Renesongs wrote:
Riaan C wrote:
Becker / Fagen
Riaan I was wondering when you were going to pitch in with the steely knife, "turn up the eagles the neighbours are listing" Here's one for those who don't know what the hell we on (about?)
That's one of my favourites (with a great guitar solo to boot). ?
I'm just going to go random on a couple of great
Dan lines:
As my wife is 11 years younger than I am, I love
Hey 19 (ode to a lecherous guy who hangs out with girls who don't know what the hell he's on about!!):
Hey Nineteen
No we can't dance together
No we can't talk at all
Please take me along
When you slide on down
Hey Nineteen ... that's 'Retha Franklin
She don't remember ... the Queen of Soul
It's hard times befallen ... the sole survivors
She thinks I'm crazy
But I'm just growing old
But then they find common ground in typical 80s hedonism (sung to the tune of a languid LA pop-funk drawl of a riff!!):
The Cuervo Gold
The fine Colombian
Make tonight a wonderful thing ... (repeat to fade, oh boy ... ?)
From
Deacon Blue:
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
I'll learn to work the saxophone
I'll play just what I feel
Drink Scotch whisky all night long
And die behind the wheel
which concludes with the ultimate songwriters' line:
I cried when I wrote this song
Sue me if I play too long ?
Some of my favourite lyrics off the criminally under-rated
Gaucho album:
Johnny's playroom
Is a bunker filled with sand
He's become a third world man
Smoky Sunday
He's been mobilized since dawn
Now he's crouching on the lawn
He's a third world man
Soon you'll throw down your disguise
We'll see behind those bright eyes
By and by
When the sidewalks are safe
For the little guy
I saw the fireworks
I believed that I was dreaming
Till the neighbors came out screaming
He's a third world man
And, Rene, just 'cause I don't have as much restraint as you, gonna sign off with an entire classic, in which Fagen raises irony and juxtaposition to a whole new level. As a young songwriter this blew me away when I first heard it:
Your everlasting summer
You can see it fading fast
So you grab a piece of something
That you think is gonna last
You wouldn't know a diamond
If you held it in your hand
The things you think are precious
I can't understand
CHORUS:
Are you reelin' in the years
Stowin' away the time
Are you gatherin' up the tears
Have you had enough of mine
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
CHORUS
I spend a lot of money
And I spent a lot of time
The trip we made in Hollywood
Is etched upon my mind
After all the things we've done and seen
You find another man
The things you think are useless
I can't understand
CHORUS
Steely Dan. What can I say. Recommend all read their faboulous introduction to one of their early guitar songbooks, in which they describe the genesis of the mythical
µ major chord which is so distinctive to their sound.
http://www.steelydan.com/songbook.html
They conclude this piece of advice with the following warning to cover musos:
I suppose it's only fair to warn you people that lately we have been visiting many of the excellent nightclubs and discotheques all around the country without prior notification and, if you're up on the bandstand playing an unaesthetic voicing of the µ major chord in, say, Rikki or Reelin in the Years, we're going to notice the minute we walk in and so will anybody else with half an ear. So tighten up.
?
Steely Dan. Whew ...
