GodWhacker's on the Case

[CWL]

From the latest album of my absolute favourite group Steely Dan (http://www.steelydan.com/emgtracks.html#track4):

GodWhacker


In the beginning
We could hang with the dude
But it's been too much of nothing
Of that stank attitude
Now they curse your name
And there's a bounty on your face
It's your own fault daddy
GodWhacker's on the case

We track your almighty ass
Thru seven heaven-worlds
Me, Slinky Redfoot
And our trusty angel-girls
And when the stars bleed out
That be the fever of the chase
You better get gone poppie
GodWhacker's on the case

Be very very quiet
Clock everything you see
Little things might matter later
At the start of the end of history

Climb up the glacier
Across bridges of light
We sniff you, Big Tiger
In the forest of the night
'Cause there's no escape
From the Rajahs of Erase
You better run run run
GodWhacker's on the case

Be very very quiet
Clock everything you see
Little things might matter later
At the start of the end of history

Yes we are the GodWhackers
Who rip and chop and slice
For crimes beyond imagining
It's time to pay the price
You better step back son
Give the man some whackin' space
You know this might get messy
GodWhacker's on the case

Analyzing SD lyrics is at least one of my pastimes. I thought an attempt to guess what the Dynamic Duo is getting at in the above song might make a good topic for an R&P thread. So here we are.

[Yahzi]

They still make music?

For crimes beyond imagining
It's time to pay the price
I think this pretty much makes thier position clear. God needs to die for all the crimes he has committed, like the Flood, the Holocaust, and Rap music.

[CWL]

Originally posted by Yahzi They still make music?
They sure do - which ironically is one of the few tangible pieces of evidence for God's existence that I can think of.

Check it out (http://www.steelydan.com/emg.html).

I think this pretty much makes thier position clear. God needs to die for all the crimes he has committed, like the Flood, the Holocaust, and Rap music.
:D That was the impression I got as well. I personally find the idea of doing something physical about the Theodicy Problem quite amusing:

God: Ouch, what was that for?

Fagen/Becker: [Each of them carrying a baseball bat] Rap music, daddy. It's your own fault.

[Yahweh]

Now I whip out my music collection...

Steely Dan: Can't Buy A Thrill Album
------------
1. Do it again
2. Dirty work
3. Kings
4. Midnite Cruiser
5. Only a fool would say that
6. Rellin' in the years
7. Fire in the hole
8. Brooklyn
9. Change of the guard
10. Turn that heart beat over again

... For some reason I feel unwholesome because I keep this disc just below a burned Trance music collection and just above my Rob Zombie cd... everyone is entitled to have bizarre music preferences arent they... possibly not when the cd collection looks like mine (Techno, Light Rock, Heavy Metal, Easy listening, Marilyn Manson, and and finally programming languages VB and C++)

[CWL]

Originally posted by Yahweh
Now I whip out my music collection...

Steely Dan: Can't Buy A Thrill Album
Good album that (like everything signed Becker and/or Fagen).

I especially like the Shakesperian "Kings" and of course the song that started it all "Do it Again".

"You go back, Jack..." - classic.

[AmateurScientist]

Originally posted by CWL

Good album that (like everything signed Becker and/or Fagen).

I especially like the Shakesperian "Kings" and of course the song that started it all "Do it Again".

"You go back, Jack..." - classic.

Yeah, and you gotta love that intro. So cool.

AS

[AmateurScientist]

One of the things that's so great about Steely Dan is that they get away with some crazy, depraved, and misanthropic lyrics. Not many people notice them because they're buried in lush, gorgeously developed melodies and grooves and hooks.

They are outstanding musicians with outlaw hearts. It's a terrific combination.

I love these guys too.

AS

[juryjone]

Originally posted by AmateurScientist
One of the things that's so great about Steely Dan is that they get away with some crazy, depraved, and misanthropic lyrics.

Yes, they do...

Kids if you want some fun
Mr. LaPage is your man
He's always laughing, having fun
Showing his films in the den
Come on, come on
Soon you will be eighteen
I think you know what I mean
Don't tell your mama
Your daddy or mama
They'll never know where you been

Everyone's gone to the movies
Now we're alone at last

[calladus]

Originally posted by Yahweh
... everyone is entitled to have bizarre music preferences arent they... possibly not when the cd collection looks like mine (Techno, Light Rock, Heavy Metal, Easy listening, Marilyn Manson, and and finally programming languages VB and C++)

You consider Visual Basic and C++ to be music? What note is a CASE statement? How would you play a semicolon? Is it classified as Techno or Trance? I'm fairly sure it isn't Easy Listening!

(scratching my head . . .)

[AmateurScientist]

Originally posted by juryjone


Yes, they do...



Yeah, that's a good one. They do seem to have a fascination for sexual deviance.

Here's an exerpt from "Cousin Dupree" on Two Against Nature about incest with a cousin. You've probably heard it already:

(Chrorus):

"Honey how you've grown
Like a rose
Well we used to play
When we were three
How about a kiss for your cousin Dupree"

Then this later,

"I'll teach you everything I know
If you teach me how to do that dance
Life is short and quid pro quo
And what's so strange about a down-home family romance?"

AS

[Barkhorn1x]

..."Dr. Wu" from Katy Lied. This song has it all;
Heroin addiction
a Miami locale
an Asian connection

- and that killer sax solo.

Katy lies
You could see it in her eyes
But imagine my surprise
When I saw you

Barkhorn.

[AmateurScientist]

Yeah, Dr. Wu's great. Beautiful tune, too.

For utter depravity, I love "Don't Take Me Alive" from The Royal Scam.

It's got violence, terrorism, and paranoia and insanity. Plus, it has that immortal phrase "luckless pedestrian."

That's beautiful. Sheer poetry. Not to mention that it's a rocking song with a killer guitar riff.


"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

CHORUS:
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"

AS

[Barkhorn1x]

I remember when I first got that album. I didn't like it much the first time I listened to it. Of course, now it is one of my favorites.

It's odd how many of the albums I keep going back to again and again I didn't really like at first.

How come acts today (I don't think they deserve to be called artists or musicians) can't put out a solid album, jus the odd hit??

Oh wait, I kind of answered my own question didn't I??

;)

Barkhorn.

[CWL]

To get back to the "GodWhacker" analyisis, Walter Becker himself gives this definition of "whack" on his solo album 11 Tracks of Whack (http://www.steelydan.com/whack.html):
Whack (n.) 1. a blow intermediate in intensity between a wallop and a smack.
2. a first stab or crude attempt i.e. "Let your little brother have a whack at the circular saw!"
(v.) to deliver a whack, ambush or attempt to wipe out, a person.
As Yahzi suggests, the vernacular meaning is obviously used in the song.

One critic (of High Fidelity (http://www.highfidelityreview.com/reviews/review.asp?reviewnumber=13143569)) makes the following remark:
‘GodWhacker’ is the kind of 9/11 observation song that only someone with the studied detachment of this band could pull off.
I agree. The song is already a favourite of mine. Another one of the new album is The Things I Miss the Most (http://www.steelydan.com/emgtracks.html#track2). Just listen to Donald Fagen's phrasing as he sings "the Sex". :cool:

Another great SD song is the minimalistic "The Fez" (from The Royal Scam (http://www.steelydan.com/lyrroyalscam.html)):
No I'm never gonna do it without the fez on
Oh no
No I'm never gonna do it without the fez on
Oh no
That's what I am
Please understand
I wanna be your holy man
All sung to a shameless disco beat and followed by a classic guitar hook. You gotta love that. :D

[CWL]

Originally posted by AmateurScientist


Yeah, that's a good one. They do seem to have a fascination for sexual deviance.

Here's an exerpt from "Cousin Dupree" on Two Against Nature about incest with a cousin. You've probably heard it already:

(Chrorus):

"Honey how you've grown
Like a rose
Well we used to play
When we were three
How about a kiss for your cousin Dupree"

Then this later,

"I'll teach you everything I know
If you teach me how to do that dance
Life is short and quid pro quo
And what's so strange about a down-home family romance?"

AS

That's a great song! You forgot the best part though:

"One night we're playin' gin by a cracklin' fire
And I decided to make my play
I said babe with my boyish charm and good looks
How can you stand it for one more day
She said 'maybe it's the skeevy look in your eyes
Or that your mind has turned to applesauce
The dreary architecture of your soul'
I said - 'but what is it exactly turns you off'"?

[Zep]

One of my all-time favourite songs is Steely Dan's "Ricky Don't Lose That Number" - takes me back to my roaring days every time...

[Regnad Kcin]

Out of the clear blue (and for the first time in a long while) I decided to pop "Aja" in the ol' car player the other day. Such a succulent album. Nearly thirty years old and it still sounds absolutely fine!

[Roadtoad]

Personally, I like:

Learn to work the saxophone,
And I'll play just what I feel,
Drink Scotch whiskey all night long,
And die behind the wheel.

They got a name for the winners in the world,
I want a name when I lose,
They call Alabama the Crimson Tide,
Call me Deacon Blues...

I'm also rather fond of their song, "Peg," but then, I'm married to a wonderful lady of the same name, so it goes without saying.

(Of course, when we met, she was wearing "blueprint blue.")

[justsaygnosis]

"Would you like to take a yo-yo for a ride?
Zombie I can see you're qualified."

Subsitute woo-woo for yo-yo and you're off and running.

[Paul C. Anagnostopoulos]

Ah, Steely Dan. And I hope everyone has Fagen's solo albums and Becker's underrated solo album, 11 tracks of whack. How can you not love an album with a song titled "surf and/or die"?

Every song better than the last. Then there's "Any Major Dude will Tell You," "Any World (That I'm Welcome To)," "Black Cow," and "hey nineteen." Yow!

~~ Paul

[CWL]

Originally posted by Roadtoad
I'm also rather fond of their song, "Peg," but then, I'm married to a wonderful lady of the same name, so it goes without saying.

(Of course, when we met, she was wearing "blueprint blue.")

Ah. Let me guess - and "it sure looked good on her"? :D

Originally posted by justsaygnosis
"Would you like to take a yo-yo for a ride?
Zombie I can see you're qualified."

Subsitute woo-woo for yo-yo and you're off and running.
Wouldn't that be "P-Zombie"? :D

Originally posted by Paul C. Anagnostopoulos
Ah, Steely Dan. And I hope everyone has Fagen's solo albums and Becker's underrated solo album, 11 tracks of whack. How can you not love an album with a song titled "surf and/or die"?
Those three solo albums are a must have. Without them, the period 1981-1999 would have been the musical dark ages.

Nightfly (http://www.steelydan.com/nightf.html) is IMO one of the best albums ever made. "There'll be spandex jackets - one for everyone". "I've got plenty of java and Chesterfield Kings, but I feel like crying", etc. Must love that.

Kamakiriad (http://www.steelydan.com/kama.html) took some getting used too, but it is now one of my definete favourites.

Hat too Flat from 11 Tracks (http://www.steelydan.com/whacktracks.html) cracks me up every time. "My English she is much better now, but my hat remains too flat". :D

Every song better than the last. Then there's "Any Major Dude will Tell You," "Any World (That I'm Welcome To)," "Black Cow," and "hey nineteen." Yow!

~~ Paul
Ah! Hey Nineteen: "Way back when in '67, I was the dandy of Gamma Chi".

BTW, I always loved the song Gaucho (http://www.steelydan.com/lyrgaucho.html#track4), although I must confess that I never managed to figure out what the heck it is about. Any pointers, anyone?

[Paul C. Anagnostopoulos]

Speaking of Nightfly, I think "I.G.Y." captures the mindset of the '50s better than any other song I've heard. Astonishing.

~~ Paul

[Babylon Sister]

my nick, my fave

[CWL]

Babylon Sisters - what a song. That intro. That chorus! Pure perfection.

For those of you who haven't yet realized the greateness which is Steely Dan, please consider that the group (read "duo") took its name from a certain steam powered device from William S. Burroughs' Naked Lunch (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0802132952/ref=ase_thetardislibrary/102-8929518-8830546).

Speaking of analyzing SD lyrics, here's a handy site (http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/danomalley/steelydan/) I stumbled across.

[Barkhorn1x]

Originally posted by CWL


BTW, I always loved the song Gaucho (http://www.steelydan.com/lyrgaucho.html#track4), although I must confess that I never managed to figure out what the heck it is about. Any pointers, anyone?

My interpretation;

A gay relationship gone bad because the boyfriend is cheating w/ a guy from south of the border. BTW, a "gaucho" is an Argentine cowboy.

BTW, "Rikki Don't Lose that Number" is basically a coming out song.

Barkhorn.

[CWL]

Originally posted by Barkhorn1x


My interpretation;

A gay relationship gone bad because the boyfriend is cheating w/ a guy from south of the border.
Thanks. I had the feeling it something along those lines. That does make sense. "No he can't sleep on the floor - what do you think I'm yelling for?".

Still... we have the "who is the Gaucho, amigo" - the first person appears to be from south of the border himself. Perhaps he is being ironic? Or perhaps he is from Mexico (in which case the gaucho would still be from "south of the border")?

What the heck is the "Custerdome"? That might provide a clue.

Brilliant song anyway you slice it.

[Paul C. Anagnostopoulos]

They're touring this summer, you know. Unfortunately I'll be out of town when they come to Boston. I've seen them twice before, and Fagen once solo.

http://www.steelydan.com/touring.html

Holy spherical cow! They'll be in Manchester, NH after I return from vacation. All righty then!

~~ Paul

[CWL]

Originally posted by Paul C. Anagnostopoulos
They're touring this summer, you know. Unfortunately I'll be out of town when they come to Boston. I've seen them twice before, and Fagen once solo.

http://www.steelydan.com/touring.html

Holy spherical cow! They'll be in Manchester, NH after I return from vacation. All righty then!

~~ Paul

No tour of Europe :(

Well, fortunately I caught them in Stockholm on their European Two Against Nature tour. They truly do kick behind live!

[CWL]

Like, wow!

I found this great site - www.feverdreams.net (http://www.feverdreams.net/) - where posters make more or less educated conjectures about SD lyrics.

Here's the page on GodWhacker (http://www.feverdreams.net/godwhacker.html). A small sample:

Man with no face (Blue Book, 6/16/03):

Godwhacker - Interesting subtexts on cosmology, quantum physics and eschatology. "Be very very quiet Clock everything you see" - two musts for making observations of the quantum world. "Little things might matter later At the start of the end of history." - the idea that non-barayonic dark matter (infinitesimally tiny things like neutrinos) might close the universe and lead to a particular end scenario called "The Big Crunch". "Climb up the glacier" - Fritz Zwicky, who was a renowned alpine climber, first proposed the existence of dark matter. Neutrino detectors are also built in ice. "Across Bridges of Light". Gravitational lensing, supernovae and quasar observations are the basis of much of cosmology, neutrino detectors rely on Cherenkov radiation (light). "We sniff you, Big Tiger In the forest of the night ‘Cause there’s no escape From the Rajahs of Erase". Interesting use of Indian imagery. The chapter on dark matter in Timothy Ferris' "The Whole Shebang" is titled "The Black Taj" for the Shah Jahan's unbuilt mausoleum. If dark matter closes the universe, it will truly be the rajah of erase.

"Yes we are the GodWhackers Who rip and chop and slice" - One other theory is "The Big Rip". Robert Caldwell theorizes that the cosmological constant increases over time. Everything accelerates away from us. Stars and galaxies wink out of existence as they accelerate beyond our event horizon. The stars would red shift or "bleed out" out of existence until our night sky was uniformly black. The ripping force then operates on a smaller and smaller scale until finally our planet explodes, and the very atoms and then subatomic particles of which we are made are shredded out of existence. Time and space cease to exist. Pretty much a GodWhack, eh?

Great stuff!

[Roadtoad]

If you overanalyze it, it loses some of its charms.

In the meantime, I'm going to throw on some REAL tunes. Anyone for "Show Business Kids"?

[CWL]

Originally posted by Roadtoad
If you overanalyze it, it loses some of its charms.
Are you kidding? I personally don't think a SD lyric can be overanalyzed. Their songs are clearly intended to set ironic and hallucinatory ants in the head of the listener. They are deliberately filled with word play, inside humor and delicious innuendos.

Just look at the diversity of the theories on GodWhacker (http://www.feverdreams.net/godwhacker.html). Messrs. Fagen and Becker are most likely laughing their behinds off at all the conjectures. In other words overanalyzing is good clean fun!

Well... to each his own.

In the meantime, I'm going to throw on some REAL tunes. Anyone for "Show Business Kids"?

Yea, yea. That is a REAL tune, but so are the songs on EMG (http://www.steelydan.com/emg.html) (which IMO contain some of the best work SD has ever done). Have you actually heard the new album?