"I love Gaucho" and I love "My Rival..."

[diane]

I was telling a guy that I love Steely Dan, that I'm mad for Steely
Dan, for Don, for Walt, for everything they ever did. He responded by
saying they were in interesting and innovative bunch of studio
musicians from the 1970s but not that great.

Actually he said, "Yeah, they're great studio musicians and came out
with some really innovative stuff... but honestly, how can you say you
like "everything"? Even they probably don't like everything they did.
Do you wanna have their kid or something? (That's a joke. Don't take me
too seriously.)"

Of course (brace yourself for an old fogie reminiscence), back in the
day musical bands and groups used to make every cut on an album as good
as every other cut, with no consideration given to which one might be
the radio hit, etc. I loved every song on every Beatles album and every
song on every Bob Dylan album, and I love every song on every album by
Steely Dan.

That includes "My Rival," which has a peculiar focus and message that
no other Steely Dan song addresses. It is of the subset of Perverted
Sex Songs performed by the Dan that I love so well. I love that these
guys can write this incredibly twisted and dirty stuff and make it
sound like acceptable conversation.

Got a feeling I've been here before
Watching as you cross the killing floor
You know you'll have to pay it all
You'll pay today or pay tomorrow
You fasten up your beaded gown
Then you try to tie me down
Do you work it out one by one
Or played in combination

I have seen your iron and your brass
Can't you see it shine behind the glass
Your fortune is your roving eye
Your mouth and legs
Your gift for the runaround
Torture is the main attraction
I don't need that kind of action
You don't have to dance for me
I've seen your dance before

<shivers>

These guys are a coupla freeks, dressing up their perverted obsessions
in pretty prose and lushly deceptive musical arrangements.

Is it hot in here?

diane

[Corvid]

My Rival seems unfinished and underdeveloped to me, made under pressure
as the Becker/Fagen partnership was quietly disintegrating. but that's
just me...

[Egil]

My Rival is one of my favorites - underplayed, I'd say, cool, barely
controlled anger. This guy is on the verge, listen to that guitar work,
snarling like a hurt animal. And the beautiful chandleresque art deco frame.
Walter's solo is like a dream, the protagonist getting a little bit of
release from his intense pain, and then it stops short - actually, the only
thing wrong with it is it's too short. That quick fade kind of lets me down
too fast. 4:31? Let's have a redux - there must be hours of stuff to put
back into the mix.

BTW, listening now to Jon Herington's album Complete Rhyming Dictionary:
Cool stuff. Reminiscent of Larry Carlton at his (Larry's) best, I think, but
with a twist. This guy is funny! And very, very good.

Cheers,
Egil

"Corvid" <dfa...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1160963855.1...@e3g2000cwe.googlegroups.com...

[Karmakazi]

I concur with both diane and Egil. Gaucho and Rival are both great, timeless
songs.

I find that songs which you enjoy the first time that you hear them do not
have any staying power... and you end up hating them after a few months
because they are too trendy.

Songs that you have to listen to more than a few times before you finally
"get it"... those songs tend to last a lifetime. I'd put Gaucho & Rival in
that category