Seriously, don't try so hard to figure out Steely Dan's lyrics. You'll get headaches. Most of their lyrics are either metaphors, semi biographical/inside jokes, stories about the seedy side of life, or just pure nonsensical. Focus on the music, more than the lyrics.
@@brianfiori4086 Maybe so, but in multiple cases I've not had any success figuring them out. And I've not worried about it because the music was so good and so well crafted.
@@markstromberg1148 They’re not nonsense, but they’re often obscure cultural references (as well as personal ones and inside jokes, as noted above). Example in the first verse is dime dancing. There were old time dance halls in big cities where you could dance with a woman for 10¢. It was called “Dime-a-dance” and the girls were called taxi dancers. There’s also some overlap with prostitution, as you might imagine. So the singer-nararator is saying that when his professional paid gigs are through (with the prostitution association), he seeks relief in “Aja”. What is Aja? It’s a place that he describes. There are drug overtones (China White and Opium), but it could be music that he enjoys playing or a place where he can play that music. But all that said, the music comes first.
My guess is the "people on the hill" are the rich people living in the Hollywood hills. Dime dancing could be a reference to social clubs where girls dance with customers at 10cents a dance.
I always interpreted it as meaning their work. Dime Dancing is a job. Once their job is done, they vacation in Asia. Get away from the Rich people and the whole LA/Hollywood scene. But the cool thing about art like this, when it's top-tier, is that I can be interpreted in many ways.... so there probably isn't a right or wrong.
When you started trying to figure out the lyrics, I literally said to myself out loud 'good luck buddy' 😂 The tub you were thinking of were steel or pan drums. But I think it's actually a xylophone or vibes synth patch. Sax player was the late great Wayne Shorter who played with Miles, Coltrane, Blakey, Weather Report (who if you are not familiar with, you should definitely check out). In short, the dude played with all the BIG names in jazz and was pretty big name himself. Steve Gadd (the drummer) is just a monster on the kit. Much like everyone else in this lineup he has played with everyone. His work with the band Stuff is off the charts awesome.
I'm in my early 40s and (REALLY) discovered The Dan over the last four or five years. Sitting alone in the house during a global pandemic..... King of the World was an anthem. But you are correct sir, Aja is is the right answer. Front to back INSTANT classic.
Stay on the Steely Dan tip.....Finish this record check then check out the Royal Scam.....Kid Charlemagne...Larry Carlton's amazing guitar solo on that gotta check it out...
The "dime dancing" I'm pretty sure refers to the deal in the past, maybe WW2 times, where you go and dance with women for ten cents a dance. You can imaginge how serious a relationship is that mainly involves a 10 cent dance would be. He's saying once the cheap thrills are done, he wants a more serious relationship.
Finally! Someone hits the nail. Dime dancing was popular in the Pacific Theater of WW2. Asian--AJA--dancing with American, Aussie, etc. troops who would by a ticket to dance for a dime. Of course, some of them would by up dozens upon dozens of tickets and dance with all the ladies all night. So, yeah, when a guy runs out of tickets...he runs to the girl who serves as his anchor.
There is a documentary that is available on TH-cam called "The Making of Aja." In it Donald Fagen tells the story of having a friend in high school whose older brother went to Korea, met a woman there named "Aja," married her and brought her back to the US. Donald Fagen says that the song is about the tranquility that can come from a relationship with a beautiful woman.
This is the incomparable Wayne Shorter on tenor sax. A different saxophonist than Pete Christlieb or Tom Scott on Black Cow and Deacon Blues. They used different sax players over the years and I guess tried to fit the player to the song. So many great players over the years. Michael Brecker, Chris Potter, Phil Woods, Walt Weiskopf, John Klemmer, Cornelius Bumpas, Savid Sanborn, Lou Marini and others as soloist or section players :)
Chris Potter on "West of Hollywood" goes places that only the absolute icons of jazz have ever gone. He will someday be spoken of in the same breath as John Coltrane, Dexter Gordon, Sonny Rollins, and Charlie Parker.
The hill is a reference to knob hill, the super rich neighborhood of San Francisco overlooking the bay area, and down in the valley is the Chinatown district where you hear oriental music in the nightclubs and dime dancing with the prostitutes, that's the sound of the cop whistle during the raids. The crazy drum solo is interpreted to mean the streets vibe after dark. And every rich person runs back to the hill to avoid getting arrested. The percussion instruments, wind chimes, kettle drums, chinese bell blocks, are added effects. Aja is really reference to Asia kind of like an inside joke because no American can read Chinese symbols😮
We are dealing with recordings of another level. Becker & Fagen were engineers or something . Just super genius stuff . Mind blowing for even metalheads ,rockers and hip hoppers !!!
Don't stress about the lyrics: I give them a pass - 46 years on, whilst I immerse in a peak Steely Dan song. You'll never get tired of this: One day it's Wayne Shorter's sax, another it's Gadd's drumming. Donald has the best voice. I like watching reactions to it; Most understandably are blown away.. It's unquestionably on my own desert island. I still don't know what the lyrics allude to.
Steely Dan lyrics go over all our heads. Some songs have a pretty clear meaning but others continue to be very vague even after all these years. "Hey Nineteen" has a pretty clear cut meaning that I think you'll enjoy. I'd love to see you stay with the Aja album since you're already here. My favorite is "Home at Last"! I hope you'll find time to do that one at some point. Looking forward to the rest of your Dan journey!
Exactly, some of have listened for 40 years and still have questions about the meaning of the lyrics. Don't get caught up in that, just enjoy the ride.
Did we grow up with just the BEST music ever?!???!!!!??? Honestly, as kids listening to our music, we weren’t analyzing the words. Just relax and let it flow. Not all our songs had deep meaning.
Pretty sure this is a drug reference song. The man comes home to reality after his 'dime dancing'.. partying. BTW I think it's a wooden xylaphone not a steel drum. (I think that's the instrument you were referring to) Also.. I think we have similar tastes... that sweet jazz guitar and sax/drum bit.. yeah.. magic stuff
There's a documentary about the making of this album and it's incredible! I would strongly recommend that you finish out this entire album (which is, no exaggeration, probably the greatest pop album ever recorded) and then watch the documentary. It's called, "The Making of Aja". Once you're finished you'll understand clearly just how legendary these guys are!
I will try to keep this short. Aja is a rehab place, think Betty Ford. It is up on the hill on the coast in California. The singer goes there everytime he hits bottom. When all my dime dancing is through, I run to you. In other words, he is doing a song and a dance just to get a dime bag, the minimum you can get and he has to beg for it. He goes to the rehab clinic on the hill. In the clinic they give you the I'm ok you're ok line from the title of a 70's self help book.
This is a masterpiece, and quite possibly one of the most complicated musical arrangements i've ever heard in a single song. It's almost like there are 3 completely different songs blended together that shouldn't work, but DOES. Steely Dan is legendary, and will probably go down as one of the most underrated artists of all time.
You should watch the Making of Aja Documentary. During WWII There were places for soldiers to dance, and charge a dime a dance. Up on the hill is thought to be referring to a psychological movement called Est. It was an in thing for the Beautiful People.
on this track they use wayne shorter on sax r.i.p. played with miles davis,herbie hancock just to name a few you have to be exceptional to play with this legends and the drummer the great steve gadd play sessions on a lot of albums chick correa paul simon miles I'm sure herbie and 100's of bands and singers !
I find most Steely Dan lyrics humorous & a bit weird but the music is sooo good. Song lyrics that I can relate to are: Rikki don't lose that number, Bad Sneakers, Reeling in the Years, Only a fool would say that, Dirty Work, Any Major Dude & others
Steely Dan in my opinion is a "thinking man's band". I have heard them described as.... "Your favorite bands.... favorite band". Wayne Shorter is the sax player on this track.
I really appreciate your reactions and your knowledge!!! I would really love it if you would take a listen to Boston. They were, in my opinion, THEE band from 1977. Their debut album was unmatched... literally every song a hit!! If you listen to "More than a Feeling" (Studio version... not live) trust me you'll be hooked... Especially if you read the back story of the album was produced. This is classic Rock at its best!!! Keep up the great work!!!
@ Church Boy Reactions! Aja Backing Vocals - Donald Fagen, Tim Schmit* Bass - Chuck Rainey Drums - Steve Gadd Electric Piano - Joe Sample Guitar - Denny Dias, Larry Carlton, Walter Becker Percussion - Victor Feldman Piano - Michael Omartian Synthesizer, Whistle [Police Whistle] - Donald Fagen Tenor Saxophone - Wayne Shorter
No, not your average band, at all! This is the genius of Donald Fagan, Walter Becker and ALL the phenomenal musicians they used throughout their spectacular careers…
The best thing to do is search the meanings behind the songs before doing a Steely Dan reaction, then when u listen to it with your audience it will all make sense. Understand also that Donald Fagen majored in English Literature when he attended Bard University in upstate New York. English Lit has many metaphors and analogies as does some of SD's music.They loved it when their fans struggled to figure out the lyrics, SD were cynical in that way. All I remember about the song is that Aja is the name of a Korean woman who married a college friend of either Walter Becker or Donald Fagen, or something like that. Steely Dan dedicated the song to the bride. The correct pronunciation of her name would be how you first pronounced it, but it would sound a bit off in the song. So pronounced Aja, like in the continent would make more sense.
Dont worry about the lyrics until youve enjoyed the listening of the great music .Fagen and Becker are usually cryptic regards the lyrics and I think that they have always enjoyed puzzling their audience with their lyrics. Wayne Shorter on sax, Steve Gadd on drums, I am pretty sure Denny Dias on guitar and a list of other incredible musicians on this beautiful track.
Patrons in a dance hall typically purchased dance tickets for ten cents each, which gave rise to the term "dime-a-dance girl". In the 1920s and 1930s the term "nickel hopper" gained popularity in the United States because out of each dime-a-dance, the dime dancer typically earned five cents. In the lyrics " After my dime dancing is through I run to you" ... I interpret that as a man going to a dance hall and dancing with the ladies (at a dime a dance) then afterwards they come running home to the one they care about. Something like that. Take care...
I have been listen to Steely Dan since the beginning, I usually just treat the voices/lyrics as another musical instrument, but over the years is fun to try to figure out the lyrics, although there are some we prob dont want to understand, lol...hey, is Steely Dan! For more fun, watch what you can about the recording of Aja, I think they used like 60 or more studio musicians
Dime dancing...he went to strip club, trying to fall in love, but , couldn't get his true love outta his head, so when the dimes are gone, he runs back to her....most likely with an apology...😂❤
“Double helix” is the shape of DNA. To me, that lyric is talking about procreation, or sex, lol. Throw out the hardware, don’t use protection, do it right. Lmao 😂
I'm sure other Steely Dan fans are going to tell you that their lyrics are sometimes difficult to decipher. Just enjoy the music and their cryptic lyrics.
Asia, hmmmm...then Basia should be spelled Baja....your all in now and its too late to turn back...any Dude who`d know by now by spending time with a Dan chick ...some friend of Dr. Wu`s named Katy is some how involved, they even named a disc Katy lied, RUT ROW Shaggy....
5:55 Chopsticks! Well, sort of. Jazz Chopsticks. He’s hitting two keys at a time, equally spaced at each beat, like the basic song. But he’s also giving the melody a stereotypical oriental flavor. Edit: Is it keyboard or vibraphone?
Seriously, don't try so hard to figure out Steely Dan's lyrics. You'll get headaches. Most of their lyrics are either metaphors, semi biographical/inside jokes, stories about the seedy side of life, or just pure nonsensical. Focus on the music, more than the lyrics.
@@butterflymama0838 That IS kinda strange, especially since he asks questions concerning whichever SD song he's reacting to.
So true. Steely Dan is about the vibe; the lyrics can often be nonsense.
@@markstromberg1148 The lyrics may be hard to decipher, but they are never nonsense.
@@brianfiori4086 Maybe so, but in multiple cases I've not had any success figuring them out. And I've not worried about it because the music was so good and so well crafted.
@@markstromberg1148 They’re not nonsense, but they’re often obscure cultural references (as well as personal ones and inside jokes, as noted above).
Example in the first verse is dime dancing. There were old time dance halls in big cities where you could dance with a woman for 10¢. It was called “Dime-a-dance” and the girls were called taxi dancers. There’s also some overlap with prostitution, as you might imagine.
So the singer-nararator is saying that when his professional paid gigs are through (with the prostitution association), he seeks relief in “Aja”. What is Aja? It’s a place that he describes. There are drug overtones (China White and Opium), but it could be music that he enjoys playing or a place where he can play that music.
But all that said, the music comes first.
The legend Steve Gadd on drums. Pure GOLD!
My understanding is that it was done in one take.
The sax player is Wayne Shorter, a great player.....drummer is Steve Gadd one of the best,
From Weather Report!
HAHAHAHAHA! When you start wagging your finger you know they cooking!!!
My guess is the "people on the hill" are the rich people living in the Hollywood hills. Dime dancing could be a reference to social clubs where girls dance with customers at 10cents a dance.
I always interpreted it as meaning their work. Dime Dancing is a job. Once their job is done, they vacation in Asia. Get away from the Rich people and the whole LA/Hollywood scene. But the cool thing about art like this, when it's top-tier, is that I can be interpreted in many ways.... so there probably isn't a right or wrong.
When you started trying to figure out the lyrics, I literally said to myself out loud 'good luck buddy' 😂
The tub you were thinking of were steel or pan drums. But I think it's actually a xylophone or vibes synth patch.
Sax player was the late great Wayne Shorter who played with Miles, Coltrane, Blakey, Weather Report (who if you are not familiar with, you should definitely check out). In short, the dude played with all the BIG names in jazz and was pretty big name himself.
Steve Gadd (the drummer) is just a monster on the kit. Much like everyone else in this lineup he has played with everyone. His work with the band Stuff is off the charts awesome.
It's a marimba
Steely Dan is sometimes referred to as "Your favorite musician's favorite musicians"!
Or, your favorite band's favorite band!
Dime dancing = dating superficial women or dating casually
I am 71 years old and "Aja" is one of the greatest songs of my life. This album is very special.
I'm in my early 40s and (REALLY) discovered The Dan over the last four or five years. Sitting alone in the house during a global pandemic..... King of the World was an anthem. But you are correct sir, Aja is is the right answer. Front to back INSTANT classic.
Amen brother! Same here...Thank God for those days!!
Stay on the Steely Dan tip.....Finish this record check then check out the Royal Scam.....Kid Charlemagne...Larry Carlton's amazing guitar solo on that gotta check it out...
Throw out the hardware = play just acoustically
The "dime dancing" I'm pretty sure refers to the deal in the past, maybe WW2 times, where you go and dance with women for ten cents a dance.
You can imaginge how serious a relationship is that mainly involves a 10 cent dance would be. He's saying once the cheap thrills are done, he wants a more serious relationship.
Finally! Someone hits the nail. Dime dancing was popular in the Pacific Theater of WW2. Asian--AJA--dancing with American, Aussie, etc. troops who would by a ticket to dance for a dime. Of course, some of them would by up dozens upon dozens of tickets and dance with all the ladies all night. So, yeah, when a guy runs out of tickets...he runs to the girl who serves as his anchor.
Lowering yourself to market necessities.
There is a documentary that is available on TH-cam called "The Making of Aja." In it Donald Fagen tells the story of having a friend in high school whose older brother went to Korea, met a woman there named "Aja," married her and brought her back to the US. Donald Fagen says that the song is about the tranquility that can come from a relationship with a beautiful woman.
Wayne Shorter on sax. This was his first and only take. One of the immortals.
Weather Report !
Dime dancing refers to girls going to taxi dance halls, Men and especially G.I 's going off to WW2 would buy dances with the girls.
He really really really wants to know the literal meaning of the lyrics DURING the song on the first listen. The most impatient music reactor ever.
This is the incomparable Wayne Shorter on tenor sax. A different saxophonist than Pete Christlieb or Tom Scott on Black Cow and Deacon Blues. They used different sax players over the years and I guess tried to fit the player to the song. So many great players over the years. Michael Brecker, Chris Potter, Phil Woods, Walt Weiskopf, John Klemmer, Cornelius Bumpas, Savid Sanborn, Lou Marini and others as soloist or section players :)
Chris Potter on "West of Hollywood" goes places that only the absolute icons of jazz have ever gone. He will someday be spoken of in the same breath as John Coltrane, Dexter Gordon, Sonny Rollins, and Charlie Parker.
Tim Schmidt in the eagles.
Wanye shorter plays the sax solo on this one.
Many of the lyrics in this song contain drug related references.
Just listen the music and enjoy the magic don’t try to analyze the lyrics too much
The hill is a reference to knob hill, the super rich neighborhood of San Francisco overlooking the bay area, and down in the valley is the Chinatown district where you hear oriental music in the nightclubs and dime dancing with the prostitutes, that's the sound of the cop whistle during the raids. The crazy drum solo is interpreted to mean the streets vibe after dark. And every rich person runs back to the hill to avoid getting arrested. The percussion instruments, wind chimes, kettle drums, chinese bell blocks, are added effects. Aja is really reference to Asia kind of like an inside joke because no American can read Chinese symbols😮
We are dealing with recordings of another level. Becker & Fagen were engineers or something . Just super genius stuff . Mind blowing for even metalheads ,rockers and hip hoppers !!!
Don't stress about the lyrics: I give them a pass - 46 years on, whilst I immerse in a peak Steely Dan song.
You'll never get tired of this: One day it's Wayne Shorter's sax, another it's Gadd's drumming. Donald has the best voice. I like watching reactions to it; Most understandably are blown away..
It's unquestionably on my own desert island. I still don't know what the lyrics allude to.
Steely Dan lyrics go over all our heads. Some songs have a pretty clear meaning but others continue to be very vague even after all these years. "Hey Nineteen" has a pretty clear cut meaning that I think you'll enjoy. I'd love to see you stay with the Aja album since you're already here. My favorite is "Home at Last"! I hope you'll find time to do that one at some point. Looking forward to the rest of your Dan journey!
Yes!!!
Exactly, some of have listened for 40 years and still have questions about the meaning of the lyrics. Don't get caught up in that, just enjoy the ride.
Double helix= DNA
Did we grow up with just the BEST music ever?!???!!!!???
Honestly, as kids listening to our music, we weren’t analyzing the words. Just relax and let it flow. Not all our songs had deep meaning.
Pretty sure this is a drug reference song. The man comes home to reality after his 'dime dancing'.. partying.
BTW I think it's a wooden xylaphone not a steel drum. (I think that's the instrument you were referring to)
Also.. I think we have similar tastes... that sweet jazz guitar and sax/drum bit.. yeah.. magic stuff
There's a documentary about the making of this album and it's incredible! I would strongly recommend that you finish out this entire album (which is, no exaggeration, probably the greatest pop album ever recorded) and then watch the documentary. It's called, "The Making of Aja". Once you're finished you'll understand clearly just how legendary these guys are!
marimba
Drugs.
I will try to keep this short. Aja is a rehab place, think Betty Ford. It is up on the hill on the coast in California. The singer goes there everytime he hits bottom. When all my dime dancing is through, I run to you. In other words, he is doing a song and a dance just to get a dime bag, the minimum you can get and he has to beg for it. He goes to the rehab clinic on the hill. In the clinic they give you the I'm ok you're ok line from the title of a 70's self help book.
What an excellent explanation of Aja's meaning! Thank you!
This is a masterpiece, and quite possibly one of the most complicated musical arrangements i've ever heard in a single song. It's almost like there are 3 completely different songs blended together that shouldn't work, but DOES.
Steely Dan is legendary, and will probably go down as one of the most underrated artists of all time.
Double helix = galaxy
Up on the hill = rich people
Dime dancing= hustling for $$$$
the late. great Wayne Shorter on Sax.....formerly of Weather Report and Miles Davis
You are wrong! The drum solos are NOT written out. The guitar solos are NOT written out.
Double Helix is a Nebula 25,000 light years from Earth.
You should watch the Making of Aja Documentary. During WWII There were places for soldiers to dance, and charge a dime a dance. Up on the hill is thought to be referring to a psychological movement called Est. It was an in thing for the Beautiful People.
Sax player? Wayne Shorter. Late of Miles Davis.
Listen first. Analyze later. It ruins the flow.
You’re talking about a steel drum. However, I think it’s a synthesizer producing a marimba sound …
on this track they use wayne shorter on sax r.i.p. played with miles davis,herbie hancock just to name a few you have to be exceptional to play with this legends and the drummer the great steve gadd play sessions on a lot of albums chick correa paul simon miles I'm sure herbie and 100's of bands and singers !
Double helix is dna. Now think about throwing out the hardware and DOING IT right...
Their lyrics are very cryptic. You're better off focusing on the music.
Wayne Shorter was Miles Davis' Sax Player.
Green Earrings will knock your socks off
I find most Steely Dan lyrics humorous & a bit weird but the music is sooo good. Song lyrics that I can relate to are: Rikki don't lose that number, Bad Sneakers, Reeling in the Years, Only a fool would say that, Dirty Work, Any Major Dude & others
Steely Dan in my opinion is a "thinking man's band". I have heard them described as.... "Your favorite bands.... favorite band". Wayne Shorter is the sax player on this track.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aja_(song)
Xylophone. Pronounced; Zylophone
Drummer, Steve Gadd is brilliant on this song. Larry Carlton is the guitarist . Wayne Shorter is the sax player.
This song will give you plenty of "stank face."
I really appreciate your reactions and your knowledge!!!
I would really love it if you would take a listen to Boston. They were, in my opinion, THEE band from 1977. Their debut album was unmatched... literally every song a hit!!
If you listen to "More than a Feeling" (Studio version... not live) trust me you'll be hooked... Especially if you read the back story of the album was produced. This is classic Rock at its best!!!
Keep up the great work!!!
Dude, you need to get some cultural knowledge, not just from pop music...
@ Church Boy Reactions!
Aja
Backing Vocals - Donald Fagen, Tim Schmit*
Bass - Chuck Rainey
Drums - Steve Gadd
Electric Piano - Joe Sample
Guitar - Denny Dias, Larry Carlton, Walter Becker
Percussion - Victor Feldman
Piano - Michael Omartian
Synthesizer, Whistle [Police Whistle] - Donald Fagen
Tenor Saxophone - Wayne Shorter
The rich folk live up on the hill and us regular folk live on the streets below
Performing for money is what I get from dime dancing
Wayne Shorter from Weather Report
This is an album you need to just let wash over you...
Check out Steely Dan Dictionary on the internet
And they knew who the good players we're in Nyc because they worked in the commercial ditty factory; Brill building.
I think the instrument you mention is a vibraphone.
Worrying about lyrics kills the flow.
No, not your average band, at all! This is the genius of Donald Fagan, Walter Becker and ALL the phenomenal musicians they used throughout their spectacular careers…
Tom Macdonald is dropping a new video. Get ready!
The best thing to do is search the meanings behind the songs before doing a Steely Dan reaction, then when u listen to it with your audience it will all make sense. Understand also that Donald Fagen majored in English Literature when he attended Bard University in upstate New York. English Lit has many metaphors and analogies as does some of SD's music.They loved it when their fans struggled to figure out the lyrics, SD were cynical in that way. All I remember about the song is that Aja is the name of a Korean woman who married a college friend of either Walter Becker or Donald Fagen, or something like that. Steely Dan dedicated the song to the bride. The correct pronunciation of her name would be how you first pronounced it, but it would sound a bit off in the song. So pronounced Aja, like in the continent would make more sense.
Yea. Its all explained in Wikipedia a free web site or app absolutely free. Non profit organisation.
The wikipedia article on the Aja album lists the personnel for each track. Not the same people on all tracks.
DON"T WORRY ABOUT THE LYRICS !!! , THEY ARE OBSCURE , STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS , SURREAL EVEN .
If you want a real treat, react to Snarky Puppy. Listen to Lingus or Shofukan. Outlier is outstanding.
Pronounces more like Asia - not hard A sound
I see you've got your bass there. This is the incredible Chuck Rainey filling in the low end.
Becker and Fagan use studio musicians as their band. I believe something like 40 musicians appeared on this album.
Up on the hill...upper class.
Aka ( Asia)
"Up on the hill" refers to rich folks. Back in the day, they always lived above the plebes.
Dime dancing up on the hill at the Dude Ranch. He was grinding on sold old rich bag, then the shift ended, and he went back to Aja, his lady.
Dont worry about the lyrics until youve enjoyed the listening of the great music .Fagen and Becker are usually cryptic regards the lyrics and I think that they have always enjoyed puzzling their audience with their lyrics. Wayne Shorter on sax, Steve Gadd on drums, I am pretty sure Denny Dias on guitar and a list of other incredible musicians on this beautiful track.
What makes you run for a dime, means you are done working. I think for life.
The song is explained in Wikipedia a free non profit organisation. Songs movies peoples political issues constitutionally matters.
The legendary Wayne Shorter on the sax.
Welcome to the journey!! ..
Patrons in a dance hall typically purchased dance tickets for ten cents each, which gave rise to the term "dime-a-dance girl". In the 1920s and 1930s the term "nickel hopper" gained popularity in the United States because out of each dime-a-dance, the dime dancer typically earned five cents. In the lyrics " After my dime dancing is through I run to you" ... I interpret that as a man going to a dance hall and dancing with the ladies (at a dime a dance) then afterwards they come running home to the one they care about. Something like that. Take care...
Checkout Josie from this album it has a great bass line by Chuck Rainey !
I have been listen to Steely Dan since the beginning, I usually just treat the voices/lyrics as another musical instrument, but over the years is fun to try to figure out the lyrics, although there are some we prob dont want to understand, lol...hey, is Steely Dan! For more fun, watch what you can about the recording of Aja, I think they used like 60 or more studio musicians
Is Aja a woman, a place, a state of mind or all3?
That's Wayne Shorter on tenor sax. One of the greatest of the greats, co-leader of Weather Report.
Dime dancing...he went to strip club, trying to fall in love, but , couldn't get his true love outta his head, so when the dimes are gone, he runs back to her....most likely with an apology...😂❤
“Double helix” is the shape of DNA. To me, that lyric is talking about procreation, or sex, lol. Throw out the hardware, don’t use protection, do it right. Lmao 😂
Nobodies “sure” of the lyrics meaning so don’t ask . Just listen , stop trying to analyze every word !
It’s 70’s lyrics. Often there just to support the melody. Steve Gadd is unforgettable on this track.
I'm sure other Steely Dan fans are going to tell you that their lyrics are sometimes difficult to decipher. Just enjoy the music and their cryptic lyrics.
Asia, hmmmm...then Basia should be spelled Baja....your all in now and its too late to turn back...any Dude who`d know by now by spending time with a Dan chick ...some friend of Dr. Wu`s named Katy is some how involved, they even named a disc Katy lied, RUT ROW Shaggy....
Steely Dan is a mainstay on my "lounge mix", I often play it in the background when I'm entertaining. It's almost audio wallpaper.
double helix = dna, throw out the hardware let's do it right. (let's make a baby)
In the 30 and 40s there were clubs that you could pay for a dance for a dime. It’s the precursor of what we would call gentlemen’s clubs.
Eagles wanted to wrote a song the way stealy Dan does,it's called hotel California, tryna understand them lyrics, n get back to us . Lol
5:55 Chopsticks! Well, sort of. Jazz Chopsticks. He’s hitting two keys at a time, equally spaced at each beat, like the basic song. But he’s also giving the melody a stereotypical oriental flavor.
Edit: Is it keyboard or vibraphone?