The song is based on a actual bombing at the University of Wisconsin Back in 1970 as part of a anti-war protest. Four people were involved . The innocent bystander was actually a faculty member who was killed., Steely Dan took poetic license with the description of having a case of dynamite and I could hold out here all night period, and the last person. The bookkeepers son described in the song was actually tracked down and arrested peacefully in California
@gasaholic475 жыл бұрын
On guitar, the great Larry Carlton, who just killed it on this and Kid Charlemagne.
@allisonyoung40075 жыл бұрын
" Is there gas in the car? Yes there's gas in the car..." LOL! I have the entire Steely Dan library~ they were my late hubs fave group & Fagen & Becker are geniuses! ( RIP Walter)
@fredzeppelin39695 жыл бұрын
Any LC fans absolutely need to pick up his first solo album (known as "Room 335").
@georgeerhard19495 жыл бұрын
The song is about a man, a bookkeepers son, who has killed his dad and is barracaded in a house. The cops are outside yelling over megaphones to come out, and he's deliberating should he surrender or go out in a blaze of glory.
@craigedwards29404 жыл бұрын
He kills it on most things. :-)
@danielthompson95094 жыл бұрын
He also played on many songs of Donald Fagen's solo album The Nightfly. I loved the use of feedback at the start of the song. Hendrix was the first I heard use feedback on Purple Haze. Larry Carlton Mr 335 himself.
@mangadolo90284 жыл бұрын
Once you tune your ear to Steely Dan it's all over- you'll be hooked because no one can duplicate their sound- their depth.
@ronrobbins27374 жыл бұрын
Very very smart accurate comment! Lucky for us we've been hooked since day-one. I'm still discovering more lost SD and Fagen masterpieces I missed originally.
@mangadolo90284 жыл бұрын
Ron Robbins - You hear “Morph the Cat” joint? It’s hella cool!
@ronrobbins27374 жыл бұрын
@@mangadolo9028 Yep! Actually played the whole album last night, another Fagen masterpiece. Think it's sad though how the general-public's musical taste has dumbed-down so much (especially the kids) most will never appreciate real musical genius-songwriting and producing like his. Taylor Swift just won ARTIST OF THE DECADE award at AMA's !
@stuarthastie63744 жыл бұрын
Manga Dolo Nearly Dan ! check them out if they come to a town near you. !
@kristopherjensen25133 жыл бұрын
This has happened to me! Can you recommend anything that comes close?
@stratcat32164 жыл бұрын
Steely Dan had some of the finest lead guitarists ever.
@rmac10424 жыл бұрын
Strat Cat And finest drummers! Jim KELTNER (Josie) my friend for 60 years, Steve Gadd (killin’ solo on Aja), Jeff Pocaro , Purdie
@stevebinning9774 жыл бұрын
@@Cheggers-pq1pn I totally agree the Dan not only recruited the best musicians but the production on their albums was always top notch (state of the art).
@donnythompson4084 жыл бұрын
I’m envious of you; you’re hearing the talent, magic and lyrical wizardry of Steely Dan for the first time. I’d love to be able to do that, to go back in time and be that 16 year old kid that I was so many years ago, hearing this song again for the very first time... And, oh, by the way... the first time I heard it, it gave me goosebumps, too. 😉
@hypno594 жыл бұрын
The best opening rock guitar solo ever. And then it gets better as a song ...story ..composition.. emotive and sophisticated. Oh s^$# ..shivers!!
@CousinCreepy5 жыл бұрын
Babylon Sisters....shake it! And don't miss - FM...no static at all! Two more classics.
@mikesimonian4844 жыл бұрын
Black Cow. So outrageous!
@susanhall69874 жыл бұрын
What about Home at Last from Aja? Love it!
@mikesimonian4844 жыл бұрын
@@susanhall6987 Yes yes excellent.
@vernonallen33705 жыл бұрын
I got this album for Christmas in 1976 , it was on my turn table constantly , it's among my favourites.
@katherinebarich31924 жыл бұрын
Me too. It's hard to pick a favorite from them, but this one is timeless.
@gothicprincess525 жыл бұрын
Agents of the law Luckless pedestrian I know you're out there With rage in your eyes and your megaphones Saying all is forgiven Mad dog surrender How can I answer A man of my mind can do anything I'm a bookkeeper's son I don't want to shoot no one Well I crossed my old man back in Oregon Don't take me alive Got a case of dynamite I could hold out here all night Yes I crossed my old man back in Oregon Don't take me alive Can you hear the evil crowd The lies and the laughter I hear my inside The mechanized hum of another world Where no sun is shining No red light flashing Here in this darkness I know what I've done I know all at once who I am I'm a bookkeeper's son I don't want to shoot no one Well I crossed my old man back in Oregon Don't take me alive Got a case of dynamite I could hold out here all night Yes I crossed my old man back in Oregon Don't take me alive Songwriters: Donald Jay Fagen / Walter Carl Becker
@kellydelay185 жыл бұрын
gothicprincess52 thanks for that
@careym39015 жыл бұрын
Scary it's more relevant today than when it was written... Sadly!
@sharronkelly1154 жыл бұрын
@@careym3901 funny how we need to charge Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden with treason for inciting riots and seditious talk! The mainstream media also are bald face liars causing death and destruction!
@robertjewell23664 жыл бұрын
Bookkeeper's son... Crossed my old man back in Oregon... I think it's about a young mam from a typical sort of atomic family who's gone way astray and has the law after him and he's reminiscing about where he came from and how in the world he got to the dangerous place he is. Cheers 👍 Great song. Steely Dan never writes about typical things.
@ROYNEPTUNE4 жыл бұрын
Glad you discovered Steely Dan. One of my all time favorite bands.
@francispower14184 жыл бұрын
I have always loved this song ever since it was first released over forty years ago. Apart from being pure, unreconstructed ear candy it tells its story so vividly that every time I hear it I find myself in a cave, in the dark with a case of dynamite, under siege and no expectations of ever seeing the daylight again. Powerful stuff.
@juaneato4 жыл бұрын
Goosebumps...EVERY TIME!!!
@mangadolo90284 жыл бұрын
Steely Dan has helped me stay cool and confident through some very hard times in life.
@susanhall69874 жыл бұрын
Manga Dolo yeah me too. Any World that I’m Welcome To, especially.
@justasimplesomeone4 жыл бұрын
What can I do to get me off this Steely Dan trip????? I love so many of their songs so much ! Love of my life!
@MrAitraining4 жыл бұрын
Nice. Under reacted gem and one of my fav Steely tracks!
@murraywestenskow28964 жыл бұрын
"The mechanized hum of another world" - is just a great line. So descriptive and tactile. You can almost feel and hear the hum.
@rh35832 жыл бұрын
We used to speculate about the CIA
@1bullsprig2 жыл бұрын
Hear the hum in the very beginning where Larry is getting feedback on his guitar.
@ssacra225 жыл бұрын
Steely Dan....one of the most influential and smooth American bands of that generation. And way overlooked. I was fortunate to see them live. They were amazing!
@scottkasper63785 жыл бұрын
ssacra22 I don’t think anyone overlooked them
@ssacra225 жыл бұрын
@@scottkasper6378 not completely, no. But as compared to bands like Pink Floyd, Queen, Aerosmith and even the Doobie Brothers, I feel they didn't get the love. Either way, they were a terrific band for sure
@rickmccann49455 жыл бұрын
Deep cuts from Steely Dan: Bad Sneakers Doctor Wu Western World Any Major Dude My Favs!!!!!!!
@matteliano4545 жыл бұрын
All awesome songs ! Love every one of these !
@susanhall69874 жыл бұрын
Dr Wu for sure! Love the horns!
@montace1004 жыл бұрын
My favorite songs also bro
@rc13634 жыл бұрын
Haitian Divorce, Razor Boy
@cyclesmoking4 жыл бұрын
Great list. I’ll add “Show Biz Kids”
@duanewilson39414 жыл бұрын
Anyone else do as I did for Steely Dan songs and turn the volume up as the songs faded out? I couldn't get enough.
@ruthjohnson43805 жыл бұрын
One of my favorites of Steely Dan. I like Fire In The Hole on the Can’t Buy a Thrill album.
@karenscales50774 жыл бұрын
You r killin me this morning Bro. My joint. Yesss, Don't take me alive. So SUBLIMINAL....One of the best duos that has ever existed on this planet.
@musiconlyplease984 жыл бұрын
steely was always enigmatic.. spoke to the unhero but their production, high quality musicianship.. unequaled to this day
@clydeb77134 жыл бұрын
This group was soo underrated. Soo many great songs.
@headache19595 жыл бұрын
in my neck of the woods we called steely dan the thinking mans music
@andyball83795 жыл бұрын
I'm ashamed to say (and I'm sure I'm not alone), I played all my Steely Dan vinyl virtually until it melted, and I almost got sick of them. In summer of '78 (if you recall), Christopher Cross, Jerry Rafferty, Chuck Mangione, and Jackson Browne's Running on Empty, sort of lured me away. Then Gaucho came out, and OMG, I discovered Steely Dan all over again! I realized then that I was also stupid to have not paid a lot more attention to Aja!
@GPSjammer4 жыл бұрын
Doood, GAUCHOOOOO YESSSSSSS
@evanneal76044 жыл бұрын
WHAT ABOUT PAT METHENY?
@ammaleslie5093 жыл бұрын
I'm taking Aja on the desert island
@racinnut775 жыл бұрын
If you love Steely Dan you're love "Any World That I'm Welcome To".
@matteliano4545 жыл бұрын
Awesome song
@susanhall69874 жыл бұрын
I used to sing Any World when I had bad depression. It somehow lifted me. I love Steely! Such great stories
@montace1004 жыл бұрын
Razor boy is another great song
@matteliano4545 жыл бұрын
Ok JAMfam, I need y'alls support on this one. "From the Beginning" from Emerson, Lake and Palmer. Comment if you love it too, and put some ELP suggestions.
@markusantonio48665 жыл бұрын
Great choice!
@markusantonio48665 жыл бұрын
Tarkus, Karn Evil No. 9 First Impression pt 1. Take a Pebble, Trilogy, Endless Enigma part 1.(Fugue) Endless Enigma part. 2,
@charliecochran30354 жыл бұрын
From the Beginning is also one of my favorites.
@StewartUSAF3 жыл бұрын
Lucky Man
@williamcabell1425 жыл бұрын
They were great...lyrics, musicality, innovative,unique, excellence!!
@Hizzle2theCizzle4 жыл бұрын
forget the words... you can look it up. The music is so multi-layered and perfectly performed ... NOBODY does that anymore!
@ImprovforGodsglory4 жыл бұрын
I am a 68-year-old guitar player… Steely Dan was my biggest influence for 20 years. It’s such a delight to see your generation discover the magic. Steely Dan is a character from a novel, “the naked lunch.” The “band” is really two guys Becker & Fagan who hired the best studio musicians that ever lived. God bless you my friend… “I got the news,” and, “Aja,” are my favorites. Check out Fagan’s, “Nightfly,” & “Kamekeriad.” Keep playing... in God's glory.
@Day0One4 жыл бұрын
Leaving no mystery to the lyrics, "Don't Take Me Alive" is about a violent criminal holed up with "a case of dynamite" telling the cops to shoot him, in the tradition of playing "suicide by cop." He also appears to have committed patricide. That's our Steely Dan - the darkest lyrics sung to the most cheerful tunes in rock 'n' roll! Long before O. J. Simpson led police on a slow-speed chase through its streets, Los Angeles had been host to a number of unusual crimes and high-profile apprehensions - flipping on the TV in LA, you can often see a crime unfolding in real-time. Natives of the city are used to it, but Becker and Fagen were transplants from New York, so to them, it was really bizarre. In writing this song, they drew on some of these stories that inundated the city.
@jillsmcfarland20014 жыл бұрын
That illuminated eye at the top of the pyramid.The system is rigged.
@holding534 жыл бұрын
The protagonist is an insane rooftop shooter, hence the luckless pedestrians. He has decided to open fire on the world and go out in a blaze of violent glory. One of the my favorite Steely Dan tunes. Yes, Larry Carlton nails his parts
@roymoore31563 жыл бұрын
What it’s reportedly about is someone who was a bomber, like the weather underground/bill Ayres/Barak Obama produced, and fled to his father’s home in Hillsboro, Oregon. His father was a librarian I believe, regardless he had a professional connection to books.
@relaxpayourincometax4 жыл бұрын
Fine tribute. I’ve never given a fig for anyone’s lyrics - it’s all about sounds for me - but I have no problems reciting Steely Dan’s. Having grown up with them, I feel strangely jealous of people hearing Steely Dan for the first time. I was very young when I first heard them(PEG), and it took three or four hearings for me to ‘get it’ (music wise) but I found my addiction to their notes and nuances was insatiable. Mid 50’s now - I miss that ‘musical hit’.
@plicdat54743 жыл бұрын
I love watching your reactions!! Steely Dan is the best!
@ChuckBrownStuff4 жыл бұрын
That guitar intro has been my ringtone for the past 15 years. :)
@ammaleslie5093 жыл бұрын
Omg what a GREAT IDEA for a ringtone!!!
@theivory14 жыл бұрын
One of the few songs ever that opened with a guitar solo.
@donnawoods80394 жыл бұрын
This is one of my fave songs by Steely Dan. Every time there is a mass shooting or a stand-off somewhere, this is the song that pops into my head.
@tswrench4 жыл бұрын
They used to say that 'Steely Dan is your favorite band's favorite band.' Yep.
@matteliano4545 жыл бұрын
JAMfamily strikes again ! Glad you liked it brother. 2 more for ya. "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" and "Dirty Work". When you can of course. We haven't steered you wrong yet. Have a blessed day !
@davidcarroll18834 жыл бұрын
My God! I haven't heard this song for forever. Why is Steely Dan so important all at once?
@TheCornishCockney5 жыл бұрын
Steely Dan....music for adults.
@redblackwood4 жыл бұрын
I’m almost 16 and steely dan is the best music I’ve ever heard
@danw22764 жыл бұрын
Forced to listen as a child and fell in love with them and some other ADULT music like moody blue and blood,sweat and tears. Rounded me out early and very gratfull.
@YHWHthegreatIAM4 жыл бұрын
No doubt; for those who are tired of messing around.
@lifesabeach25974 жыл бұрын
Graduated high school in '81 and I loved them even then
@cryptotharg74004 жыл бұрын
@@redblackwood - Well done, young sir! 😎
@chaunceyhill79074 жыл бұрын
Uh-huh... that's right- that is a goosebump-producing guitar intro, one of the best you'll ever hear. You've been 'Steely-Done'!!!
@apparently24 жыл бұрын
Don’t Take Me Alive was ahead of its time, a hypnotic account of the sort of public violence that we could still call rare in the mid ‘70s. This was when the Dan was culturally cutting-edge; their songs have since become classics. Thanks to Larry Carlton Royal Scam is rightly considered the Dan’s best guitar album -- I wish it was a sound they could’ve returned to before Walter’s demise. Fagen’s voice was in its prime. So good to see new generations discovering Steely Dan.
@holding534 жыл бұрын
"I'm a bookkeepers son, I don't wanna shoot no one, but I crossed my old man back in Oregon, don't take me alive." He is saying he's just an ordinary dude from a middle class family, and he doesn't really want to shoot any of the crowd, but he's gonna, and blow them up with that case of dynamite too. The protagonist is an insane rooftop sniper, who has decided he has to kill a bunch of people and go out in a blaze of glory. He apparently already killed his father back home in Oregon, and the cops are going to take him down if they can.
@davidcann24054 жыл бұрын
The song is about David Sylvan Fine aka.William Lewes or Lewis.
@holding534 жыл бұрын
@@davidcann2405 Where did you hear that?
@davidcann24054 жыл бұрын
@@holding53 I guess I was a bit to specific. Fagen said in an interview that it was inspired by several news stories about barricaded criminals in Southern Cal. at the time. Fine was one of them. There are several references to him in the song. IE. He felt that he had betrayed his father who was a bookkeeper in Oregon, his statement about the evil stares of the crowd at the courthouse, he blew up a building a with dynamite, the pedestrian that he killed, when captured he wasn't armed and said that he didn't want to hurt anyone.
@alansmith76265 жыл бұрын
we all decide what it means, I simply want to thank you for sharing and being so open and honest, I love to see your expressions as you listen, makes it almost new again!
@AnthonySipes4 жыл бұрын
Trust me, even the most devout Dan fans get confused sometimes by some of their lyrics.
@mangadolo90284 жыл бұрын
"The mechanized hum of another world." - D. Fagen .... #dropsmic
@FenderBassMan4 жыл бұрын
Yup. Psychosis.
@jameskennedy66474 жыл бұрын
Quite possibly the greatest ever guitar intro
@HidingFromFate5 жыл бұрын
"bookkeeper's son". The accounting profession, and by extension, bookkeeping, is considered to be more of a conservative, safe, non-aggressive, solitary type of profession.
@jamfamily42875 жыл бұрын
Thanks for clearing that up
@Revelwoodie5 жыл бұрын
Yeah, the trick of the chorus is that on the one hand he's saying he's harmless because he's a bookkeeper's son, but in the very next line he's saying he can't be taken alive because his father is a psycho who will hurt him more than the SWAT team ever could, lol.
@lkgreenwell4 жыл бұрын
That might very well be a book-keeper of organised crime - frequently a major figure in tales of Elliot Ness. Potentially a very dangerous Dad!
@joelsimms46365 жыл бұрын
You can get very lost in lyrics. Sometimes they are meant not so much for a story as an emotion . I think people interpret songs differently. What a song means to me may not be what you make it out to be. Great reaction. Loved it. Steely Dan has a karge collection of songs. It's a great wormhole.! I'll be seeing you. Thanks again!Peace!!
@allisonyoung40075 жыл бұрын
I quote William Hurt from ' The Big Chill' everytime I talk 2 a newbie about the Dan~ " Sometimes you just gotta sit back & let art wash over you. " :)
@robertleeluben5 жыл бұрын
I remember hearing this at like 11 or 12 years old and really focusing on it and the lyrics and having no clue who what band it was, it made me nuts.
@wjarnock444 жыл бұрын
Steely Dan lyrics are surealist. Its great you young 'uns are listening to them.
@RobertAlexanderII5 жыл бұрын
Sign in Stranger should follow. Steely will continue to knock your socks off in how diverse their songwriting is and how you’ll be taken away on a musical journey
@matteliano4545 жыл бұрын
Fagan plays the piano like it owes him money on Sign in Stranger
@RobertAlexanderII5 жыл бұрын
Zombie I can see you’re qualified
@dwgale015 жыл бұрын
@@RobertAlexanderII You zombie, be born again my friend! A little out of sequence, but it just seemed like the right response.
@beantowne6174 жыл бұрын
A great groove Sign In Stranger has. Intoxicating.
@dougnelsin14804 жыл бұрын
We love you too. Music is universal and totally essential.
@TheOriginalFILIBUSTA5 жыл бұрын
Top 3 bands. One of my fave songs.
@rameshnyberg274 жыл бұрын
As a guitarist you will LOVE Kid Charlemagne, Haitian Divorce, Green Earrings, and a bunch more from this phenomenal band
@ljsites4 жыл бұрын
Ramesh Nyberg , right! And all from “The royal scam”
@vinniemoran73624 жыл бұрын
Finally! Someone finally reacted to this song. Thank you!!
@357dubs4 жыл бұрын
One of the coldest Steely Dan cuts ever. It’s about a guy who is in a police standoff. “ I’m a bookkeepers som, I don’t want to shot no one. I crossed my old man back in Oregon. Don’t Take Me Alive !!!
@karenkaren31894 жыл бұрын
SD never gets old. Massive love and respect.
@guidosarducci5 жыл бұрын
This song always spoke to me of an old time bank robber, like back at the turn of the century. He's finally cornered by the 'agent of the law', but he doesn't want to surrender...
@MissAstorDancer5 жыл бұрын
Exactly!
@mikemorgan50159 ай бұрын
Just came across your channel. Wish I'd found you sooner. I enjoy smart, honest reactions from people who not only enjoy music, but LISTEN to it, analyze it, NEED it. It's a very important part of their lives. You are one such person. Thank you! I heard an interview with Seal where he talks about people asking him what the meaning of a song is. He doesn't cave, and answers with "Well, what does it mean to you?" When they tell him, he says, "Then that's what it means." What a great answer.
@dwc19645 жыл бұрын
0:50 yes, that's how I felt the first time that intro hit me - and still is, every time!
@christinerobinson5484 жыл бұрын
He's holed up in a building, the cops are outside with the megaphone. A bookkeeper's son. Crossed my old man back in Oregon. The state of Oregon. So he comes from Oregon, where he fought with his father (a bookkeeper) and left home. Now he has committed a crime and someone was killed (the luckless pedestrian, someone just walking by). A preacher might have been there with the cops, trying to persuade him to come out. Steely Dan was composed of just two people, Donald Fagen and Walter Becker (now deceased), All the other musicians on their albums were studio musicians. This gave Donald and Walter a huge selection of the very best musicians. Some musicians played on more than one song, other songs had different guitar players, drummers, brass, back up singers to achieve the perfect sound Donald and Walter were striving for. They chose each musician for the exact style they wanted.
@neiljablon75235 жыл бұрын
My favorite SD album and one of their best tracks.
@tedregal28674 жыл бұрын
Neil Jablon I agree 100 percent. AJA is number 2
@lyla55484 жыл бұрын
Always loved Steely Dan
@cordellsenior99354 жыл бұрын
I was about 18 years old when I had the Aja album and instantly knew this was music for grownups. I immediately started smoking and drinking, whoring and brooding. They changed my life for ever. Sardonic poetry.
@godbluffvdgg4 жыл бұрын
:)...Nice Reaction!...Larry Carlton is A MONSTER ax man...So much beautiful melody and structuring... Great album 40 plus years of listening to it and It gets greater each time...:)
@johngault18794 жыл бұрын
I love the album cover on this one too. To me it depicts two polar opposite realities in one megalithic city (New York). The beasts depicted at the skyscraper tops are corporate raiders in deadly competition for power, and the chewed up dregs of humanity depicted by the street guy sleeping on a park bench with holes in the soles of his shoes. Lots to contemplate...
@davidcann24054 жыл бұрын
Both Fegan and Becker said they thought Royal Scam and Can't By a Thrill were quit possibly the worst coves of the 70's
@jaypoole80565 жыл бұрын
Lol! The first few seconds of your reaction to Larry's solo, was the exact same reaction I had over a decade ago when I first heard this gem!
@markhunt46183 жыл бұрын
An unbelievable profile of a man's thoughts on the edge of death succinctly captured in a three minute song. Only bob Dylan tells a better story so shortly.
@chrisbarlow21315 жыл бұрын
Nice one FAMIly! Somebody else on youtube - a Queen fan - reacted to Steely Dan. Didn't like them. Said they reminded him of The Bee Gees....!!!!! He obviously has more cloth in his ears than Eor.
@justasimplesomeone4 жыл бұрын
Lyrics sort of hypnotise you and you don’t even really understand what’s happening - they move you to some weird mood place - so strange and powerful!
@starchamberlain4 жыл бұрын
So happy to have another Dan fan in the cut!! Love to you, Jam! Enjoy the perfection that is Steely Dan❤️
@pastorcurtis52pfunk4 жыл бұрын
The protagonist in this song has taken hostages and is holed up in a stand-off with the authorities. He wants to go out in a blaze of imagined glory, hence the line, "Don't take me alive."
@pepitoperez96164 жыл бұрын
FM, another great hit by them. N°1 in USA at the time. You will love it too.
@darnellmagruder2834 жыл бұрын
I always thought it was about a guy being hunted when he says I have dynamite I could hold out here all night, Fagan was and still is a genius.
@dougnelsin14805 жыл бұрын
Love the reaction. That is a great song. I love thought provoking lyrics.
@jamfamily42875 жыл бұрын
SD seems to be all about thought provoking lyrics, it's very refreshing the way they approach music as a whole
@Laudanum-gq3bl4 жыл бұрын
“I’m a bookkeeper’s son/I don’t want to shoot no one/Yes I crossed my old man back in Oregon/Don’t take me alive” I didn’t realize it was “Oregon” until last year and I’ve been listening to Steely Dan forever. I thought it was Aragorn. 🤷🏼♀️
@tinabrown37464 жыл бұрын
The great Larry Carleton on guitar. Such a great song. Love your video's!
@belowsealevel86634 жыл бұрын
I wish you were still putting content out, you have such a wonderful ear.
@steveperry13445 жыл бұрын
it's a great song and i never really tried to analyze the lyrics to their songs, a little abstract i guess but their music was just well, steely dan and awesome.
@ccronn5 жыл бұрын
Glad you liked, the chord progressions are amazing.
@donaldleider73824 жыл бұрын
Amazing how Steely Dan can sing about such a horrible event and make it sound cool 😎!!!
@chaunceyhill79074 жыл бұрын
"How can I answer... a man of my mind can do anything.."
@michaelcurtis84194 жыл бұрын
If your not bobbing your head to The Dan when they're putting it down, you have no soul at all.
@domeshine695 жыл бұрын
That song is like a box of hooks.
@tammieparrishmiller36695 жыл бұрын
I like that! Great way to put it!
@guitarman05515 жыл бұрын
I'm a bookkeeper's son, I don't want to shoot no one". The song is about someone who commited a crime; probably a murder, who is now cornered by the police. Look up the lyrics. It's actually a very dark song.
@supasoulproductions5 жыл бұрын
The lyric is about a stand off. Agents of the law. Luckless pedestrians. Bookkeepers son. Back in Oregon. Where are you getting your lyrics? The authorities are yelling at him through the megaphone to surrender.
@AriaHoran4 жыл бұрын
Yeaj, it's pretty damn obvious. Street preacher? WTF?
@marcbenjamin94364 жыл бұрын
Sounds like he’s holding hostages. Threatening to kill the people inside his location. He’s a bookkeeper’s son, he don’t want to hurt no one. I think he got angry with his father ( with whom he has issues). Megaphones police use in SWAT situations to reach a suspect.
@darnellmagruder2834 жыл бұрын
Exactly, Fagan is brilliant.
@cirenosnor57684 жыл бұрын
...and Walter Becker was brilliant too
@juaneato4 жыл бұрын
David Sylvan Fine. That’s who the song is about...loosely. Look it up.
@brewer95654 жыл бұрын
Darkness as only Walter and Donald could write it - from the perspective of a deranged mass shooter targeting "luckless pedestrians" under assault by the police calling up to him to surrender with their megaphones. The juxtaposition of the calm normalcy of a bookkeeper's son and the twisted rage of the deranged shooter is poetry of the darkest kind. All of this with the blistering guitar by the great Larry Carlton. The absolute gut punch of the guitar intro rips straight into the soul of normalcy and sets this masterpiece of a song up as a sonic assault to the listener. Turn the clock back and try and put yourself into the minds of Becker and Fagen and ask yourself, where on God's earth did the idea for this song come from - who writes lyrics like this? I give you the great Steely Dan.
@juaneato4 жыл бұрын
Don't Take Me Alive" off of "The Royal Scam" is about David Sylvan Fine, the youngest of the Sterling Hall bombers (at the University of Wisconsin- Madison) who was captured ins San Rafael, California in January of 1976. Despite the title of the song he WAS taken alive, spent three years in prison and eventually became a paralegal in Oregon.
@michaelnoviello63024 жыл бұрын
You are very good!......So was Steely Dan!
@joelsimms46364 жыл бұрын
Larry Carlton on a ES335 !It doesn't get much better than that!
@danielthompson95093 жыл бұрын
Being a huge Steely Dan Fan I know the real meaning of the song. I hesitate to post it as maybe your interpretation should be left to your imagination. The song is about David Fine (also known as William Fewes) inner monologue as the 'agents of the law' (FBI or, as they are known, "federal agents") surround his room in San Rafael to arrest him for the Sterling Hall bombing in 1970. He was one of four men that bombed the building on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus because it housed the Army Mathematics Research Center. (Three others were injured.) The 'luckless pedestrian' is the only casualty of the Sterling Hall bombing, researcher Robert Fassnacht. In the press, David Fine's father was listed as a bookkeeper or salesman in the Portland, Oregon area. Not a "bookie" or anything else nefarious - just an honest middle-class working professional of the time. All of the Sterling Hall bombers statements after the fact, specifically said that they did not plan for anyone to be injured by the bomb - which was retaliation for the infamous Kent State massacre. Fine was unarmed at the time of apprehension. ("I don't want to shoot no one.") (no standoff). Donald Fagen and Walter Becker take poetic license in writing the song. If you wish I would have left this to your imagination please let me know.
@stevoschannel41272 жыл бұрын
Has to be one of the top ten guitar intros of all time…
@adamprovo59644 жыл бұрын
Down to Earth reactions, you stand out from the rest...my opinion. I overheard Steely Dan as a kid when my parents spun their records. Now I’m a guitarist who goes from Pantera riffs to Carlton leads.
@Tune-O-matic3 жыл бұрын
"You probably never heard of me...But you heard my Guitar"--Larry Carlton..
@geof9004 жыл бұрын
I wish I was hearing this for the first time. I’ve been listening to this forever and it never gets old. A friend of mine did the cover art. I hope you’re checked out Deacon Blues.
@rickcooper534 жыл бұрын
If you are a guitarist you should know who Larry Carlton is! One of the best jazz/fusion session guitarists around. Still playing today. Check out Deacon Blues (one of my favs!) Black Cow, Peg, Josie .... the list goes on with the Dan.
@rolandknosch62134 жыл бұрын
now It's time for Steely Dan - Do it again
@phogue14 жыл бұрын
The song is loosely based on David Fine, who along with three others bombed Sterling Hall on the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1970. They thought there was no one in the building at 3:42 am, but it turned out there were several in the physics department which was housed there along with the intended target, the Army Mathematics Research Center. A PhD student was killed, and three others were injured. Fine was the "bookkeeper's son," and was on the run for six years before spending three years in prison. One of the four is still a fugitive after 50 years. Fagan and Becker take some poetic license with the song, particularly the chorus and the first verse. Fine was unarmed when arrested (the cops have the rage in their eyes and the megaphones), and certainly didn't have dynamite, but it does make for a hell of a great song. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterling_Hall_bombing