# what's your favorite Steely Dan song?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-steely-dan-song/634553
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [September 13, 2012, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-steely-dan-song/634553 "2012-09-13T00:10:46Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2012, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-steely-dan-song/634553/41 "2012-09-13T04:27:26Z")
Hey. I gotta gold tooth.
---
### Author:  [@Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pine_Fresh_Scent)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2012, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-steely-dan-song/634553/42 "2012-09-13T04:30:13Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#):
>
> If you’d asked me fifteen or so years ago, I would have said [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRGMEIX1a5Y), my favorite non Steely Dan Steely Dan song. Seriously, listen without watching the cheesy ass video and tell me that doesn’t sound like classic SD.
Per your advice, I listened without watching the video and liked the song. I tabbed over to see how bad the video was and was surprised to see Rosanna Arquette looking very nice, so the video isn’t a total wash.
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### Author:  [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2012, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-steely-dan-song/634553/43 "2012-09-13T05:06:57Z")
> [@Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](#):
>
> Per your advice, I listened without watching the video and liked the song. I tabbed over to see how bad the video was and was surprised to see Rosanna Arquette looking very nice, so the video isn’t a total wash.
Holy cow! I hadn’t watched enough of the video myself to realize she was in it. I don’t know what else that band did, but damn, it is a cool tune, IMO.
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### Author:  [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2012, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-steely-dan-song/634553/44 "2012-09-13T05:16:59Z")
Peg, Kid Charlemagne, My Old School, Bodhisattva, and especially Bodhisattva, because I could play all the cool guitar solos along with the record at some point or other, but I’ll admit it’s been awhile. I never did figure out the “sitar” work on Do It Again though. All awesome songs.
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### Author:  [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2012, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-steely-dan-song/634553/45 "2012-09-13T06:33:01Z")
Just about a week ago I tried to help out Rhapsody by telling them that they had a bunch of Steely Dan tracks mislabeled. Actually they were “recovered lost tracks” of the pre-Steely Dan Fagen and Becker. [I made a thread about it.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=664485)
Rhapsody leapt into action. Within 48 hours, the number of mislabeled tracks had doubled.
Then Rhapsody rested. There has been no change since.
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### Author:  [@jepflast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jepflast)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2012, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-steely-dan-song/634553/46 "2012-09-13T06:33:46Z")
“Don’t Take Me Alive” comes to mind first. Also “Home at Last” is one I love that is often overlooked.
Of course I love just about all their music, but I second the notion that “Reelin’ in the Years” is not very good… just too repetitive or something.
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### Author:  [@dataguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dataguy)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2012, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-steely-dan-song/634553/47 "2012-09-13T12:05:27Z")
Again, I like too many to really pick. But some of the lyric fragments stay in my mind.
Like in Show Biz Kids, they managed to get this past the censors of the day (back before profanity in music was common):
The show biz kids making movies of themselves
You know they don’t give a fuck about anybody else.
When they get to the bad word, it’s not bleeped, but is covered over by a strong instrumental accent in the arrangement. Clever.
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### Author:  [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2012, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-steely-dan-song/634553/48 "2012-09-13T12:08:11Z")
See the glory! See the glory of…
of The Royal Scam
And pretty much 95% of everything up to Gaucho.
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### Author:  [@timid1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/timid1)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2012, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-steely-dan-song/634553/49 "2012-09-13T12:31:17Z")
“Bring back the Boston Rag”
“Tell all your buddies that it ain’t no drag”
Nice guitar solo, too
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### Author:  [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2012, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-steely-dan-song/634553/50 "2012-09-13T12:53:26Z")
Fire In The Hole
Peg
Rose Darling
Katy Lied
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### Author:  [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2012, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-steely-dan-song/634553/51 "2012-09-13T13:03:35Z")
It’s cheating, but [Tomorrow’s Girls](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rK6bPM-mNPY)
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### Author:  [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2012, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-steely-dan-song/634553/52 "2012-09-13T13:27:19Z")
I love it all, so I’m just going to post a few favorite lyrics:
> [@](#):
>
> 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
> [@](#):
>
> Why don’t we grab a cab to my hotel
> And make believe we’re back at our old school
> [@](#):
>
> Worry the bottle Mamma, it’s grapefruit wine
> Kick off your high heel sneakers, it’s party time
> [@](#):
>
> I’m so excited I can barely cope
> I’m sizzling like an isotope
> [@](#):
>
> She said maybe its the skeevy look in your eyes
> Or that your mind has turned to applesauce
> The dreary architecture of your soul
> I said - but what is it exactly turns you off?
mmm
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### Author:  [@Bass\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bass_Chick)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2012, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-steely-dan-song/634553/53 "2012-09-13T13:37:51Z")
I’d be hard pressed to pick just one. AJA is one of my favorite albums of all time.
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### Author:  [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2012, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-steely-dan-song/634553/54 "2012-09-13T13:53:22Z")
I like most the ones with strong guitar parts.
My Old School (Skunk Baxter)
Bodhisattva (I think its Skunk Baxter and Danny Dias)
and the song with maybe the best guitar solo of all time
Kid Charlemagne (Larry Carleton)
Steely Dan perfected the fade out guitar solo.
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2012, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-steely-dan-song/634553/55 "2012-09-13T13:58:53Z")
> [@Jaledin](#):
>
> Hey. No offense, but she kind of sounded like a keeper, man. That’s cool.
Not my choice.
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### Author:  [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2012, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-steely-dan-song/634553/56 "2012-09-13T14:27:20Z")
I hereby state that Steely Dan never released a bad song, including the post-Gaucho records and Fagen’s solo work, but if I have to pick, I choose “Any Major Dude” because of its most perfect and irresistible melody, and “Aja” with Steve Gadd’s unbelievable drum solo (like almost everyone, I’m not really into drum solos, but this gets me every time).
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### Author:  [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-steely-dan-song/634553/57 "2012-09-13T14:41:38Z")
> [@dataguy](#):
>
> Like in Show Biz Kids, they managed to get this past the censors of the day (back before profanity in music was common):
>
> The show biz kids making movies of themselves
> You know they don’t give a fuck about anybody else.
>
> When they get to the bad word, it’s not bleeped, but is covered over by a strong instrumental accent in the arrangement. Clever.
Actually, they did censor the song for single release. No bleep, just a pause in the vocal where they either mixed the word out or (more likely) spliced in one instrumental beat from another part of the song. Though the song never got that much airplay anyway, I heard both the censored and uncensored versions on the radio at various times.
My favorites have all been mentioned already–“Kid Charlemagne” on top, also “Deacon Blues,” “Haitian Divorce,” “Josie,” lots of others…
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### Author:  [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2012, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-steely-dan-song/634553/58 "2012-09-13T14:59:00Z")
Rikki don’t lose that number
Aja
Vh1 put out a Classic Albums show on Aja but they spent the least amount of time on the album’s title track and one of Steely Dan’s most epic tunes :mad:
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### Author:  [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2012, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-steely-dan-song/634553/59 "2012-09-13T15:05:25Z")
I’ll put in a plug for both \*\*Deacon Blues \*\*and **Don’t Take Me Alive**.
Both get played when I’m in a particularly foul mood.
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### Author:  [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2012, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-steely-dan-song/634553/60 "2012-09-13T16:20:10Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#):
>
> I do remember once my ex-wife was talking about football nicknames and, without planning it, said, “They call Alabama the Crimson Tide, right?”
>
> I had an immediate answer. 🙂
Did she ever ask you if there was gas in the car?
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