This song has one of the funniest lines that Fagen and Becker ever wrote. “Slow down I’ll tell you when, I may never walk again”.

What an embarrassment of riches, a career defining track for most, a throw away for Steely Dan. What a great album.

I LOVE this song. The syncopation is so jazzy. What a great musical interlude on this fantastic album. The more you listen to it the better it feels

Yes! This song is awesome! I personally believe that this song is just as good as all the others! Ed Greene slays on drums and Michael McDonald backing vocals!

That bridge with Michael McDonald, the line that follows and how it leads into the guitar solo is my favorite part of the song.

"I Got the News" grows on you with time. The more often I have listened over the years the more I like it.

VERY fond of this song. The news he got is what he tells us knowing the girl innocently at first then finding out more about her. That's the news. It's an upbeat song about one's innocent hopeful being skewed by discoveries. Also the chordal phrasing in just the music itself betwixt the funk and the brightly sarcastic piano for me contains a quiet mysticism in its underlay, as esoteric as that may sound, as it has a much more farseeing wisdom in those phrasings and it burst forward with Michael McDonald's moment. The funk is the main character's personality; the under phrasing is saying, You've got a lot more to learn so don't be so cocky.

I learned the backing keyboard parts for this track....It took me 6 months. These session players aren’t joking around!

Donald Fagen has one of the most interesting voices in music.It seems to fill the songs he sings like a hand in a glove. It's not a great voice in the common sense of the word but you wouldn't want anyone else to sing his songs, not great but perfect. Some of the songs he sings on Countdown to Ecstasy are just sublime. Nice one again Justin.

Fantastic stuff from Donald Fagen and The Dan ☝️ thanks for the reaction ☝️

So you talk about Ed Greene, and that you are impressed by his playing here. That allows me to come back to Redbone, and the graphic novel I wrote about their story. Ed Greene started his career with Pat and Lolly Vegas in 1962, in LA, 7 years before the 2 brothers founded the band Redbone, the first Native Americans rock band. The graphic novel comes out next month in the USA, published by IDW. I would be glad if you analyse one of their songs. Jericho is maybe one of their best representative. And there is of course their hit “Come and Get your Love” from 1974, which just this week knows a new video clip (superb one). That was personal ad on your page :-)

The least favorite song off Aja is like saying my least favorite candy bar with caramel in it. Who cares! It's got caramel in it! One left for you off Aja I think? Josie? If so, more caramel. Lots more. That's all I'm going to say. Edit: The more I listen to it the more I like it. The drums in particular. But it still seems like they didn't give this one the same attention and amount of time as the others. Just my opinion.

You made my day by doing this song. I think most people feel the way you do, that it’s the least song on the album. I can’t explain why it’s my favorite, maybe the groove (it’s a real head bobber as is evident in your video, LOL), the piano and Michael MacDonald’s voice is perfect in his part. Anyway, thanks for doing it! Keep up the good work, friend. 😊

Every song on Aja is so consistently great, and this is probably the least prominent one. Love the fusion of Jazz and Funk.

What sold me on this song when I first heard it was the Be Bop piano - it's a dance song, but very antithetical to the Bee Gees disco that was popular at the time.

My father born Oct 1919 youngest of 6 children - Used to say that he was his Dads roll in the hay - When his Dad returned home after the big war ! - My Dad Would tell he liked to keep an eye on the news - Because what happens abroad always affects us at home - But just recently -Theres thst much ch*t & bad news floating around everyday - it makes you feel like throwing yourself head first into the goldfish bowl - So I stopped listening to the news all together ! And now I have more time to listen to the greater things in life like Steely Dan & his solo work Steely Don !!! SB British Isles Great Show Fella !

Yes! This is one of the highlights of the Aja album, as far as I'm concerned. But it's the one that almost no one ever reacts to! Glad you noticed it, Justin. 😊

Subscriptions to the Atlantic, NY Times, and my girlfriend gets our local paper so I read it on Sunday mornings with coffee. But I'm in my 60's and it's been a lifetime of that.

This is one of my faves on Aja. Probably because I’m a drummer and I absolutely love this drum performance...even among the others on the album.

Love the way the drums and bass are setting the table for all the other instruments, here...In typical SD style.

Its the lightest track on the album , both in substance as well as vibe - nothing wrong with that - a little jazzy / r&b break . It's pretty cool , breezy - for me its a fun track . Still hoping at some point that you will check out King of the World by the 'Dan - great groove that hooks you quick, a tongue in cheek take on living in the southwest of a post nuclear apocalyptic America - its an underrated gem of a song . Have the lyrics handy . ( Murder by Numbers / The Police is another absolutely underrated gem - done live in the studio with no overdubs . And - the lyrics ..... wow : just in case you're looking for a Police tune to check out )

For myself, Aja has always been my favorite album from SD. Every song has Its own unique quality, which makes it so enjoyable. " I got the news" every time I listen to it, I enjoy it even more.

This is the little jazzy number on the album. Love it!!

Love this track! Side B, track 3. The deepest cut, the one I’ve not seen them perform live of the four times I saw the Dan (93, 94, 96, 03).

I get what your saying It's one of those tunes that doesn't stay in you head for very long afterwards .

On a different note: the way you enjoy the longer, prog pieces by Genesis and Yes, I get the feeling you love, or will love, the early Mike Oldfield. Tubular bells part one, or Ommadawn part one. Both masterpieces👌

I had actually forgotten this song was on "Aja" it's the least on an otherwise album full of incredible tracks. It seems lightweight compared to all the other classics. It makes the other songs seem even greater.

Spot on review. It's, by SD standards, a throwaway song, a filler. Something for WB to solo and Victor Feldman to show off his piano improv skills. The lyrics, to quote Walter Becker, are "pointlessly obscene". The "news" is the protagonist found out he/she has been lied to/cheated on etc. Not much else there. You are dead right by comparison to the other songs on this album this one falls way short but it is still a great song.

Something about the piano on this brings to mind the cable cars of SF. The way they cross flat intersections on the hills, and the echos off buildings and people hop on and takes me back. So i liked it. The headlines are reviewed by constantly changing journalists late night on BBC and Sky. “Date Line London “ has foreign journalists discussing the weeks news. The news papers are all partisan and slant the story. The Independent used to be good. It used to ignore the Royals.

Commenters are so hard on the song I do not know why a fantastic song by the Dan. Hey don’t forget Joni and Hejira I believe you were up to song three. Talk about great Jazz

What can I say, it's SD. Great music coming from great musicians.

About your question about news: I listen to the radio twice a day but rarely watch news on TV as they tend to be focused on visual impact. I read some papers, but our radios here in France are very different from what you have in the sates. The channel i prefer is called France Culture, it's a national radio, with no ads, and very open minded, with a slightly lefty tone. So now listening to this song I've never heard either…

One of Aja’s most circumvented song. Big mistake because it actually surpasses excellence in funk and jazz fusion, with brilliant lyrics to boot...how do you like them news?

The bridge and solo are the meat of this sandwich. The wistfulness of the changes, the threnody of the synth line, are the internal monologue of our protagonist. Back in Verseland with its conversational piano licks and repeating drum pattern, his miserable relationship plays out.

Justin, if you haven't heard their 'West of Hollywood' yet, its time. And have a sip of Whiskey ready... you might need it at the end... even for Steely Dan standards it is out-worldly, in the best sense of meaning... :)

I stopped watching the news on March 15th. Agree with other comments that this song may be the weakest on Aja but it is sandwiched between all that other greatness plus any song that has Michael McDonald on it is fine by me. I love jazz so this song is on my wheelhouse no matter what. 😁😁

I used to get a physical daily newspaper thru 2018, but gave up as they continued to raise the price, while reducing the content (moving more articles to web-only). Now I have to remain diligent, filtering online news between legitimate news sources and political propaganda. Not easy.

Hero of the song: Victor Feldman on piano

Thanks. You never go wrong with Steely Dan. One detail: The lack of guitar, except for the solo, is a little different for them.

That dust thingy we refer to as oose (rhymes with loose) in Scotland great word know?

What you got there ain’t a dust bunny, friend. That there’s a dust rhino.

This song sounds a bit more like what Don's first solo album sounds like. To me. I like his solo album. Thanks for the reaction.

Thanks for reviewing this track. For some reason, people react/review every track on the Aja album except this one... I don't get it.

❤️❤️❤️❤️👍

The ultimate in yacht rock.

Like Yog, I wasn’t sure what album this was on. I was hoping Aja and yes, it was. I didn’t like it as much as others on the album but it has gotten more status as the decades have come and gone. Why? Cuz it’s Steely Dan baby! It’s Aja baby! It’s a perfect album, case closed. I think it’s an A+ versus S tier, oops, wrong channel. I like it more now, it’s poppy, funky, uptempo goodness with Michael McDonald drizzled on top. Eww. Maybe I went too far... Great choice, love it, love it. I am deep into the news; I came from my daily news check to your channel, as I do most days. Moving on, take care everyone, prep for storms, viruses, and dust bunnies. Masks help tremendously, Peace and Music

Question should be, which news do you read?

I'd completely forgotten about this track on the album! I thought Josie was up next!😆

Michael McDonald from Doobie Brothers on background vocals.

My favorite track on the album. It's all great but that shuffle on the bridge....

Michael McDonald with the back up course vocals.👍🏻

I follow the news. Mainly politics, both locally here in Denmark, and worldwide. Oh, and the Covid-19 news...🙄 Beautiful backing by McDonald, again....

So much to love about this song. I think this is the band at maybe its most inventive. Check out how far removed the album version ended up from this early demo: m.kzfaq.info/get/bejne/rJmFdNlklZ-WooU.html SD rules apply at all times: Keep listening to this track. One listen is ALWAYS too soon to say you’re underwhelmed. I think you’ll be properly whelmed at some point.

"I Got The News"! It's a lintdemic! Dust Bunnies are invading,run for the hills!

When your wife. Natasha, interrupted your recording session the other day, to bring you food, that was way cute... Dust bunnies, not so much. ;-]

I agree!!! When I got the "Aja" in 1978..I felt the same way you felt.......but then again oi was not into Jazz at all...my relatives were into jazz because they were jazz musicians and I would sing with them in clubs but I didn't get jazz as much as Rock n Roll or Funk or Blues....so this part I would skip to the next song....when I turned 42 years young I really GOT JAZZ....everything had to be jazz for me...and I got this song...but it could have been ten times better written....I mean if you are going to play progressive like The Yellow Jackets than do Yellow Jackets!!! So yeah I agree..not a bad song just my least favorite from Steely Dan.

It's been said if you don't watch the news, you are uninformed. If you do watch the news, you are misinformed. Take your pick. Great song, however.

Was there a fart just after Michael McDonald came in?

A bit jazzier still very good song!

Musicians on this track please.............

#WhyBotherWithFakeNews?

Good catch groove. Not my favorite on the album...that’s Home At Last. Can’t get that sucker out of my skull. “Still I remain tied to the mast....” Ps, when I had a Husky (Misha) she left “hair bunnies” the size of tumbleweeds.

This song is the one song on Aja I don't care for. Josie is my favorite

Personally, I don't watch the news...That being said, I believe all news outlets should have an equal opportunity to be ignored.

Weakest track on the album, but the only weak one, and it seems to serve its purpose in the flow.

I can't help but think that those little sections with the blatantly disco beat was Steely Dan doing a parody to make themselves laugh. Stuff like this song makes me want to retreat to earlier Steely Dan, like Boston Rag, Brooklyn (Owes the Charmer Under Me), Chain Lightning, Dirty Work....

Sorry but I don't even like talking about the news. I come here to forget about it! But I guess I pay attention to the things I need to know about like what will affect my retirement accounts, the things I want to know about like sports, weather, etc, but watch from a safe distance the things that might eventually affect me. I hope that doesn't sound arrogant or childish but life is to short to seek out things that depress me, particularly if I can't do anything about them (or I already have been). Even if they are things that are important to others. Yikes! That does sound childish. I do buy the Saturday newspaper every week but it's mostly out of habit. It goes good with breakfast.

Could you please react to War Pigs by Black Sabbath

Worst song on AJA but still better than 99% of everything

The only song I skip on Aja.

Don’t watch the news any more it pisses me off