The Steely Dan song that got Mac DeMarco into “dad rock”
Fusing sardonic lyrics with catchy music and heady jazz twists, Steely Dan struck gold with their formula. Able to appeal to the most learned music consumers and the masses with their songs, the group quickly rose as one of the most influential outfits of their day following the release of their 1972 debut album, Can’t Buy A Thrill. Arriving with tracks such as ‘Do It Again’ and ‘Reelin’ In the Years’, the record set a precedent for the refined jazz-rock fusion to come, culminating in their masterpiece, 1977’s Aja.
There are many different facets to attract fans to Steely Dan. Their generally misanthropic outlook, which took the baton from Frank Zappa and The Fugs, always made them stand out from the countercultural crowd, despite band leaders Walter Becker and Donald Fagen aesthetically looking like hippies. Naturally, this sneering and often comedic outlook on the world fed into their work, creating an extensive list of memorable junctures.
For instance, ‘Reelin’ in the Years’ peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. Yet, the incredibly catchy essence of the music worked well to shroud the song’s sarcastic discussion of an ex, with the subtle lyrics going over the heads of many mainstream listeners. Elsewhere, a song like ‘Everything You Did’ from 1976’s The Royal Scam is another excellent example of their formula, wherein their infectious grooves are underpinned by wry lyricism, which in this case features a sly dig at the Eagles: “Turn up the Eagles, the neighbours are listening”.
This intelligence has meant that Steely Dan’s music has stood the test of time, and over the past decade or so, they found love with a new generation of listeners who had their own caustic slacker heroes. The most prominent of these is Canadian musician Mac DeMarco, and unsurprisingly, his stoned form of yacht rock is greatly inspired by Becker and Fagen.
When speaking to The Guardian in 2015, DeMarco picked out the most important songs of his life and named Steely Dan’s ‘Peg’ from Aja as the piece that got him into “dad rock”. He also noted that his music is “pulled between both sides”, just like Becker and Fagen’s.
DeMarco said: “This is the kind of music I listen to now, more or less. It’s very different to the sad teenager music I used to listen to – a shift into full-blown session-musician dad rock. Now that I think about it, my own music is pulled between both sides. I’m not afraid to play some stupid guitar solo, but at the same time, I’ll make a cutesy love song or whatever. I like Steely Dan’s funny, jerky, intellectual New York lyrics. I’d heard them in the past, but ‘Peg’ was the song that drew me in. A friend gave me the album Aja, and I was like, all right! Weird shit!”
Listen to ‘Peg’ below.
