So, does anyone know what "Rikki, Don't Lose That Number" is about?

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I remember hearing something about it being on sole ol' gay shit, but I'm not picking up on it. Anyone have the skinny?

― roger adultery, Monday, 24 November 2003 03:39 (twenty-two years ago)

I always assumed it was a drug dealer's number (perhaps 'cause my dealer's name was Ricky.)

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Monday, 24 November 2003 03:46 (twenty-two years ago)

My pot dealer was gay, so that proves it. (He still is, as far as I know, I just don't buy any more.)

― Rockist Scientist, Monday, 24 November 2003 03:48 (twenty-two years ago)

RIKKI DON'T LOSE THAT NUMBER
We hear you're leaving, that's OK
I thought our little wild time had just begun
I guess you kind of scared yourself, you turn and run
But if you have a change of heart
CHORUS:
Rikki don't lose that number
You don't wanna call nobody else
Send it off in a letter to yourself
Rikki don't lose that number
It's the only one you own
You might use it if you feel better
When you get home
I have a friend in town, he's heard your name
We can go out driving on Slow Hand Row
We could stay inside and play games, I don't know
And you could have a change of heart
CHORUS
You tell yourself you're not my kind
But you don't even know your mind
And you could have a change of heart

CHORUS

All though I can see the gay thing, too.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Monday, 24 November 2003 03:49 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, I always assumed was about a guy who was only just beginning to come out of the closet in his mind...though now I'm sort of amazed that I just assumed that without having to think I'm reading too much into it like I do with certain songs I give 'gay' readings to.

― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Monday, 24 November 2003 03:54 (twenty-two years ago)

I think the theme of some sort of gay encounter with someone unsure of his sexuality makes more sense. "I guess you kind of scared yourself. . ." could make sense in other contexts, but it fits this one well.

"You tell yourself you're not my kind" takes on a lot of irony.

― Rockist Scientist, Monday, 24 November 2003 03:55 (twenty-two years ago)

quick google:
"Rikki Ducornet, erotic novelist, was a classmate of Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen. She was the inspiration for Rikki Don’t Lose That Number"

― gaz (gaz), Monday, 24 November 2003 03:59 (twenty-two years ago)

also from steely dan we resource:

"And here's Fagen's conception of "Rikki Don't Lose That Number," the single from "Pretzel Logic":

"That's a very simple love song to a young lady. I always thought it was a rather erotic, decadent sort of thing. Here you find a guy, a rather rich gentleman living in a resort, and he somehow manages to capture this young lady."And what about "Show Biz Kids" from "Countdown To Ecstasy." Exactly what is it that those girls chant incessantly?"You go to Lost Wages,” meaning Las Vegas. Like, it's a kind of joke in the United States to call Las Vegas 'Lost Wages' 'cause it's a gambling centre.

― gaz (gaz), Monday, 24 November 2003 04:01 (twenty-two years ago)

o, thats from nme, apparently.

― gaz (gaz), Monday, 24 November 2003 04:05 (twenty-two years ago)

I was gonna point out that Rikki could totally be a girl's name but too late.

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Monday, 24 November 2003 04:10 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, but it being a girl's name makes the song totally boring.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Monday, 24 November 2003 04:24 (twenty-two years ago)

the house that Rikki lived in is still there on Annandale Road.

― hstencil, Monday, 24 November 2003 04:26 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah i don't get the speculation at all. does every SD song have to have some juicy inner demon?

― Al (sitcom), Monday, 24 November 2003 04:35 (twenty-two years ago)

I feel vindicated. The 'official' explanation is similar to my impression of the subject matter.

The key dynamic being: A-symmetrical relationships with sexual undertones. He is in a dominate position and can easily manipulate her. However, she has the thing he most wants, her sex. I'm talking out of my ass...

― Debito (Debito), Monday, 24 November 2003 05:12 (twenty-two years ago)

I heard this song on the radio last night and liked it

― Credito, Monday, 24 November 2003 05:34 (twenty-two years ago)

does every SD song have to have some juicy inner demon?

Most of them DO!

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Monday, 24 November 2003 05:41 (twenty-two years ago)

sorry, I just think, especially from that recent SD-love thread, that people (here at least) grossly overestimate the black humor element in their lyrics. it's there, but it's not omnipresent.

― Al (sitcom), Monday, 24 November 2003 05:49 (twenty-two years ago)

No, there's also social critique and debauchery and despair. None of it's exactly fluffy.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Monday, 24 November 2003 05:51 (twenty-two years ago)

Hmmm, I've always assumed it was a girl's name. Maybe just because I knew a girl named Rikki in high school, and I didn't have cable as a kid, so I wasn't really aware of "Headbanger's Ball."

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 24 November 2003 05:56 (twenty-two years ago)

Steely Dan = omniprescient

― gusbot (eternal_fields), Monday, 24 November 2003 05:57 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, I always assumed it was a girl's name as well. Though the gay interpretation is very intriguing.

― Debito (Debito), Monday, 24 November 2003 05:58 (twenty-two years ago)

I didn't say that "Rikki" is in the least "fluffy", just that it's not about drugs or anything grimier than a slightly creepy ex, and that it doesn't have to be to claim its place as a top shelf SD lyric.

― Al (sitcom), Monday, 24 November 2003 05:58 (twenty-two years ago)

(sorry, it's just a pet peeve of mine that folks like Fagan or, say, Elvis Costello, seem to get caught in this trap where their praised more for the content of their lyrics more than their skillz, to the point that if it's not vengeful spiteful bile, it's either not their best work, or it's subversively insincere)

― Al (sitcom), Monday, 24 November 2003 06:02 (twenty-two years ago)

("their praised" = "they're praised", obv, and "it's either" was meant as "it is perceived as either not..." etc.)

― Al (sitcom), Monday, 24 November 2003 06:03 (twenty-two years ago)

I particularly like it when I've been conscious of a song for a long time (in this case 25+ years) and have no idea what it's about and have never really worried too much about divining what it's about and am content to go on not knowing what it's really about, instead allowing my own perceptions to be ambiguously framed by Becker and Fagan.

I guess this is another way of saying lyrics can sometimes be irrelevant to my listening enjoyment.

― gusbot (eternal_fields), Monday, 24 November 2003 06:39 (twenty-two years ago)

Lyrics are usually irrelevant to my listening enjoyment. I really don't care very much about lyrics.

I often hear a line or two in a song and form an impression of the general subject matter. I may like those lines a lot, and they may have meaning to me.

However, I generally don't really know 'what a song is about.'

― Debito (Debito), Monday, 24 November 2003 06:59 (twenty-two years ago)

It's all about the guitar solo.

― billstevejim, Monday, 24 November 2003 07:16 (twenty-two years ago)

I read a Fagen interview years ago where he said that Rikki was Eric Clapton and the "number" was Clapton's and Becker's dealer. I think that the interview was in Musician; Listener and Player mag. He also talked about Chase the Dragon being a smack song.

― Speedy Gonzalas (Speedy Gonzalas), Monday, 24 November 2003 08:58 (twenty-two years ago)

its not that lyrics are irrelevant but that the perfect comprehension of them is irrelevant or not so relevant

― amateur!st (amateurist), Monday, 24 November 2003 10:15 (twenty-two years ago)

I think it's funny how I've accepted this folklore about it being about a gay fling of some sort. I don't actually care too much what it's specifically about.

― Rockist Scientist, Monday, 24 November 2003 12:17 (twenty-two years ago)

but it could simply be designed for maximum utility

― amateur!st (amateurist), Monday, 24 November 2003 12:51 (twenty-two years ago)

I think pretty much any interpretation goes well with John Mahoney singing along with it in "Say Anything".

― Al (sitcom), Monday, 24 November 2003 13:44 (twenty-two years ago)

Fagan seems like the type of guy who would totally bullshit an interviewer. Not that he did in this case, but seems like he would get great pleasure out of seeing it in print.

― dave225 (Dave225), Monday, 24 November 2003 14:16 (twenty-two years ago)

It never, ever occurred to me that a man would spell his name "Rikki".

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 24 November 2003 14:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Wasn't Riki Tiki Tavi a male .. weasel? mongoose?

Maybe the song was about some varmint.

― dave225 (Dave225), Monday, 24 November 2003 14:36 (twenty-two years ago)

again its quite possible the the multiplicity of interpretations suggested here is precisely the effect desired by the songwriters

― amateur!st (amateurist), Monday, 24 November 2003 14:52 (twenty-two years ago)

structured ambiguity

― amateur!st (amateurist), Monday, 24 November 2003 14:52 (twenty-two years ago)

He also talked about Chase the Dragon being a smack song.

You mean Time Out of Mind? And do you mean that's not a smack song?

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Monday, 24 November 2003 14:56 (twenty-two years ago)

We can go out driving on Slow Hand Row

it's totally about picking up a transgendered hooker and getting a hand job in the back of his car

― JaXoN (JasonD), Monday, 24 November 2003 20:43 (twenty-two years ago)

It never, ever occurred to me that a man would spell his name "Rikki".

I was going to say as much, too, Dan, but then I remember Mr. Rachtman.

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 24 November 2003 20:46 (twenty-two years ago)

I always assumed Rikki was a woman. I saw it as a simple song from a man to a woman, too. The man sounds slightly older, since it almost feels like he is trying not to feel/sound creepy about pursuing this young woman. The line about playing games sounds to me as if he is trying to make it all sound innocuous, like "hey we could just play Scrabble, you know..." Not to be manipulative, but to actually try and convince HIMSELF, as well as her, that the relationship is innocent.

In any case, I absolutely love the song. Especially the intro and the delivery of the "stay inside and play games" line.

― paige, Monday, 24 November 2003 21:21 (twenty-two years ago)

rikki ducornet, mentioned above, has talked about this in an interview somewhere. she was, i think, the child of a professor living on the campus of the university attended by members of the band.

i don't think knowing that should changes one's interpretation of the song, though. and i'm not sure if i could find that interview, it might be in an actually paper document or something.

― Mark F (mflaum), Monday, 24 November 2003 21:47 (twenty-two years ago)

It never, ever occurred to me that a man would spell his name "Rikki".

Wasn't that guy who used to host Headbanger's Ball on MTV named Rikki Rachman? I believe he spelled 'Rikki' that way.

― o. nate (onate), Monday, 24 November 2003 21:48 (twenty-two years ago)

It never, ever occurred to me that a man would spell his name "Rikki" at the time this song came out.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 24 November 2003 21:53 (twenty-two years ago)

What about a mongoose?

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Monday, 24 November 2003 21:54 (twenty-two years ago)

http://members.aol.com/chazj/rikkit.jpg

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 24 November 2003 21:56 (twenty-two years ago)

I was going to make a sarcastic comment about Donald Fagen writing a song specifically to get jiggy with a mongoose, but then I realized that I COULD IMAGINE THAT.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 24 November 2003 21:57 (twenty-two years ago)

Anyway I am now mentally combining "Rikki, Don't Lose That Number" with "Billy, Don't Lose My Number" and hating all of you heartily as a result.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 24 November 2003 22:01 (twenty-two years ago)

Steely Dan has always taken Bard College (not a university)/Dutchess County references and twisted them around to fit into songs. It doesn't necessarily have to have a "meaning" but I guess if you want to take it literally you can. Rikki was a real person and Barrytown is a real place and there once was a Gamma Chi (but not "way back when in '67") tho I have little doubt that the songs are actually about those things.

― hstencil, Monday, 24 November 2003 22:02 (twenty-two years ago)

Dan, just imagine Milli Vanilli singing both songs in a round!

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Monday, 24 November 2003 22:11 (twenty-two years ago)

Skipping 25 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

xpost to sparkle motion-"Steely Dan
Rainbow Theatre
Live at the Rainbow, London, England, May 20, 1974.

With just two albums to their name, Steely Dan arrived in London to promote their third, Pretzel Logic. Now… what is that? A pretzel is a salty biscuit, twisted into a curious knot with three "holes". The bread stick is likely of German origin and some claim that its origins have a Christian history. Is that the "pretzel logic" of Steely Dan? That the unique pretzel shape with three holes or rings represents third time "lucky" for the band? A holy trinity of albums? If yes, the single Rikki Don’t Lose That Number from Pretzel Logic brought them their international hit.

The Dan are with the classic lineup of Jeff Baxter, Denny Dias, Jim Hodder and even Michael McDonald on piano. The melodic songs from Can’t Buy A Thrill and Countdown To Ecstasy are played for all their worth. It’s unknown why this show in London was recorded. This source is from a tape of the soundboard recording. It shows its age, the drums are poorly miked, but thankfully Donald Fagen’s voice is nicely centered and you can hear all the guitars and keyboard parts.

After the flood of jazz-rock bands, it was really cool to listen to Steely Dan’s piano-centered jazz-rock with not a tooting horn in sight. Taking the opening bars from Horace Silver’s Song For My Father, Becker and Fagen create the fantastic pop hit Rikki Don’t Lose That Number. Silver was not amused and demanded they remove it. None of the current CD releases with this song retains that special piano intro. Luckily it survives on this live recording. The Dan have never released a live recording from this era. They were not circus showmen."

― danbunny, Thursday, 10 May 2007 15:28 (eighteen years ago)

I'm starting to really love Skunk Baxter's guitar playing.

― Hurting 2, Thursday, 10 May 2007 15:30 (eighteen years ago)

Skunk Baxter's a nazi!

Yeah, but it being a girl's name makes the song totally boring.

Not if that girl is Riki Lake...I mean come on! Hubba, Hubba!

BTW, here's why I think many folks of mediocre intelligence think this song is a homo song. It is probablly the most popular SD song played on the radio. People who hear it on the radio cant tell if it is Ricky or Riki or Rikki. So most people of mediocre intelligence assume it is Ricky since we live in a Man's world baby. Then there is also the fact that Steely Dan was named after a dildo from a William Burroughs novel and Burroughs ofcourse was a homo, so that automatically makes SD a bunch of homo-lovers (in the mind of folks with mediocre intellegence that is). Lastly, SD has a song that uses chimes, and as all folks of mediocre intelligence know, the sounds of the chimes is the international secret code love call amongst those of the brokeback mountain persuasion.

Seacrest out!

― Tinky-Winky, Thursday, 10 May 2007 17:58 (eighteen years ago)

Now it would have to be "send it off in an e-mail to yourself." Except "letter" is so much more poetic.

― mike a, Thursday, 10 May 2007 18:00 (eighteen years ago)

It's all about the guitar solo.

-- billstevejim, Monday, 24 November 2003 07:16 (3 years ago)

Weird. The first thing I thought of was that exact statement, but turns out I already said this 3 years ago.

― billstevejim, Thursday, 10 May 2007 18:02 (eighteen years ago)

I never considered the gay angle, though that makes sense. I always thought it depicted a guy stalking a woman who's dumped him ("you don't even know you're mine").

― The Deacon, Thursday, 10 May 2007 18:04 (eighteen years ago)

I think the line is actually "you don't even know you're mind", which is a bit less stalkerish.

― o. nate, Thursday, 10 May 2007 18:59 (eighteen years ago)

"your mind" even

― o. nate, Thursday, 10 May 2007 18:59 (eighteen years ago)

danbunny we shoulda gone by rikki's house last week.

― hstencil, Thursday, 10 May 2007 19:13 (eighteen years ago)

Fagen & Becker are missing the gravy train by not putting out live albums from that era. Danbunny, thanks for that!

― Sparkle Motion, Thursday, 10 May 2007 19:20 (eighteen years ago)

From an article about/interview with Fagen in Entertainment Weekly --

"One such unrequited crush might have been a professor's young wife named Rikki Ducornet, whose first name will be familiar to Steely Dan fans. Fagen won't admit it -- he's always been extremely reluctant to explain his songs -- but it's easy to imagine that Ducornet was the inspiration for one of his band's most famous tunes, "Rikki Don't Lose That Number." "I remember we had a great conversation and he did suggest I call him, which never happened," says Ducornet, now a well-regarded novelist and artist. "But I know he thought I was cute. And I was cute," she laughs. "I was very tempted to call him, but I thought it might be a bit risky. I was very enchanted with him and with the music. It was so evident from the get-go that he was wildly talented. Being a young faculty wife and, I believe, pregnant at the time, I behaved myself, let's say. Years later, I walked into a record store and heard his voice and thought, 'That's Fagen. And that's my name!'"

― Brad C., Thursday, 10 May 2007 20:19 (eighteen years ago)

http://www.insidesocal.com/outinhollywood/ricki-lake2.jpg

― PappaWheelie V, Thursday, 10 May 2007 23:10 (eighteen years ago)

the real rikki ducornet. rowr.
http://www.bombsite.com/images85/ducornet2.jpg

― chaki, Friday, 11 May 2007 01:26 (eighteen years ago)

Nice

― baaderonixx, Friday, 11 May 2007 07:45 (eighteen years ago)

hey came at night leaving fear behind
Shadows were on the ground
Nobody knew where to find him
No evidence was found
Im never coming back
They heard him cry
And I believe him
Well he never meant to do anything wrong
Its gonna get worse if he waits too long

Billy, billy dont you lose my number
Cos youre not anywhere
That I can find you
Oh now billy, billy dont you lose my number
Cos youre not anywhere that I can find you, oh no

Searching through the day and into the night
They wouldnt stop till they found him
They didnt know him and they didnt understand
They never asked him why
Get out of my way
They heard him shout
Then a blinding light
Ooh all I could see was him running down the street
Out of the shadows and into the night

Now billy, billy dont you lose my number
Cos youre not anywhere
That I can find you, oh
Now billy, billy dont you lose my number
Cos youre not anywhere that I can find you, oh

Dont give up
Keep running, keep hiding
Dont give up
Billy, if you know youre right
Dont give up
You know that I am on your side
Dont give up
Oh billy, you better, you better, you better run for your life

Now billy, billy dont you lose my number
Cos youre not anywhere
That I can find you, oh
Now billy, billy dont you lose my number
Cos youre not anywhere that I can find you, oh

They came at night leaving fear behind
Shadows were on the ground
Nobody knew where to find him
No evidence was found
Im never coming back
They heard him cry
And I believe him
He never meant to do anything wrong
Its gonna get worse if he waits too long

Now billy, billy dont you lose my number
Cos youre not anywhere
That I can find you, oh
Now billy, billy dont you lose my number
Cos youre not anywhere that I can find you, oh

― Whiney G. Weingarten, Friday, 11 May 2007 08:43 (eighteen years ago)

Rock dudes be hyper-sensitive about people not losing their numbers.

― Whiney G. Weingarten, Friday, 11 May 2007 08:46 (eighteen years ago)

She is a fawx.

"Pregnant faculty wife" sounds like a porn category.

― Hurting 2, Friday, 11 May 2007 13:56 (eighteen years ago)

three years pass...

From http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=3204

"Judy from Arlington TX is right on, it use to be refered to as " a poor mans copyright ". Write a song, seal it in a letter, and send it to yourself. You will recieve a federal, dated postmarked song in a sealed envelope. The theory being if anyone ever challenged your intellectual claim to that song you would have the evidence. However, though a great and valid idea, in truth its an urban myth. No court has ever recognized one. why? because if they did thier useless copyright lawyers would be out of a great deal of money. Thier services would become academic. That is the reality of american justice people, follow the money and you'll learn the truth. Money talks BS walks in America baby, if you ever in front of a judge better put up or shut up. I digress the song was ridiculing another band."
- Don, Gladwin, MI

― Mormons come out of the sky and they stand there (Abbbottt), Tuesday, 14 September 2010 23:56 (fifteen years ago)

I guess its probably about that real person they went to college with, whutever.. its just the way the lyrics are written, and without any specific genders ever mentioned or implied I always interpreted it as a gay/coming out/drug scene stuff song.

Also, a work becomes copyrighted in the US the moment you sign your name to it. It didn't used to be that way though.

― Green Manalishi (Viceroy), Wednesday, 15 September 2010 00:26 (fifteen years ago)

Also, a work becomes copyrighted in the US the moment you sign your name to it. It didn't used to be that way though.

― Green Manalishi (Viceroy), Wednesday, September 15, 2010 12:26 AM (16 minutes ago) Bookmark

I don't think the "poor man's copyright" method holds up in court.

― "pack a bisquit" (carry a gun) (lpz), Wednesday, 15 September 2010 00:44 (fifteen years ago)

why? because if they did thier useless copyright lawyers would be out of a great deal of money. Thier services would become academic. That is the reality of american justice people, follow the money and you'll learn the truth. Money talks BS walks in America baby, if you ever in front of a judge better put up or shut up.

― Mormons come out of the sky and they stand there (Abbbottt), Wednesday, 15 September 2010 00:49 (fifteen years ago)

I love this song but will forever associate it with John Mahoney singing it while driving during a scene in "Say Anything". Not that that is a bad thing.

― master of retardment (ENBB), Wednesday, 15 September 2010 01:51 (fifteen years ago)

that is a great movie moment

― kind of shrill and very self-righteous (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 15 September 2010 01:55 (fifteen years ago)

it is!

― master of retardment (ENBB), Wednesday, 15 September 2010 01:56 (fifteen years ago)

My theory, which I've proposed elsewhere: there's a connection, maybe subconscious, to Nixon.

"We hear you're leaving, that's OK
I thought our little wild time had just begun
I guess you kind of scared yourself, you turn and run
But if you have a change of heart..."

Rikki = Richard = Nixon. And it was on Billboard's Top 100 the week Nixon resigned.

― clemenza, Wednesday, 15 September 2010 02:30 (fifteen years ago)

I'm gay and like searching for gay subtexts in pop songs but never got that from this track at all. What guys are named Rikki?

― skip, Wednesday, 15 September 2010 02:33 (fifteen years ago)

I remember Tom Robinson doing a cover version, that was probably why.

For what it's worth, I assumed it was a guy being sung to, but the words are more from a female perspective.

A bit Magnetic Fields, but hey.

― Mark G, Wednesday, 15 September 2010 08:16 (fifteen years ago)

I'm gay and like searching for gay subtexts in pop songs but never got that from this track at all. What guys are named Rikki?
― skip, Wednesday, September 15, 2010 2:33 AM (10 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
I remember Tom Robinson doing a cover version, that was probably why.
For what it's worth, I assumed it was a guy being sung to, but the words are more from a female perspective.
A bit Magnetic Fields, but hey.
― Mark G, Wednesday, September 15, 2010 8:16 AM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Well, Tom Robinson spells out the 'gay subtext' nicely by interpolating the following lines (from 'Any Major Dude Will Tell You') into his cover version:

I can tell you all I know, the where to go, the what to do
You can try to run but you can't hide from what's inside of you'

If your gaydar is not flashing, beeping, or vibrating, you should probably have the nozzle checked.

― Fruitless and Pansy Free (Dr. Joseph A. Ofalt), Wednesday, 15 September 2010 12:53 (fifteen years ago)

It never, ever occurred to me that a man would spell his name "Rikki".
― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, November 24, 2003 9:31 AM (6 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Ex-49er linebacker Rikki Ellison.

― Zeppelin to Howlin Wolf: "Suck It" (Bill Magill), Wednesday, 15 September 2010 13:49 (fifteen years ago)

http://img.hotmoviesale.com/dvds/LGE-D17066D/1/Rikki-Tikki-Tavi.jpg

p. sure he was a dude

― Shock and Awe High School (Phil D.), Wednesday, 15 September 2010 13:52 (fifteen years ago)

http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2008/03/29/rikki_rockett_narrowweb__300x401,0.jpg

― Ride decided to give birth to a giant poop log & disguise it as a CD (jamescobo), Wednesday, 15 September 2010 20:14 (fifteen years ago)

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51jQ7O2uD4L._SL500_AA300_.jpg

― Ward Fowler, Wednesday, 15 September 2010 20:25 (fifteen years ago)

I can tell you all I know, the where to go, the what to do
You can try to run but you can't hide from what's inside of you'

If your gaydar is not flashing, beeping, or vibrating, you should probably have the nozzle checked.

Yeah, but it also sounds (as do many SD lyrics) like a rich older guy trying to talk a virgin into giving him head. Could be male or female.

― Drastic times require what? Drastic measures! Who said that? T (President Keyes), Wednesday, 15 September 2010 20:35 (fifteen years ago)

Rikki-Tikki-Tavi! My favorite fictional mongoose.

― master of retardment (ENBB), Wednesday, 15 September 2010 20:57 (fifteen years ago)

What, this song isn't about Rickie Lee Jones?

― Olde Executioner 8hundo (Eazy), Wednesday, 15 September 2010 21:03 (fifteen years ago)

seven years pass...

https://i.imgur.com/dlW9UI3.jpg

― incarcerated moonfaces (how's life), Thursday, 23 August 2018 12:51 (seven years ago)

lol

― droit au butt (Euler), Thursday, 23 August 2018 12:56 (seven years ago)

good work everyone

― mark s, Thursday, 23 August 2018 13:26 (seven years ago)

nice

― lbi's life of limitless european glamour (Le Bateau Ivre), Thursday, 23 August 2018 13:38 (seven years ago)

three years pass...

Fagen told All About Jazz in 2011: “There was never a conscious thought about picking up Horace Silver’s intro… as for the piano line, I think I had heard it on an old Sergio Mendes album. Maybe that where Horace heard it, too (laughs).”

Does anyone know what this Sergio Mendes song is? Google was unhelpful. Plus it's such a straight rip from "Song For My Father" that I'm skeptical about Fagan's story.

― enochroot, Monday, 4 October 2021 13:03 (four years ago)

Quote spotted in this article btw.

― enochroot, Monday, 4 October 2021 13:05 (four years ago)

I did find this:

In his 2006 autobiography, Let's Get to the Nitty Gritty, Silver recalled events leading up to the iconic 1964 recording following a visit to Brazil as a guest of pianist Sergio Mendes during the week-long Carnival festivities.

"Believe me, Carnival provided much excitement," he wrote. "After returning home to New York from my visit with Sergio and (drummer) Dom Um, I was haunted by the bossa nova rhythm I had heard in Brazil. So I said to myself, 'I'm going to try to write a song using that rhythmic concept.' I sat down at the piano for a few hours and came up with a new song using the bossa nova rhythm. However, the melody didn't sound Brazilian to me; it sounded more like some of the old Cape Verdean melodies my dad had played. Dad had always wanted me to take some of the old Cape Verdean songs and do jazz interpretations of them. This didn't appeal to me, but when I realized I had written a new song with a Brazilian rhythmic concept and a Cape Verdean melodic concept, I immediately thought about dedicating the song to Dad. So I titled it 'Song for My Father'."

https://www.wrti.org/arts-desk/2021-06-18/the-story-behind-horace-silvers-song-for-my-father

― birdistheword, Monday, 4 October 2021 15:09 (four years ago)

Thanks so much! Will paste yr post into RFI: Vocal jazz songform, where we've talked about origins of this song and the vocal version, with Silver's lyrics (esp. Dee Dee Bridgewater's ace recording)(Maybe she'll cover Steely Dan someday, or maybe she has? Could work, incl. "Rikki.")

― dow, Monday, 4 October 2021 16:23 (four years ago)

The "Rikki" intro is vaguely similar to the intro of Sergio Mendes' version of "The Look of Love," but that postdates the Horace Silver tune which is a much closer match anyway

― Josefa, Monday, 4 October 2021 16:44 (four years ago)

Knowing Fagen's tastes he was probably into the pre-Brasil '66 recordings of Sergio Mendes, so maybe that's where the source lies

― Josefa, Monday, 4 October 2021 16:51 (four years ago)

it's another artist I think...

― fpsa, Monday, 4 October 2021 18:04 (four years ago)

The piano figure sounds like it could have been inspired by the Brazil 66 song Look Around.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4n-4utYZ7hE

― everything, Wednesday, 6 October 2021 17:22 (four years ago)

I thought of that one too, it's from the same album as "The Look of Love"

― Josefa, Wednesday, 6 October 2021 17:58 (four years ago)

That Sergio Mendes song is from 1967, but "Song For My Father" is from 1964.

I guess Fagan could have heard either album first, but Rikki is just waaaay closer to the Horace Silver. I'm a little skeptical of his story, especially given the Keith Jarrett/Gaucho lift.

― enochroot, Wednesday, 6 October 2021 18:32 (four years ago)

Agreed. But here's the other Sergio Mendes song just for comparison's sake:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAFYlBg_1u0

― Josefa, Wednesday, 6 October 2021 18:44 (four years ago)

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