Only A Fool Would Say That - Steely Dan
Song of the Day #29
Apple Music link: https://music.apple.com/us/album/only-a-fool-would-say-that/1652580027?i=1652580321
It boggles my mind to think how many people must love this band without fully comprehending the venomous hatred Becker and Fagen held for the world. At face value, this is some of the most buttery-smooth music you'll ever hear. The breezy melodies, catchy choruses, and crystalline production are all so damn seductive that it's hard not to fall in love with their music. One listen to "Reelin' In The Years" or "My Old School" is enough to understand why they sold millions of records and are played ubiquitously on the radio even today. Yet, every single note Fagen spews out is acidic and hateful, the lyrics offering almost no sympathy for anyone or anything. They are so gifted in composing and songwriting that they easily could make their music dense and incomprehensible, but they chose to make their music accessible simply to inflict the largest number of casualties possible. It is a diabolic musical paradigm that makes me sick to the bone and would induce hatred in me...if only they weren't brilliant musical geniuses. Ah, why do some of the most talented guys on Earth gotta be such assholes?
Take this little gem off of their debut album Can't Buy A Thrill. If you aren't a professional hater of pop music, you will easily be entranced by the song's hypnotic, Latin-inspired rhythms, the way that beautiful chorus wraps around your brain in the most delightful way possible. The band gels together flawlessly as an ensemble, delivering a perfect melody that will be stuck in your head for days. But the subject matter, dear god. They do not just criticize societal idealists — they beat the daylights out of them, knocked them to the ground, and stomped and spitted at their ugly faces. They show all of the violence, deception, brutality, and lack of empathy that are associated with many of these grand utopian visionaries, leaving no room for other interpretations. In Fagen's and Becker's view, the essence of what they stand for means they are trash and deserve to be treated as such, and while I don't fully agree with their views, I definitely see where they are coming from. That's the best part about these guys: whether I want catchy pop music or intellectually stimulating material, they satisfy both needs, and though this dual personality can be jarring at first, it becomes quite rewarding in the long run. Give the song and try and see what kind of reaction it provokes in you.
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