How Steely Dan Composes A Song
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SOURCES AND FURTHER READING:
Howard Wright, “Steely Dan: The Mu Major Chord” 2011
www.hakwright.c...
Marc Myers, “How Steely Dan Created Deacon Blues” (via The Wall Street Journal)
www.wsj.com/art...
Howard Wright, “The Birth of the Mu Major Chord” (via Mizar6)
www.writingaffa...
Dylan Jones, “Icon: Donald Fagen” (via GQ) 2014
www.gq-magazine...
Steely Dan, Deacon Blues sheet music (via musicnotes.com)
www.musicnotes....
Roger Nichols, Steely Dan Producer quote:
forum.cockos.co...
Saxophonist Pete Christlieb Discusses His 'Deacon Blues' Solo on Steely Dan's 'Aja' Album
• Saxophonist Pete Chris...
Ryan Reed, “36 Years Ago: Steely Dan Release ‘Aja’” (via Ultimate Classic Rock)
ultimateclassic...
Classic Albums: Steely Dan's Aja - Deacon Blues
• Classic Albums: Steely...
Steely Dan is one of the bands I would listen to the whole discography in one sitting.
yeah same! we are playing josie in our big band, and after rehearsal i went to my room and listened to four records in a row
im hooked
I'd be down for that. Same for Pink Floyd. Never done either, but would definitely do so!
I have done just that one day, and would do it again and again!
I loaded up my ipod classic(yes, it's old but, hey, it still works!) with a Steely Dan playlist of all their stuff in chronological order and listen to it all day long at work! I do that with all of the bands that I enjoy. We are required to wear earplugs at my job so, I bought a set of "AfterShokz" bone-inducting headwear(which actually sound better with earplugs in) and I get to spend all day not listening to the crap my younger team members listen to!!!
Yes indeed with my dad in a wood paneled room
You've introduced me to Steely Dan, thank you ever so kindly.
+Fer Silva whhhaaaattttt.......
+Fer Silva Have you at least heard... Reelin' in the Years? Or of them at all?
better late than never, player!
I'm a young latino kid from the Bronx, currently living in Mexico, so no.
Fer Silva I don't know what that has to do with not having heard "the classics", but I guess it would also have to depend on your definition of "young" haha. But I guess I get what you're saying. I was certainly raised on this sorta thang, but I can't be much older than you (I'm 22 btw).
I'm glad I found your channel to keep me busy while I wait for Every Frame A Paintings uploads.
"A suburbanite in crisis fantasizing about becoming an alcoholic saxophone player"
maybe he just poured booze down the saxophone and hid the bottles in the drum kit
John Paradise - yep. Ya gotta be sophisticated to understand that
Saxophone player come gambler....die behind the wheel i.e. roulette wheel...
an alcoholic saxophone player? Oh you mean a regular saxhophone player
jk don't get salty
I’m 34 and just found out about them a couple of weeks ago . I’m a music nerd and love them so much ! Quality music at its finest
Can,t believe you made me watch the whole thing! New appreciation for what they were doing. Took out my only steeley Dan album, gaucho, will give it a listen, now workin on mu major chords on piano. Have a great flight and TED.
Excellent work, intelligent and thoughtful, a rare commodity these days. Steely Dan has been and still is my all time favourite band. I've been a fan since 1972 . thank you.
Wonderful analysis! I discovered Steely Dan in 1973. Their music taught me how to analyze chords. Such intelligent and well-crafted music.
Do a video on Midnight in Paris
It's Steely Dan's irony that is so engrossing. Such smooth and warm music, but such sardonic and acerbic lyrics. The most thought-provoking band ever.
Timeless music and lyric which I have always and still enjoy immensely. Thank you for making me understand why!
Wow! Thank you for this very insightful video.
Jeez that was an amazing analysis. 100%.
Roger Nichols was not Steely Dan's producer, he was the recording engineer. Gary Katz was the producer from Can't Buy a Thrill through Gaucho.
@Nerdwriter1 YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I looooooooooove Steely Dan!!! Thank you 🙏🏻 4 such an amazing analysis of a top-shelf song!!
Great job on this. I really liked it.
no question about it. this is one fine line of a video. made for the winners in the world.
You could write any lyrics to this tune and it would be cool, the same could be said for the rest of the album, they are all smooth grooves
Brilliant stuff.
Great video! thanks!
Nice job!
a great analysis
Great video.
Very nice.
RIP, Walter
They were genius at every level. From hand selecting Purdie, Porcaro, Carlton and the other perfect studio players to the meticulous production and cryptic lyrics- Steely Dan is perfection.
Absolutely 100% agree with you.
And Gadd :)
Are they really named after a huge dildo , if so that’s hilarious
What amazes me is they were like 29 when they made this.
As a non-musician who doesn't know the first thing about music theory, I love it when people break down music like this. Kudos!
Check out Rick Beato's channel! He does that to a looooooot of tracks and it's really fun!
@@marcelosena8955 Rick Beato is OP
Show me a Dan hater and I'll show you someone that has never played music.
Too bad it was prolifically played in dentists offices and elevators....Kinda ruins it for me today
...or listened to it for that matter
@@robertmaybeth3434 Go on...
Or they don’t realize what they’re hearing ~
@@bilbobaggins4710 I can't say that I don't know what you mean. I was at my grocery store about a year ago and I heard Ozzy playing as if he were shopping music. I like Ozzy but not while I'm shopping for Veal.
awesome!
Woah, didnt know vulfpeck was a nerdwriter fan! Love your music
I knew that Vulf were Steely Dan fans, cant wait for Oct17!!
So are you.
Wow, Vulfpeck commenting on a video about Steely Dan. There can only be so much great music concentrated in one place.
Was this the inspiration for hero town? given the mu chord and all
Walter and Donald did cross that fine line.
Thank you Walter & Donald....you've made this planet better.
+MrGandharva108 Did they ever! :-)
*Hear Hear. 😀
Don’t forget the amazing backup vocals. They really make the song, I like how the “I” in “I play just what I feel comes in just before Fagen. Cool timing. Anyway nice vid, thx
This is just wonderful. There are two types of people in the world: those who don't get Steely Dan, and those who do. There's is the ultimate expression of quality music in every respect. We will never see their likes again.
Michael McIntosh nice this year again they say
2 types indeed. Two against nature!
I'm lucky my parents owned their albums when i was a kid... I'd be honored if some Steely Dan fans would take a listen to my live keyboard & vocal performances of HOME AT LAST and JOSIE on my YT channel in tribute to the great Walter Becker and the Aja album. Live acoustic with no digital editing. Thanks and peace.
Steely Dan is a realm of its own. Should u just close your eyes, u arrive at its doorstep.
Michael McIntosh so true
Great video, +Nerdwriter1! Thanks for the shout-out.
I love you!
+Wisecrack /ship/
+Wisecrack Found you through an earlier video on this channel
Can we get an crossover/collaboration project in the works? Nerdcrack? Wisenerd?
+Bobby Mauger 2nded
Smart, smart, smart. Well thought out, well researched and fascinating. Worth spending 10 minutes of your life watching . Thanks for a superb effort.....
Aja on earphones equals paradise
I crawl like a viper through these suburban streets.
They call Alabama the crimson tide, Call me Deacon Blues.
Good stuff - The Dan is my favorite all-time band.
And the song Good Stuff is one of Fagens best solo compositions. Off of the Sunken Condos release from October of 2012.
mine too
I can remember being about 6-7 yrs old in the 70's, and I'd sit with my back against one of the speakers of my parents' Hi-Fi. I liked Steely Dan so much I wanted to feel the music go _through_ me.
+1. If I only had one "Desert Island Disc," it would be a Steely Dan album. But which one?
Oh man, you're such a great fit to be a TED speaker, congratulations!
I bet most people don’t realize just how many Steely Dan songs they actually know.
HaHa! Good one - ruling
I got into Steely Dan a couple of months ago because of this video (big fan of your stuff, Evan). So... coming back to pay my respects. RIP Walter Becker, one of the greats.
I'd be honored if some Steely Dan fans would give a listen to my acoustic piano & vocal performances of JOSIE and HOME AT LAST on my YT channel in tribute to the Aja album - one of the greatest artistic works of the 20th century. Live acoustic with no autotune or digital editing. Thanks and keep on grooving.
Nayo Aragón Olascuaga - you must be young. I’ve been grooving since 1973
Amen RIP and keep making music
Nayo Aragón Olascuaga I’ve been hearing steely dan since I was born ,but didnt start LISTENING till 1989 .
Captains Log: Star Date 17: proof of intelligent life forms on planet youtube...
I concur
@@blueshorecreative3146 I retort
Fascinating captain
I had a buddy once whose hobby it was on Saturdays to take his Steely Dan tapes to high end audio stores under the guise of looking to make a big purchase when all he wanted to do was just hear Steely Dan on a high end audio system. He's even bring his own headphones.
I worked in a Hi Fi Shop in the early 80's. Gaucho was my Closer Album. Customers always bought after hearing it on high end gear.
@@stevenroland7472 sounds like Wendel should have gotten a kickback from some of those sales, LOL
"Every instrument has its own life" - YES!!! This is one of the things about SD that I love the most. Thank you for putting into words what I've always known.
Lyrics are great, music is great, production is great, musicians are world class. What's not to like? Stunning stuff. Imo.
Please do one of these on Pink Floyd, or if you're up to the challenge, Frank Zappa!
+Leajiaure Damn right! Floyd's production was off the charts. Speaking of production, IF you're into this electronic stuff at all, check out Tipper, or Pretty Lights. I'd love to see a nerdwriter1 video on either of those folks.
Have a good one!
i think a breakdown of the effects of dark side of the moon would be interesting to watch
Hell yeah! That would be very, very interesting!
nabruh and pet sounds
Wisecrack
The Mu Major chord, is really only an 'add9' chord.
+nerkoids
Is it, though? The distinguishing part of the mu major is that the second is directly next to the root, rather than an octave above.
I think it is just a specific voicing of a major 9 chord. I don't see why it would need its own name though, it is really not particularly interesting sounding, considering the other complex chords they play ALL the time
Their name for it was given tongue in cheek.
If there is no 7th, then it is not a 9th. It is a 2nd - regardless of octave. I have always just called and written this as a ' 2 ' chord.. Great video!
"add2" is a more accurate description of what is specifically going on, but yes you're correct.
Aja is one of my favorite albums and Deacon Blues is the best song from it. Thank you so much for this. The video was an amazing analysis of a truly wonderful song. I learned a lot and it made me think about how other music is composed. Job well done sir, job well done.
Home at last is my fav
Am I the only peg guy?
@@armandomorales3809 My ex-boss was a Peg guy, if that helps.
@@lehacarpenter7773 i just think its a lot better composed than a lot of there songs.
@@armandomorales3809 Peg is a great radio hit that's impossible to not dance to. I mean, it got me and countless others into Steely Dan, and for that alone it's legendary. But because it's (shockingly!) by far the most basic on Aja as far as chord progression, melodies, and structure go, some fans find it not quite *as* challenging or rewarding on repeat listens as something like Deacon Blues, Aja, or Home At Last.
Almost everything in music is subjective, so far be it from me to tell people what songs they should enjoy most from an album. But if you were wondering why most hardcore Steely Dan fans prefer other tracks, it's because they play more to what's so alluring about the band in the first place. That's not to say I don't sing along when "Reelin' In The Years" comes on at the grocery store, just that it's not quite as close to my heart as "Doctor Wu" or " The Caves of Altamira".
I’m 21, and fell in love with this song a couple months ago. I didn’t even care what the lyrics said, the sounds alone drew me in. Now I love it even more because of this video
That's very cool to hear - I am 65 and I fell in love with this song 46 years ago. I was 19.
Glad you discovered it - here's to you enjoying at 65 as well :).
I fell in love with it when I was a 10 yr old kid in my parents car and they just bought a brand new CD OF STEELY DAN - GOLD ! A collection of some of their hits. They had his albums on Vinyl but now they wanted to hear it on cd. The song came on ! Hooked.
You're made for Ted! Break a leg, nerdwriter!
+paint9er Nah, he has to much real substance for a TED talk :D
OHHHH burn
+Christopher Willis Now now, steady on old chap... ;-)
*Bob Dylan*
Touching~! You hit home hard with this one. Excellent work putting this one together. I'm off to go rediscover Steely Dan.
i listen to Aja every day. Black Cow and Deacon Blues are some of my favorite songs of all time
have the double greatest hits always ready for play in my truck sometimes I gotta pullover it gets to me just how wonderful it is.
Sometimes you read negative comments about Steely Dan here and there about how they suck, "I hate Steely Dan," blah blah blah. I don't understand it. Their music is interesting and complex, their lyrics thought provoking. Maybe it's because they are so calculated and polished...the haters think they're pretentious or something. Oh well...haters gonna hate I guess. Doesn't stop me from liking them.
It took me a good 25 years to warm up to them. I bought the Citizen Dan box so I'm getting into it. I never doubted that the music was layered and thought out rather well with not just the same ole lyrics.
The appeal of the Dan is almost entirely cerebral while some people really only engage with music that hits them viscerally. Personally, I find different bands for different moods, and there are plenty of moods that fit with Steely Dan.
they're haters, nothing more to say.
@@EFFbriskethead Don't Take Em Alive,🧟
Right on. "The band is the most sonically sophisticated (sic) pop acts of the 21st century ...."
I FUCKING love this channel
+From: Uma Mente Pós-Moderna I fucking LOVE this channel
+Peter Meto Thomassen I fucking love THIS channel
+Abdul I fucking love this CHANNEL
+xavier curney I FUCKING LOVE this channel
+neemo23571 I LUCKING FOVE this channel
There's a lot to learn about Steely Dan's work.
True story. The system of harmonic thought that underlies their work never seems to be talked about or taught, despite its later ubiquity in pop.
OMG! I love Jazz Fusion, please make more videos about music. A Bob Dylan video would be amazing and a video about the Blues would be great.
As You Were Reading My Very Long Username I Stole Your Sandwich he's done one on all along the watchtower.
Like everyone else, I grew up hearing the radio tunes like “Reelin’ in the years” and “Dirty Work” countless times. However, I still remember being 15, working the dish tank at a restaurant and hearing “Deacon Blues” through a beat-up old chili-caked boom-box for the first time. I stopped what I was doing and just sat there with my jaw on the floor for the duration of the song. Just a kid realizing that rock n’ roll, and music in general, can be so much more. Another 15 years later, and I can thank that moment for bringing me into the larger world of jazz. Also, Larry Carlton is a god among men, and Steely Dan would have not had that extra 3000% to push them over the edge in some of their greatest tracks without him. Even my four year old son says, “Daddy, ‘Kid Charlemagne’ is the bam.”
“Yes, Son. Yes it is.”
The outro of KC is one of my earliest musical memories.
I don't understand a single word... I don't know anything about music.
I feel exceedingly stupid and ignorant.
+Arturo Stojanoff i find there's a lot of songs i can't understand the words to, and i don't see how other people can. not just rap songs for metal, but pop songs and older stuff like this. got no ear for instrumentation either. it all sounds the same to me. i'm with you man
few albums can flash me back to the place I was in 1977 like Aja. It's greatness makes me cry
Norman Buffett I was four in 1978...and I can go back to that remember where I was as a little girl, listening to the Peg on radio console. I remember everything about that song, the weather that day...etc. it was just that good
shut the fuck up boomer
That year 1977 I graduated high school. The world has been plummeting ever faster into hell ever since
Baroo 182 that comment was so dumb and toxic it’s not even funny
The Medieval people never understood why that was such a big hit song and crossed over so many categories
do an episode about Frank Zappa
It's incredible how you can grab our interest for about 10 minutes with every video you make! Great video!!
We named our daughter "Aja."
That's a beautiful name for a lovely young lady.
My mom was almost gonna name me that, specifically after this album.
@@voicesbysonia And so she became...!
@@amaravazquez8591 I warned her that, in traveling to Spain, she must greet those who might address her as "Ah HAH" with equanimity and poise.
Damn this is brilliant!! Has a kind of Anthony Bourdain feel to it. Well written, well researched, well done!
MOAR MUSICAL ANALYSIS PLZ
I like.
the visual of orange text over snow falling is amazing, pretty editorial
this video is the best thing i've ever seen on the internet
WOW! This is an amazing overview and analysis of a great piece of music. Every word! Totally fitting of a perfect piece of music. BTW, Deacon (dee-kaa-on) in Hebrew means a depressed mindset!
Love steely dan ,I thought I was only one that tested speakers with them .haha
Steely Dan is God. My favorite song from my childhood - and for the rest of my life - is Reeling in the Years. It encompasses everything about my childhood in the 70's and life in general...completely.
its funny how listening to a song can bring you right to moments in your life you had completely forgotten. In 1977 I was 10 years old and my first year at overnight camp. I thought I was cool bringing my first ever album purchase "steel your face" by the dead to summer camp, My camp counselor beat the shit out of me and told me I didn't know what I was talking about and put on AJA. He was right, the steel your face album was crap, I'm a huge dead head and it was a crappy album. I was still too young to realize the dead need to be heard live or bootlegged. Anyway, we listened to that AJA album every night for 8 weeks! it was the best summer of my life and every time I hear any song off of AJA.....POOF....Im right back there. The following summer (78)Some Girls came out and we were wore that one out as well...
The Curious Sapien Do it again is mine. Reeling in the years also encompasses my childhood in the 70s as well...Listening to that song in my uncle’s car or on the radio
There one of my favorite bands but there not god.
This is an analysis worth listening to. Very informative and insightful. Thanks.
more music analysis please! jazz will do
The most sophisticated music to every hit the pop charts, as a jazz Snob I love this period of popular music.
How do you manage to create videos that feel so familiar? Love it ❤️ Will definately check out this band.
Whoah! How so lucid, your descriptions? About sonic, verbal, philosophical angles. I'm impressed! And slight surprised. Subscribed, subscribed, and kudos lauded.
Man a music vid! Now you're talking my language.
awesome! I played in a soul cover band years ago, and we did our own version of Peg... easiest verses ever, most difficult chorus ever.
My all time favorite Steely Dan song. ( among tons of great songs ) I just love them. This musical-analysis and visual-imagery were phenomenal. Really enjoyed it.
Yep, it's totally awesome!
I love Steely Dan. I know the words to practically every song. I was one of the few to see them live in the early 70s. They've been my favorite band ever since. I also like Fagan's solo work (Becker's, um no). I saw them twice on their '93 reunion tour and it was like a religious gathering of devotees both times. Then saw them again last year (2015) and it was as if Houston was under a hurricane evacuation and used Woodlands Pavilion. as a staging area for nursing home residents. I know that Fagan and Becker were pretentious assholes in their smug twenties. I know the story of Jerome Aniton, their erstwhile truck driver who they made emcee because he was a drunk and kept crashing the truck. I know they hijacked an existing band then starved out the others who could perform but could not write and they preferred only the latter knowing full well what they were doing. Of course I know the dildo thing.
And yet after 40 years as an ardent fan I discover, just now in fact, that I don't know dick about the meanings of their songs. I swear to God I thought this song was about a guy who was already a drunk sax player, defiant against traditional roles, and refused to acquiese. I saw myself that way and would sing "CALL ME DEACON BLUES" at the top of my lungs in solidarity with the cavalier attitude. I'm sure I told others much the same thing when the tune was playing in my car and we were passing a joint around in route to yet another club.
I thought "Everyone's Gone to the Movies" was about a creepy pedophile neighbor and that "Cousin Dupree" was his cross town equal. I thought "Daddy Don't Live In that New York City" was the sequel to "Deacon Blues" even though it was written earlier, ya know like Star Wars Films. I thought "Haitian Divorce" was about a Haitian Divorce and that "Do It Again" was about the curse of having a dick.
Yet, I'm reminded about the couple of times I've read their lyrics off the back of an album just to pass time and some other band was performing background noise duty while i waited on my girlfriend to render herself as "fuck me pretty" as she could get for Fri/Sat nights on the town. This odd feeling came over me because I couldn't relate to the words I was reading without the context of the music. The lyrics seemed trite, amateurish even. It was a disquieting feeling and one I've never shared until just now. But, apparently, it wasn't them, it was me, the clever dullard, the Steely Dan Fan Wannabe. That is something I never would have thought possible.
~sigh~
Thanks for ruining my lfe.
cseeger1 this ain't Dan, but, nevertheless, brilliant, it is
If I'm not mistaken, Book of Liars is a Becker solo song; that's a good tune.
cseeger1 I’ve been a fan since I was a teenager and I think with the Dan THEY know the meaning, but it’s WE the listeners who take what they’re singing and figure it out for ourselves. That’s the cryptic nature of the group...They’re going to stick it to you but they’re going to be assholes about it by making you think. So you may think Haitian Divorce is about a quick annulment, but what it’s really about is how a chick gets knocked up by a Haitian and Hence the divorce. That’s what makes them classic
cseeger1 I too saw the Dan just a few months ago. I’m 44, and at that concert felt like I was at Seniors day at the MN state fair.
And SD’s The Bear, wonderful tune if you can find it. ..... Just finished Fagen’s Eminent Hipsters for the 4th time. Like SD’s music, this crazy little autobiography just gets more & more interesting ....sweet salty an dry. The dusty insights are free
Love that you're continuing to make videos about music! Would love it if you did a video on Radiohead.
Well-stated and presented. Not your average TH-cam video.
Started listening to Steely Dan in 1976, my 18th year of life and never stopped. I turned on so many to this band. It warms my heart that college students today appreciate them even now. ✌🏻🧡
Video on James Blake, maybe? gorgeous music.
+Michael Anthony I second that. It would be an interesting breakdown.
***** Than you HAVEN'T listened to James Blake's Overgrown. Retrograde, Life Round Here, Digital Lion, Voyeur, all nothing short of genius.
***** twitter.com/TheeNerdwriter/status/728387765620985857 🌚...
i have to thumbs up someone who appreciates how beautiful their music is. awesome vid
Appreciate the breakdown, good job. I was hooked when Can't Buy A Thrill came out. They seemed to get better and better. I saw The Doobie Bros 3 times in early seventies and the Dan twice together. Now in 2018 bucket list to see The Living Dangerously Tour. A lot of the players have passed, but it will be like driving a classic muscle car again.
Ever since Rikki Don't Lose Than Number...I've been hooked! Easily my most favorite artists. Sad Becker is gone.
You like Steely Dan too? Good job dude! I don't know what to say. I'm speechless! It's 4:40 am! I just want to commend you for making a video about Steely Dan!
+John Paradise For this reason, when the bridge comes and the saxophone solo happens......
Ted L. And....
+John Paradise Click on your 4:40 link JP, it's virtual numerology working its mysterious magic.
Ted L. At 4:40 these very words occur: "for this reason...etc. Is it magic or design?
+John Paradise Ah, so you're a mute, saxophone-playing bridge builder. Got it!
How do I subscribe twice?
thópr make another account
This video makes me wanna study audio engineering
I kinda cried watching this?
I could listen to talk about Donald and Walter and friends all day long
I saw Steely Dan in Portland, OR in the late 90’s. They were magical. I have always loved their music because of the precision.
This stuff is above my pay grade.
Great angle... Seen a lot of Steely Dan song reviews but your's is quite original. Lot of references just like Steely Dan music :-)
Is "Africa" by Toto a country song?
No, it's a continent song.
I sea what you did there.
awesome
Tony Music 🎼😂😂😂
A content song.
Never knew what it was about their sound of music that sent me to where I’d never been before. Thanks for this.
this was a great video but your analysis of the lyrics has two flaws. First: "I gazed through the glass at ramblers, wild gamblers. That's all in the past". The narrator is not someone who has not experienced the seedy side of life, he has, it's in the past and he's looking to return. In the next major verse segment we learn more about his edgy side when he declares, "This is for me the essence of true romance
: Sharing the things we know and love with those of my kind. Libations, sensations that stagger the mind." he's obviously talking about intense, major drug use with other like-minded people. i guess what i'm saying is that your reading of the lyrics, or at least what you chose to highlight, is a little more g-rated than what the song is portraying.
I think that the part that's all in the past was the looking through the glass, not actually experiencing it. And projecting himself into a future where he's part of that world. Likewise the essence of true romance part, sharing the things we know and love with those of our kind, this to me is music and the intimate relationship with that. Libations of course, drinking is part of the culture, and what can ease the ability to have "sensations that stagger the mind" could refer to drugs but also what happens when you're brain-deep inside a song. I project myself into this song a lot, definitely one of my favorites and I relate so much with it, although I have led quite the g rated life for the most part
@@MeredithAvila I agree; what's all in the past is being outside looking in; now he's going to be on the inside, in that world he only gazed at before.
Figured I'd watch it one more time for Walter Becker.
Miss ya, wherever you ended up.
Christ there ain't no better lyrics than the Dan. Let's face it they are not only catchy but they make you think. They raised the bar for many bands and people who still struggle to play this type of music and hit those notes and phrases. A true musicians music but with pop appeal - amazing.
Agree 100%, the balancing act between complexity (both musical and lyrical) and pop hooks sets them apart from most other bands.
I remember calling my cable provider for service and I was playing this song in the background and they were telling me how much they loved the song. One of my favorites from a legendary group 👍🏼