Philosophy Now Forum

Marianne Faithfull
Truth, bitter Truth
https://youtu.be/o_kEz1NhOUQ?si=GFMYkNWZt5mhg6IO

John Cale
fight the pilot
https://youtu.be/pselMPCE_V4?si=Nj30QrmHZKHcN53c

The Innocence Mission
Black Sheep Wall
https://youtu.be/rxYY3KuNVIU?si=HzBjxUjHTq1Vs_B2

the beat farmers
happy boy
https://youtu.be/LEZtII8rt_Y?si=Gjo419kdrllmx7pp

Steely Dan
Janie Runaway
https://youtu.be/mLzuabui24M


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

Who makes the traffic interesting
Rescues a dreary Sunday
Who makes me feel like painting again
Honey it's you - Janie Runaway

Who has a friend named Melanie
Who's not afraid to try new things
Who gets to spend her birthday in Spain
Possibly you - Janie Runaway

The Chocolate Watchband
I'm Not Like Everybody Else
https://youtu.be/w9kwGTYKUTU?si=J15IqtGosvPEUqdj

It`s Immaterial
Driving Away From Home
https://youtu.be/4uwtzINMDCQ?si=zBUCvnfjifizBasI

Ola Belle Reed
I've Endured
https://youtu.be/otqn2mXzr7w?si=PWrlqYxIpXpr5Nxo

Steely Dan interview clip

Bad Sneakers
https://youtu.be/ErenIQorXac

Razor Boy
https://youtu.be/hmzSPKAokWU

With this band u recognize the fact that even the songs that u don't really like are songs that still have a unique technical songwriting expertise to them. Perfectly done, perfect in all of its nuance and composition. These were two well.written masters of the studio openly admitting it was more difficult to 'have a band' than to just write all the music - the two of em - themselves, and hire studio musicians to play it.

For the hard-core fans, here's a 'restoration' (he called it) of Kulee Baba which includes a mix of horns and guitar that aren't in the original outtake. I can't find any info online about it so I don't know if Fagen and Becker did a version with these additions or merely gave Caplin permission to add it. Frankly I don't know what's going on here.

My only criticism is that Fagen's comments during the song about the volume controls should not have been excluded in this version; that was what made the recording so raw and un-produced. Sounds great otherwise.

https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-be ... teely-dan/

I wouldn't agree with any of those theories. My theory is that it's about an originally average guy who gets mixed up with some kind of illegal business or drug dealing (tuxedos, transistor radios and large sums of money to spend... tearing up the streets) and starts losing his mind and wits under the pressure and danger of that lifestyle. 'That ditch out in the valley that they're diggin just for me'.

Or, it could be something about a wealthy guy who indulges in extravagant lifestyle to try and escape the anomie, depression and madness that his solitude and his sense of meaningless creates, despite his wealth. He's the empty asthete.

Razor Boy is likely the eulogy of a heroin addict (Becker was into heroin for a minute but eventually moved to Hawaii to tryda escape it and straighten up). 'Women in cages', prostitutes strung out on drugs? The shady underworld of the drug trade... another existential crisis theme where a guy who loses everything because of his addiction (takes your fancy things away)? Will u still be praising the drug on 'that cold and windy day' after you've lost everything?

Thoughts?
Views?

This one is dedicated to Jacobi and Can, both of whom would absolutely adore the pan-sexual gender-defying phenomenon that is (was, RIP) .... Genesis P-Orridge

THROBBING GRISTLE - hamburger lady (live Turin 2005.06.29)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuG6dLhBZM4

Still on a Steely Dan tip.

Monkey In Your Soul
https://youtu.be/v6gAN-HRt9Y

Chain Lightning
https://youtu.be/ij3NPVAZsP8

I wonder what Fagen, as a keyboardist, thought about Billy Joel, also a popular keyboardist. That's an opinion I'd be curious about. Joel was a great songwriter but his music is at a simpler pop level than the Dan's music. The question; would Fagen admire Joel's music or be indifferent to it at best, cynical of it at worst. I aks becuz u know how famous musicians of the same instrument are often compared against each other when they're releasing albums at the same time. Elton John... another opinion I'd be interested in knowing about. EJ was a beast pianist and singer when he wasn't all old and fat.

Maria Muldaur
mad mad me
https://youtu.be/1-FqUi6BKDI?si=sfLQkm5wnbrzVufh

Doyle Bramhall
She's Gone
https://youtu.be/G67TIOvT9Ak?si=R_qU2MjFlm4RFaYK