Everything Must Go: The End of Steely Dan?

Everything Must Go: The End of Steely Dan?
by Steve Finkelstein

Despite what many may say about me, I’m not quite the pompous know-it-all some scurrilous types accuse me of being. I don’t have all the answers. I've not only expressed puzzlement about the lack of media attention malignant spyware has received, but I'm also baffled that an addle-pated, right-wing nitwit like George Bush could actually be doing relatively well in the polls. However, even more importantly, I'm bewildered by the fact that Steely Dan’s latest CD Everything Must Go, which was released in 6/03, has completely flown under the radar. The venerable rock-jazz group (if one wants to pigeonhole them as such) had racked up platinum sales figures on each of their previous ten albums. I’m not even sure Everything Must Go went gold.

That’s a pity, because it’s a CD of typical excellence, coming from the brilliant creative minds of songwriter-musicians Walter Becker and Donald Fagen (the heart and soul of Steely Dan). As I’m sure many of you know, Steely Dan has been around for over thirty years, producing such classic albums as Pretzel Logic, Aja, Gaucho and Two Against Nature, which won a Grammy for Album of the Year in 2001. If you're not familiar with their work, I’d advise you to go to their official website and pick up the above-mentioned CDs post haste.

One of the main reasons Steely Dan has produced music of such enduring greatness is the paradox central to their work: catchy and upbeat music contrasted with darkly cynical, literate and enigmatic lyrics, creating a brilliant fission unique to anything found in contemporary music. This should come as no surprise, since Becker and Fagen were English Lit majors at Bard College. One popular piece of trivia is that the name “Steely Dan” refers to a dildo found in William S. Burrough’s dark masterpiece Naked Lunch.

That darkness is certainly on display in Everything Must Go, which may be the duo’s most downbeat work ever. It seems that the catastrophic events of 9/11 suffused this CD, adding to the group’s typical mixture of world-weary pessimistic lyrics and vibrant, upbeat harmonies. The initial cut, “The Last Mall,” deals with a closeout sale at a shopping mall during a nuclear apocalypse. “Things I Miss the Most” is a continuation of the middle-aged melancholia found on the song “What a Shame About Me,” off the CD Two Against Nature. “Godwhacker” (the best cut on the album) seems to be dealing either with an apocalyptic avenging angel intent on earth’s destruction or an allegory about the evils of religious fundamentalism. With Steely Dan’s enigmatic lyrics, interpretation can be a dicey affair.

“Green Book” is a sly homage to film noir, and “Lunch with Gina” deals with an unfortunate fellow's relationship with a psychotic woman. But the most telling cut is the title track “Everything Must Go,” which can be interpreted a number of ways: The end of civilization after 9/11, a company going under after the dot com bust of 2000, or perhaps, most tellingly, the end of Steely Dan. Could this CD be their swan song?

Perhaps this was the reason the album didn’t sell particularly well; listeners might have found it too downbeat. Or perhaps the group's mostly older audience is losing interest in Becker and Fagen. Maybe the album was poorly promoted. Who knows? All I can say is that if you’re a fan of their previous body of work, or just a lover of literate rock-jazz, you will enjoy this CD, as it contains the usual excellence found in their previous work. But it is not for the faint of heart. If you drink whiskey sours, skip this work; if your taste runs to boilermakers, run out and buy it.

Steve can be reached at steve@babblog.com.