Day 105: Steely Dan - Aja
I never used to like Steely Dan that much. I guess I thought they were just fine, nothing too special, the kind of dad rock that I’d never really put on. But I have this theory that starting on your 30th birthday, somewhere internally you start hearing “Peg” at a frequency that’s too high to actually hear with human ears, and you slowly start making your way to yacht rock.
Album cover courtesy of ABC Records
For me, it’s right up there as a sign of aging with a tight lower back and concern over whether young ladies are appropriately dressed for winter. You suddenly find yourself sitting at a Steely Dan cover band gig wondering where the time went. But credit to them, Desperate Dan did rule and it was a good night out.
As a fairly newfangled Steely Dan fan, I thought I’d give their classic record Aja another spin today. Aja was the group’s sixth studio album, released in 1977, and it has almost 40 different musicians on it as the band were experimenting with different session musicians. And in case you’re wondering, it’s pronounced like Asia and not the other, more intuitive way.
Aja was Steely Dan’s fastest selling record, and it’s widely viewed as a classic of the ‘70s sophisticated jazz-inspired rock that is the magical genre of yacht rock. I also think it’s peak “wearing socks with sandals while manning a barbecue grill”-music, but your mileage may vary – I’m not much of a griller myself, but it’s a nice record to wash your hair to.
The album has influences of jazz, R&B and funk, with lyrical inspiration drawing from more erudite sources than your usual rock muses of poor mental health, drugs and ladies of the night. One of the songs, “Home at Last” directly references Homer’s Odyssey. It’s a very slick and polished record in its sound, too, with its tightness and clarity. It’s honed to such a point of perfection that it seems like a good record to test your headphones with.
The titular track “Aja” is surprisingly romantic, as it was inspired by a relationship that Donald Fagen’s friend was in with a woman called Aja, and it’s about the "tranquility that can come of a quiet relationship with a beautiful woman." The aforementioned “Peg” is like sunshine in a song and it’s right at the top of my list of things to listen to whilst lounging on a summers day. I can’t explain it, but some ‘70s rock really just makes me want to stand on a porch drinking beer with the guys, all of whom are wearing jorts, myself included. I don’t even have “the guys”. I’m not even a guy myself.
Also, “Deacon Blues” is a good song but the first time I heard it, I had to actually google that I heard the lyrics right. Shot and chaser: “Learn to work the saxophone / (I) I play just what I feel / Drink Scotch whiskey all night long,” wow, sounds like a great time. Then it hits you with “And die behind the wheel”? Alrighty then. It’s still a gorgeous song about wanting to make more of your life than you currently have, and I guess the lack of a happy ending is the point, but still.
Like most of its listeners, Aja is also now middle aged, having been released 47 years ago. But it still sounds fresh, and you get something new out of it every time you listen to it. It feels like music that’s good for your brain, too – lots going on and all of it good. It’s a 9/10.