À Madame Ducornet . . . .

Longtime readers know that Jonn tolerates my occasional random walk ramblings here at TAH.  And yeah, that means this article is another such ramble.  Consider yourself forewarned. (smile)

. . .

I’m not a big believer in ESP. Those who claim to be able to “remote view” objects or tell the future are IMO almost always as shameless a group of liars as the fools and tools we often feature here at TAH.

But I’m not willing to completely dismiss the possibility, either. There is indeed strong evidence that time appears to be one-way and irreversible, and that the connection between past and future is the same.  However, mankind’s knowledge of the physical world is woefully incomplete. And even our best current theories of how the world works don’t categorically rule out the possibility.

In short:  it’s obvious that the past affects the future.  But it’s IMO a bit too early to say, categorically, that the future cannot possibly echo into the past.

Besides, I’ve had a few experiences that make me wonder. A number of them have to do with music.

As a youngster, a number of tunes over the years made an impression on me. For some reason, I knew that these few were different – and damned important.

How I knew, or why they were important . . . I didn’t know. I just somehow knew they were.

Eventually, I found out why – usually years or decades later.  The experience usually wasn’t much fun.

I’m about to talk briefly about one of those tunes.

. . .

Walter Becker and Donald Fagan. You might not recognize those names immediately unless you’re a fan. But if you listened to popular music since 1971, I will guarantee you’ve heard their music.

They’re the duo that formed the creative core of Steely Dan.

In 1974, Steely Dan released perhaps their finest work – an album called Pretzel Logic. The song in question is found there.

Steely Dan songs are often filled with obscure literary references and metaphors. They are typically lyrically indirect, and elliptical – even more so than those songs by Michael Stipe of REM. They frequently have not-immediately-obvious messages, sometimes darkish; the lyrics are often cutting, cynical, and satirical. Often they have borderline disturbing or taboo subjects.

And they’re invariably exquisitely crafted, as is the music. Steely Dan’s pursuit of perfection in the studio is legendary.

But except for the craftsmanship, this particular tune is none of those. Donald Fagan, the song’s principal author, has said that this song should be taken at face value.

The song is a relatively simple song about a young man who became infatuated with a lady. It was reportedly written about a woman Donald Fagan met while a student a Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY.   She was married to a member of Bard’s faculty.

The lady’s married name was purportedly Ducornet; she was American, but had married a Frenchman teaching at Bard in the late 1960s. She and her husband left for France in 1972, when Steely Dan was on the brink of commercial success. And while a student at Bard, Donald Fagan had indeed given her his number at a party – and suggested she call him.

A relationship between the two never happened. Fagan has never confirmed the story above, or indicated who the song is about.  The lady in question has, and believes the tune is about her.  But she’s obviously not in a position to know with certainty Fagan’s thoughts while writing the song.

So:  listen to the tune and judge for yourself. Personally, I’m convinced the song should be taken literally – and that the lady is correct.  The pieces simply fit together too well.

Here’s the tune. IMO, it’s possibly the best song Steely Dan ever did.  And that’s saying one helluva lot.

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For what it’s worth:  Mme. Ducornet’s first name . . . is indeed “Rikki”.

. . .

Author’s notes:  Some other interesting bits of trivia about Steely Dan and the tune above.

1. Jim Gordon played drums on the tune. Yes, that Jim Gordon:  the same guy who played drums with Eric Clapton in Derek and the Dominos, wrote the second half of Layla – and later went off-the-rails insane, killed his own mother, and is still incarcerated today.

2. Timothy B. Schmit –  of Poco and the Eagles – sang backup on the tune. 

3. The musical intro for the song – the odd-sounding percussion solo that takes up about the first 20 seconds or so – is not a marimba.  It’s a similar instrument called a flapamba.  They’re fairly rare.  

4.  If you think the song’s opening piano/bass line sounds similar to something you’ve heard before – if you’re a fan of jazz, you’re probably right.  It was taken from Horace Silver’s “Song for My Father”, released about a decade previously.

5. Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, one of the two original guitarists for Steely Dan (the other was Dennis “Denny” Dias), did the guitar solo on the tune.  Baxter left the band shortly afterwards and joined the Doobie Brothers.

During the Reagan administration, Baxter – an absolute genius as well as a talented guitarist – took an interest in technology related to defense. He became enough of an expert eventually to become a sought-after consultant to the US DoD and Intelligence Communities on various matters – including missile defense. Watch this video clip (about 1 hr 3 min) if you’d like to get a flavor of the guy’s personality and intellect.  Fascinating guy.

And yeah – Baxter often gets asked, “How in the world did a rock and roll guitarist end up working as a consultant for DoD and the Intel community?”

6.  Finally, and for what it’s worth:  that story you’ve heard about the band being named after an . . . “adult novelty item”? It’s true. But the item in question was made of rubber, not stainless steel as one variant of the story often claims.

Growing up, Becker and Fagan were huge jazz fans; that is apparent in their music. “Beat generation” literature was hugely popular among jazz fans of the day, and Becker and Fagan were no exceptions. 

The band’s name was a shortened form of “Steely Dan III from Yokohama”.  That phrase was taken from William Burroughs’ 1959 novel Naked Lunch.  In the book, “Steely Dan III from Yokohama” was the name of what is today perhaps the most famous “adult novelty item” in history. (smile)

 

Various Wikipedia articles were also used in preparing this rambling. I’m not going to list them all here.

Category: Pointless blather, Who knows