The Steely Dan song that exposed the exploitation of the movie industry
Steely Dan committed much of their time to songwriting and production early in their career. After their first few albums, they simply stopped touring and became a studio band instead. This was unconventional at the time but led to some of their most interesting and listened-to music ever.
Not only did Steely Dan use various instruments and production methods when putting their songs together, but their time off the road meant they could put a lot of thought into the topics they were interested in writing about. This sometimes led to poorly executed attempts at parody, such as with ‘Slang of Ages’, but in other instances, it could produce thought-provoking commentaries on various aspects of everyday life.
‘Peg’ was the first single from the band’s sixth studio album, Aja. It was trendy, which will be in part because of the stellar list of musicians who worked on the song. Michael McDonald sang backing vocals, and Jay Graydon performed the solos. He later said that the band brought in about seven or eight guitarists to try the solo to ensure it was done correctly. This intimate attention to detail led to the song being well-produced and mastered.
Another reason people were drawn to the song, though, was the interesting subject matter, which seems to draw attention to corruption and exploitation within the film industry. It discusses the main character in the song ‘Peg’ who is climbing the ladder in the film industry but is also slowly realising that it might not be as glamorous as she’d like.
The song is sung from the point of view of Peg’s ex-boyfriend, whom she broke up with because he couldn’t help her in her career. It starts with him watching Peg pose for a racy photoshoot, and then later in the track, it’s him reading an old letter from her and reminiscing about their time together.
“Imagine that ‘Peg’ takes place at a seedy photo shoot in LA in the 1950s,” said songwriter Donald Fagen, “All of the lyrics are from the perspective of the jilted boyfriend, who was still hanging around. The scene is seedy because show business is seedy. Even what most people think are the heights of show business still has the seediness of a vaudeville dressing room.”
Many people think Peg is an actor in the adult film industry, which wouldn’t be surprising, given the name of the band comes from William S. Borrough’s controversial novel Naked Lunch. That being said, there is no reason to believe that Peg is not just a regular actor, especially given how prominent corruption and exploitation are in the film industry today, but, especially in the 1950s,
It’s hardly a surprise that this is what Steely Dan have written about, given so many of their songs touch upon the likes of drugs, dark introspection and porn. However, calling out the film industry in the way do on ‘Peg’ was a bold move, even for a band that made the brash decision to stop touring.
