Steely Dan

Steely Dan is an American jazz rock/rock band founded by core members Walter Becker and Donald Fagen. The band's popularity peaked in the late 1970s, and their seven albums over that period of time blended elements of jazz, rock, funk, R&B, and pop.

Song lyrics

All songs written by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen.

Can't Buy a Thrill (1972)

• Now you swear and kick and beg us
  That you're not a gamblin' man.
  Then you find you're back in Vegas
  With a handle in your hand.
  Your black cards can make you money,
  So you hide them when you're able.
  In the land of milk and honey
  You must put them on the table.

  You go back, Jack do it again,
  Wheel turnin' 'round and 'round.
  You go back, Jack do it again.

  • Do It Again

• Times are hard,
  You're afraid to pay the fee.
  So you find yourself somebody
  Who can do the job for free.
  When you need a bit of lovin',
  Cause your man is out of town,
  That's the time you get me runnin'
  And you know I'll be around.

  I'm a fool to do your dirty work
  Oh yeah.
  I don't wanna do your dirty work
  No more.
  I'm a fool to do your dirty work
  Oh yeah.

  • Dirty Work

• You been tellin' me you're a genius
  Since you were seventeen.
  In all the time I've known you,
  I still don't know what you mean.
  The weekend at the college
  Didn't turn out like you planned.
  The things that pass for knowledge
  I can't understand.

  Are you reelin' in the years?
  Stowin' away the time?
  Are you gatherin' up the tears?
  Have you had enough of mine?

  • Reelin' In the Years

Countdown to Ecstasy (1973)

• While the poor people sleepin'
  With the shade on the light
  While the poor people sleepin'
  All the stars come out at night.
  • Show Biz Kids

• Show biz kids making movies
  Of themselves. You know they
  Don't give a fuck about anybody else.
  • Show Biz Kids

• It was still September
  When your daddy was quite surprised
  To find you with the working girls
  In the county jail.
  I was smoking with the boys upstairs
  When I heard about the whole affair.
  I said oh no,
  William and Mary won't do.

  Well I did not think the girl
  Could be so cruel.
  And I'm never going back
  To my old school.

  • My Old School

Pretzel Logic (1974)

• Rikki don't lose that number.
  You don't wanna call nobody else.
  Send it off in a letter to yourself.
  Rikki don't lose that number.
  It's the only one you own.
  You might use it if you feel better
  When you get home.
  • Rikki Don't Lose That Number

• You tell yourself you're not my kind,
  But you don't even know your mind.
  And you could have a change of heart.
  • Rikki Don't Lose That Number

• Any major dude with half a heart surely will tell you my friend
  Any minor world that breaks apart falls together again.
  • Any Major Dude Will Tell You

• I have never met Napoleon,
  But I plan to find the time.
  • Pretzel Logic

Katy Lied (1975)

• When Black Friday comes,
  I'm gonna dig myself a hole.
  Gonna lay down in it 'til
  I satisfy my soul.
  • Black Friday

• And I'm going insane,
  And I'm laughing at the frozen rain.
  And I'm so alone,
  Honey when they gonna send me home?
  • Bad Sneakers

• Katy tried
  I was halfway crucified
  I was on the other side
  Of no tomorrow.
  • Doctor Wu

• Are you with me Doctor Wu?
  Are you really just a shadow
  Of the man that I once knew?
  • Doctor Wu

The Royal Scam (1976)

• Could you live forever?
  Could you see the day?
  Could you feel your whole world fall apart and fade away?
  • Kid Charlemagne

Aja (1977)

• This is the day
  Of the expanding man.
  That shape is my shade
  There where I used to stand.
  • Deacon Blues

• I'll learn to work the saxophone.
  I'll play just what I feel.
  Drink Scotch whiskey all night long,
  And die behind the wheel.
  They got a name for the winners in the world.
  I want a name when I lose.
  They call Alabama the Crimson Tide;
  Call me Deacon Blues.
  • Deacon Blues

• 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.
  • Deacon Blues

• Peg,
  It will come back to you.
  Then the shutter falls,
  You see it all in 3-D.
  It's your favorite foreign movie
  • Peg

• When Josie comes home,
  So good.
  She's the pride of the neighborhood.
  She's the raw flame,
  The live wire.
  She prays like a Roman
  With her eyes on fire.
  • Josie

FM (soundtrack) (1978)

• Give her some funked up music, she treats you nice.
  Feed her some hungry reggae, she'll love you twice.
  The girls don't seem to care tonight
  As long as the mood is right.

  FM - no static at all.

  • FM

Gaucho (1980)

• Hey Nineteen.
  That's 'Retha Franklin.
  She don't remember
  The Queen of Soul.
  It's hard times befallen
  The Soul Survivors.
  She thinks I'm crazy,
  But I'm just growing old.
  • Hey Nineteen

• Hey Nineteen.
  No we got nothing in common;
  No we can't talk at all.
  Please take me along
  When you slide on down.
  • Hey Nineteen

• The Cuervo Gold,
  The fine Colombian
  Make tonight a wonderful thing.
  • Hey Nineteen

Two Against Nature (2000)

• Who makes the morning fabulous?
  Who says today's a fun day?
  Why do I feel like sailing again?
  Honey it's you - Janie Runaway.
  • Janie Runaway

• I'll teach you everything I know
  If you teach me how to do that dance.
  Life is short and quid pro quo.
  And what's so strange about a down-home family romance?
  • Cousin Dupree

External links

• Official Band Website