Steely Dan -- Deacon Blues

 

For this week's Reminiscings of Youth, I'm going with Steely Dan once more because I heard yesterday that Donald Fagen and the late Walter Becker will be inducted into the Songwriters' Hall of Fame in June in New York City. Many congratulations to them.

So, I guess that it would be appropriate to talk about Steely Dan's "Deacon Blues" which was a track on the iconic "Aja" from 1977 and even a single released in March 1978. The song has been admired for both its warm and honeyed sound and the lyrics for which, as Becker has put it, describe a loser  or "...a broken dream of a broken man living a broken life". 

Although I wouldn't truly and finally appreciate Steely Dan until my years in the Tokyo area, I had been listening to their songs including "Peg", the track mate for "Deacon Blues" on "Aja" for years since they were coming onto the radio. However, I wouldn't even know of the existence of "Deacon Blues" until I finally bought "Aja" about a decade ago, just a few years after getting home from Japan for good and starting "Kayo Kyoku Plus". Talk about a very late discovery. I think one reason for that is the fact that I never heard "Deacon Blues" on the radio due to the fact that it is over 7 minutes long and back then, we were absolutely an AM radio family...usually it's the songs that come in at 3 to 4 minutes which were featured on those stations.

But what a song for that demographic in society known as losers! Having listened to "Deacon Blues" for the past several years several times a year, I think that the song is probably the quintessential Steely Dan entry in terms of the arrangement, delivery and the ironic lyrics. Now I know that for a band that has lasted as long as Steely Dan has, their sound has evolved since "Do It Again!" and "Reelin' In The Years" and going forward from "Aja", but I guess it's been the late 70s and early 80s that has been my favourite period for the group and it's the precise mix of jazz and rock during this time that has seared itself into my head as the Steely Dan sound.

The interesting thing is that I may have to disagree a tad with Becker (hopefully he won't slap me with his bass while I'm sleeping tonight) about his interpretation of the lyrics. "Deacon Blues" may be about the ultimate loser having his dreams dashed over and over again, but the way that his partner Fagen repeatedly yells out "Call me DEACON BLUES!", there seems to be a defiance and pride that demands respect from even those who've disdained the poor guy. "Hey, we deserve a cool nickname, too!" comes through to me. Perhaps "Deacon Blues" isn't so much about a loser but a fellow who may lose a lot but he still stands right back up to take on the next challenge, and he's accompanied by a theme which is one of the coolest things made into music.

On the US Billboard Hot 100, "Deacon Blues" ranked in at No. 19 while in Canada, it got as high as No. 14. March 24th 1978 was the date of its release and the next day, three Japanese singles got their release, too.

Circus -- Mr. Summertime

Pink Lady -- Southpaw （サウスポー）

Yutaka Mizutani -- Omotesando Nanpa Street（表参道軟派ストリート）