The 1977 Steely Dan song that kept David Crosby alive: “The music hung in there”
David Crosby struggled with addiction for a large proportion of his life.
Joel Bernstein, one of his close friends, once surmised that he had “Done more coke than anyone in this country.” His addiction got so out of hand that he became the image of a decaying rock rebel; however, the impact music could have never left him.
In an interview when he was at a low point, Crosby discussed his reasons for living and how music’s power was at the forefront of it. “Almost nothing makes people happy, man, there’s very little in this life that really makes people happy, and I can,” he explained, “I love doing that. I love it when we sing ‘Teach Your Children’ and get 20,000 people singing it. People are touched and moved by that. It changes them; it changes how they feel. They’re less alone.”
Despite having his addiction hanging over him and staring down the barrel of a five-year jail sentence, Crosby was able to portray the importance of music beautifully. He was likely able to do this because of how much of an impact music had also had on him. He once credited a specific Steely Dan song with keeping him alive when his rock n roll lifestyle utterly buried him.
There is no singular Steely Dan song that appeals to the public at large. They’re a band famed for their versatility, as they have a complex relationship with the art of creativity, approaching songs from different angles and experimenting with various techniques to make some of the most intricate songs music has to offer. The result is that different songs appeal to different people for various reasons, but the one that touched David Crosby was ‘Deacon Blues’.
Inspired by a love of sci-fi and taken from the band’s 1977 album Aja, it’s difficult to hear ‘Deacon Blues’ and not be immediately drawn to it. A jazz influence takes hold of the song, too, as Steely Dan continues to lean into various genres in the music they make.
Part of the song’s enduring appeal lies in the way it embraces flawed ambition instead of conventional triumph. Rather than celebrating success, ‘Deacon Blues’ finds dignity in chasing an ideal that may never fully materialise, giving voice to outsiders who refuse to let disappointment define them. It’s a perspective that has helped listeners project their own struggles onto the song for decades.
For someone like Crosby, that emotional honesty would have carried particular weight. He had experienced extraordinary artistic highs alongside devastating personal lows, making music that acknowledged vulnerability without surrendering to it especially resonant. Long before he spoke publicly about the song’s impact, ‘Deacon Blues’ had already become the kind of record capable of offering solace without pretending life’s difficulties could simply disappear.
“In the depths of my addiction, I let drugs become the most important thing in my life – more so than making music, more so than almost anything,” said Crosby when discussing the deep connection that he feels with the Steely Dan song. “But somehow, the music hung in there for me, and it’s what kept me alive. I was listening to this an awful lot at that time because it’s spectacularly strong: ‘They call Alabama the Crimson Tide / Call on me Deacon Blue’ That whole record helped me stay alive at that point.”
It’s sweet that even in his darkest moments, Crosby never forgot about the power that music has. He could continue to connect with it and, as a result, managed to find his way out of his addiction and the dark times that encompassed him. Steely Dan was a massive part of that, as their unique approach to songwriting and the excellent music they made really connected with Crosby.
