Steely Dan - Deacon Blues

According to Wikipedia: "Deacon Blues" is a song by Steely Dan from their 1977 album Aja. It peaked at number 19 in the Billboard charts.[1] The song, while contrasting winning and losing in life, does so by taking as an image the contrast between the perennial powerhouse, Crimson Tide football team, and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. In the five years before the song was written, the Crimson Tide had lost only 8 games total, while Wake Forest had a losing record every season. Group member Donald Fagen said, "Walter (Becker) and I had been working on that song at a house in Malibu. I played him that line, and he said, 'You mean it's like, they call these cracker assholes this grandiose name like the Crimson Tide, and I'm this loser, so they call me this other grandiose name, Deacon Blues?' And I said, 'Yeah!' He said, 'Cool! Let's finish it!'"[2] In a 1994 AOL chat interview with Becker, someone asked him about the inspiration for "Deacon Blues". He answered, "It was an outgrowth of a specific mood that pertained at a given time," and later added, "...I remember the night that we mixed that one thinking that it was really good and wanting to hear it over and over which is never the case."[3] "Deacon Blues" was Steely Dan's fifth Top 20 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US, where it peaked at #19 in 1978. The song remained in the Top 40 for eight weeks.[4] The Scottish pop/rock band Deacon Blue are thought to have taken their name from this song.[5] William Gibson's book Mona Lisa Overdrive features a gang called the Deacon Blues. Lyrics: This is the day Of the expanding man That shape is my shade There where I used to stand It seems like only yesterday I gazed through the glass At ramblers Wild gamblers That's all in the past You call me a fool You say it's a crazy scheme This one's for real I already bought the dream So useless to ask me why Throw a kiss and say goodbye I'll make it this time I'm ready to cross that fine line CHORUS: 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 My back to the wall A victim of laughing chance This is for me The essence of true romance Sharing the things we know and love With those of my kind Libations Sensations That stagger the mind I crawl like a viper Through these suburban streets Make love to these women Languid and bittersweet I'll rise when the sun goes down Cover every game in town A world of my own I'll make it my home sweet home CHORUS This is the night Of the expanding the man I take one last drag As I approach the stand I cried when I wrote this song Sue me if I play too long This brother is free I'll be what I want to be CHORUS