic comment. I can't imagine 90% of this content being played on the AM band.....
You said it better than I was about to. "Learn to work" the sax indeed!
And yet, he's also very sad, very Death-of-a-Salesman-y. He knows he'll never be anything, and he dreams of going down the biggest nobody ever, in a grand F-U to life. As soon as he learns an instrument.
It is tragicomic, yet sublimely bitter, like a fine cigar.
And those horns!
I regularly read Americans complaining that Radio Paradise is playing songs that were on FM radio. Not sure why exposure on FM radio makes a song invalid for Radio Paradise? Also this is a truly international station and I think we foreigners usually outnumber Americans on the “Who is listening where chart”. I for one am therefore delighted that featuring on FM, back in the day, doesn’t amount to an automatic veto for a song!
wow, that's an interesting pairing.
Actually..."I crawl like a viper through these suburban streets"
Hated SD for a long time, largely because they were so laid back and jazzy. It sounded cheesy—not sophisticated—and contrived to my younger ears.
Not my fave Steely song. But it's still pretty great.
That's the first time I've seen SD labelled as "not sophisticated". I think they are quite the opposite. It may even require a higher degree in music to truly appreciate how sophisticated SD really are.
I think your younger self was wrong, but you seem to agree with that now.
Respect!
I rejected this as crap in 1977 because it wasn’t Punk. The folly of youth!
I liked both. If I remember correctly, I bought this album, The Sex Pistols first album, and Ian Dury's first album on the same trip to the record store. It was a while ago though.
https://www.vulture.com/2017/11/a-war-is-brewing-in-the-steely-dan-universe.html?utm_campaign=vulture&utm_source=tw&utm_medium=s1
you are right Old spice, shame on you Paradisers
In commemoration of his passing, I've submitted eight images for "Deacon Blues," including this one:
This is a cross-post with the RPHD Slideshow Forum and The Obituary Page.
What about
1) The Cuervo Gold?
2) The fine Columbian?
Do they help you enjoy SD as well?
Yes. But how about an update.
1) The Don Julio Reposado
2) The fine Banana Kush
Sometimes progress is good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSDD8rgUiNc
I had a roommate in college (circa 1986-7) that loved this album and would put it on when he had girlfriends over to set the mood. If this was playing, I knew not to go downstairs to his bedroom!
While not my favorite Steely Dan album, it is good and it is their best selling.
I rejected this as crap in 1977 because it wasn’t Punk. The folly of youth!
1977 - not 1974 or 1994.
Turing it up now to ELEVEN as Mr. Milo and I twirl in the kitchen.
"I want a name when I lose"....
In 1977 it was released (and not 1994 or 1974...).
He, I repeat myself...
He, I repeat myself-self-self-self
Webfoot wrote:
Awful.
mais pas plus
Awful.
I regularly read Americans complaining that Radio Paradise is playing songs that were on FM radio. Not sure why exposure on FM radio makes a song invalid for Radio Paradise? Also this is a truly international station and I think we foreigners usually outnumber Americans on the “Who is listening where chart”. I for one am therefore delighted that featuring on FM back in the day doesn’t amount to an automatic veto for a song!
Absolutely concur. Great song and great to hear it played.
Overrated FM radio (and now RP radio) pabulum.
I regularly read Americans complaining that Radio Paradise is playing songs that were on FM radio. Not sure why exposure on FM radio makes a song invalid for Radio Paradise? Also this is a truly international station and I think we foreigners usually outnumber Americans on the “Who is listening where chart”. I for one am therefore delighted that featuring on FM, back in the day, doesn’t amount to an automatic veto for a song!
"Crawl like a serpent through suburban streets"
Actually..."I crawl like a viper through these suburban streets"
Hated SD for a long time, largely because they were so laid back and jazzy. It sounded cheesy—not sophisticated—and contrived to my younger ears.
Not my fave Steely song. But it's still pretty great.
I agree. They have a unique sound and beat that never gets old in my opinion.
I always thought SD has a genre that's all their own — nobody really sounds like them. Okay, you're right that I could hear some of that instrumentation on that 1975 cop show. But who else writes chord progressions like these guys? :-)
Check out these chord tabs: https://www.hakwright.co.uk/music/tab/deacon_blues.shtml
Holy buckets. Not your average G, C, D song. I still find this tune an interesting listen for me. :-)
He, I repeat myself...
I am floored SD is the best!!!
In 1977 I bought this album and records by several punk or "new-wave" artists. It all worked.
sue me if I play too long
this brother is free
I'll be what I want to be.....
Pretty good, no?
very good
sue me if I play too long
this brother is free
I'll be what I want to be.....
Pretty good, no?
"Crawl like a serpent through suburban streets"
Don;t beat around the bush. Tell us what you really think about Steely Dan.
Agreed, well said...
As Steely Dan hasn't obviously gotten better w/ age (in my opinion, and I was there in the 70's too), I would have stayed punk. Overrated FM radio (and now RP radio) pabulum.
What about
1) The Cuervo Gold?
2) The fine Columbian?
Do they help you enjoy SD as well?
Only when not on the job. Which unfortunately is NOT the case at the moment.
But yes, they do make tonight a wonderful thing. Wish I'd known this when I was 19.
I cannot stand most of their songs, and this one is terrible.
Don;t beat around the bush. Tell us what you really think about Steely Dan.
I cannot stand most of their songs, and this one is terrible.
What about
1) The Cuervo Gold?
2) The fine Columbian?
Do they help you enjoy SD as well?
I be the holy ghost of big stud Romeo Tuma... this song is marvelous...
I am generally ambivalent on the topic.
Aja is a classic album with great sound though. Gaucho is in the same vein.
vesta0424 wrote:
+1
You guys are like Steve Martin's character in The Jerk: "There's something about those songs... they depress me."