You knew it was inevitable...The Steely Dan Song Poll

torn between "King Of The World" and "Deacon Blues."

One un-thought out vote for "Kings."

A better poll: best closing song on a Steely Dan album.

anyway, I voted for "Third World Man."

I've been listening to Aja a lot in the past week, so I was tempted to vote for something from that, but I ultimately went with my long-time favorite, "Doctor Wu."

Peg, always and forever.

My Old School

I couldn't choose from any of the proper songs so East St. Louis Toodle-Oo it is.

doctor wu all the way. and i love all these songs. but damn i love doctor wu.

Night by Night is so badass

bad sneakers is a champagne jam too

Gaucho!

They call Alabama the Crimson Tide,
Call me the best Steely Dan song.

I could vote for 15 of these. I guess I'll go with "The Royal Scam."

my old school

'Is There Gas in this Poll?'
"Yes, there's Gas in this Poll!"

Kid Charlamagne it is...

Well, "Peg" being the greatest pop song ever written, "Peg."

My second vote would be Josie.

She prays like a Roman
With her eyes on fire.

one of the greatest lines/couplets ever.

Oh man. So hard. Went with King of the World. But on another day it so easily could have been Your Gold Teeth, Doctor Wu, Bad Sneakers or Kid Charlamagne...

xp to myself
I mean, like a Catholic, or like a Pagan in the shrine of a mystery cult?
Either way it's brilliant. That's a woman you wanna know.

yeah this is just insane but "Your Gold Teeth" is the one that runs deepest for me

First thought, best thought says My Old School...... but, but , but Bad Sneakers? Hey, Nineteen? Daddy Don't live in that New York City no More?

Hmmm, right now three way tie between Major Dude, Babylon Sisters and FM. I'll have to sleep on it.

Man, this really sucks--I can't, and don't really want to, decide between about a dozen titles; so I guess I'll just go with my gut instinct and vote for "Doctor Wu."

I had to go with "Josie" because that's my daughter's name. Plus, that riff is just so, so great.

"My Old School" gots to be it!

Hey Nineteen. They're just so in the pocket on that one. Runners up include: My Old School, Dr. Wu, Aja, Haitian Divorce, Peg, and about 15 other songs.

I mean, not even "runners up". Just other great, great songs.

I can't do it--no vote

I went with "Sign In Stranger" - though I didn't give it as much thought as I probably should have.

(Not that I regret my choice, but I could imagine picking one of any number of songs.)

I had about 15 choices, too, and finally went with Third World Man.

Protesting this, impossible

First thought best thought says Glamour Profession.

But my finger hesitates... aggghhh...

Bring back The Boston Rag!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've only got Can't Buy a Thrill so I'm voting for Midnight Cruiser

Rikki is the one

Silly poll. But "FM" for me.

Almost impossible, but voted "Aja".

As usual with song polls, this is gonna end up with Dr Wu taking the prize with three votes, followed by two dozen tunes with one vote.

Barrytown people got to be from another world...

I have never really understood the love for "Dr. Wu." Even the Minutemen cover is kind of weak.

"Dr Wu" is one of those songs where I love the verses but get annoyed by the chorus.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Gah.

"Peg" vs "Babylon Sisters" vs "Gaucho"

vs "Do It Again"

Gotta go with Gaucho over Babylon Sisters and Peg.

PEG because i listened to it 25 times in a row while sitting in traffic once and it was STILL GOOD

Dirty Work

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zwt0qQGqp0U

haha what thread is that from

i play drums, let me know what time practice is

From the Chicago thread.

SHAKE IT

Hmm. Well, I once called "Do It Again" my favourite on these very pages and instantly regretted it. What I will do is call it my favourite late-night FM radio jam - that's where those long, modal soloing-things sound the best. So, one candidate eliminated, several dozen to go...

went for deacon blues, even with those sax solos.

-- Alan N, Thursday, 6 September 2007 16:43

???

haha saxophones are meant to be sung about but not played

Bated breath over here - bated breath...

gotta go with "Deacon Blues," definitely has their best chorus. Still, this is pretty much impossible. Every one of their albums has at least three genuinely great songs.

except for Two Against Nature

I mean Everything Must Go, Two Against Nature has Janie Runaway and Jack of Speed.

gimmie a couple years and I'll probably be into the dan's sax solos. right now, they're the only piece of the puzzle I might still say is "too slick". but a couple years back, I would've said all of it was, so hey.

thats wayne fucking shorter, tho

its not slick its god talking

otm max

God is a slick SOB, though.

I don't get all the crazy adoration for Gaucho-era stuff. What am I missing? Royal Scam and Aja too, they're just ok. But the first four, holy mackerel!!!!!!!

Read the Gaucho thread.

Clean this mess up else we'll all end up in jail
Those test tubes and the scale
Just get them all out of here

I just went with my gut because I have a feeling I could have spent hours if I thought about it.

"their eyes ... their eyes ... their eyes ... their eyes"

We'll jog with show folk on the sand
Drink kirschwasser from a shell
San Francisco show and tell
Well I should know by now
That it's just a spasm
Like a Sunday in T.J.
That it's cheap but it's not free
That I'm not what I used to be
And that love's not a game for three

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Didn't vote for "Peg," but I support its win, especially since I've been idly figuring out its chords during dull moments in band practice in the last couple of weeks.

i coulda sworn i voted for night by night

now i wish i'd voted for bad sneakers

Well, the poll ended before I could vote, big deal. But two of my handful of finalists were "Charlie Freak" and "Kid Charlemagne", and it just now occurred to me that those two characters could be the same guy, as captured at the beginning and at the end of a downhill slide. (If you ignore the real-time chronology in which the two songs were recorded.)

i like peg and everything but i don't think it's one of my top 10 or even 15 steely dan songs.

More people voted for songs that got only 1 vote than voted for "Peg" though. Lots of great songs didn't get any votes - but it's hard to pick just one.

belated vote for "monkey in your soul". my favorite, i think, of those that got none

I voted for The Boston Rag, but it could easily have gone to Razor Boy or Rose Darling, both of which got zero votes.

Peg is good, but it wouldn't even crack my Dan top 20.

Midnight Cruiser 1

this is a dope song i never heard before

respectable results, but it's kinda boring that 6 of the top 7 are singles. I expected more deep cuts!

What a disappointing result!

here's how the votes stacked up album-wise, something to keep in mind next time we do an SD album poll, which I guess would be any day now:

22 Aja
15 Countdown To Ecstasy
15 Gaucho
13 Can't Buy A Thrill
12 Pretzel Logic
7 Royal Scam
7 Katy Lied
4 non-album ("FM")
0 Two Against Nature
0 Everything Must Go

We already did the album poll. Gaucho won it.

we already did the album poll 2 or 3 times, that's what i was saying! Katy Lied won once and Pretzel Logic and Royal Scam tied another time, but maybe there was an another one where Gaucho won that I can't find right now. I still totally do not understand all the Gaucho love on ILM.

"reelin in the years", "barrytown" or "dr wu"

I'm kind of surprised by Peg winning this round, but look at how many tunes got multiple votes.

single/FM radio staple - Deacon Blues or Do It Again (as I love the guitar solo in that one).
album cut - Don't Take Me Alive

doctor wu 4eva

"Don't Take Me Alive" may not have been a single but I've definitely heard it on the radio and consider it one of their better known songs

Suprised no love for Black Friday. I'll take Peg as the winner (whover played bass on that should get a Nobel Prize) but had i voted in this i would have voted King of the World.

would probably change my vote to "gaucho" these days.

yeah Black Friday deserves a vote or two. also sad that Bad Sneakers got shut out. it's always in my top 5, even if it's never going to take that #1 spot.

I'll take Peg as the winner (whover played bass on that should get a Nobel Prize)

It's Chuck Rainey.

love the story from the vh1 special about how chuck rainey had to sneak a little slap bass in on the DL during the bridge cuz fagen/becker thought slap bass was too trendy.

for me, the song most deserving of a vote that didn't get one was "night by night"

yeah that song fucking rocks

totally. the huge cymbal crashes during the "niiiiiiiiiiight byyyyyy niiiii-ight" part remind me of doom metal, lolz.

steely doom

nigt X night otm

When the joker tried to tell me
I could cut it in this rube town
When he tried to hang that sign on me
I said Take it down
When the dawn patrol got to tell you twice
They're gonna do it with a shotgun
Yes, I'm cashing in this ten-cent life
For another one

would be cool to run this poll again. looks like it didn't get many votes