OT: If you sing Deacon Blues, just switch Alabama Crimson Tide with Penn State Nittany Lions...
- Thread starter Mr. Potter
- Start date
Love the Dan but p*ssed Fagen still touring as Steely Dan after Becker's death. Wrong thing to do.
I do that everytime I hear the song. Looking forward to a day when I can sing...
"They call Penn State the National Champs. Call me Deacon Blues".
"They call Penn State the National Champs. Call me Deacon Blues".
I had a chance to see them at the Starlake in 1992. Great show. While I think Becker was a musical genius and a studio wizard, Fagan was the performer. I have seen video of some of their recent tours and, sadly, Fagan’s voice is pretty much gone.
My favorite Dan album was Aja.
My favorite Dan album was Aja.
Love Steely Dan, but "They call Alabama the Crimson Tide" always was a nauseous line in a great song, it mixes my two passions music and football, in a odd sort of way.
In the song My Old School, hearing Wolverine and Annadale in the lyrics gave me a similar reaction, but after a brief review , had nothing to do with those Wolverines.
In the song My Old School, hearing Wolverine and Annadale in the lyrics gave me a similar reaction, but after a brief review , had nothing to do with those Wolverines.
What ever success I"ve had in business has been due to my adherence to the KISS method. That is one of the reasons why I like Steely Dan. All of their music is crisp and meaningful. Other bands seem to throw all of their instrumentation in because they are there...it promotes a bit of noise. With SD, there is no noise. it is very precise and surgical music.
Story was that Walter Becker was watching Alabama play and that he thought the name "Crimson Tide" was a bit unique.
By the way, if you ever have watched the Simpsons, the nickname of their local college (Sprinfield Tech?) is the "Nittany Tide".
Donald Fagen told Rolling Stone magazine: "Walter and I had been working on that song at a house in Malibu. I played him that line, and he said, 'You mean it's like, 'They call these cracker a--holes this grandiose name like the Crimson Tide, and I'm this loser, so they call me this other grandiose name, Deacon Blues?' and I said 'Yeah!' He said, 'Cool, let's finish.”
If you sing Deacon Blues, just switch Alabama Crimson Tide with Penn State Nittany Lions...
My question is, why would you want to do this?
Yup, that's the way I've heard it too. I always had the same feeling as Hazleton Lion about the song until I discovered that fact. Now that I know they're ribbing Alabama for having such a pretentious, over-the-top name as "Crimson Tide," I like hearing those lyrics much better.
And Aja is one of the greatest albums ever made, IMHO.
My question is, why would you want to do this?
Yup, that's the way I've heard it too. I always had the same feeling as Hazleton Lion about the song until I discovered that fact. Now that I know they're ribbing Alabama for having such a pretentious, over-the-top name as "Crimson Tide," I like hearing those lyrics much better.
And Aja is one of the greatest albums ever made, IMHO.
Just as an aside - since this thread, I have been listening to a lot of Steely Dan. What great musicianship- smooth, funky, bluesy, rock - just great stuff.
Here are two great links regarding "The Dan". The second one is my favorite as it contains numerous individual interpretations of their lyrics. I have all of their old stuff on vinyl. Interestingly, though, Aja was considered one of the best albums to listen to on CD (when CD's first came onto the scene). I'll stick to the vinyl.
http://steelydandictionary.com/links
http://feverdreams.whatsmykarma.com
http://steelydandictionary.com/links
http://feverdreams.whatsmykarma.com
There used to be a poster here, I think Big Fan who had the cover of "Can't Buy a Thrill" as his avatar. Haven't seen him around in a long time.
The Dan fleshed out their various lineups with some of the best studio musicians in the business. Becker and Fagen were geniuses. The arrangements and complexity of the music is unmatched. You rarely hear working bands even attempt their covers. Not many bands can approach trying to duplicate their stuff. Here's a good approximation though, these guys doing Caves...
The Dan fleshed out their various lineups with some of the best studio musicians in the business. Becker and Fagen were geniuses. The arrangements and complexity of the music is unmatched. You rarely hear working bands even attempt their covers. Not many bands can approach trying to duplicate their stuff. Here's a good approximation though, these guys doing Caves...
