Deacon Blues: A Behind The Lyrics Look

Another little quote from Donald Fagen's new book, Eminent Hipsters. In this section, he is on tour with The Dukes of September and writing of his experiences.

"Back to Alabama. The last stop in the South, the Tuscaloosa Amphitheater, couldn't have been more different from St. Augustine.
In the seventies, Walter [Becker] and I wrote a tune, "Deacon Blues," that toyed with the cliché of the jazz musician as antihero. It was kind of a takeoff on that old essay by Norman Mailer, "The White Negro," not to mention our lives up to that point. I'm sure we thought it was hilarious: the alienated white suburban kid thinks that if he learns how to play bebop, he'll throw off the chains of repression and live the authentic life, unleash the wild steeds of art and passion and so on. The chorus sums it up."

I'll learn to work the saxophone
I'll play just what I feel
Drink Scotch whisky all night long
And die behind the wheel
They got a name for the winners in the world
I want a name when I lose
They call Alabama the Crimson Tide
Call me Deacon Blues

Click Deacon Blues, for the complete set of lyrics.