COVER OF THE WEEK

Cover # 25 is "Everything Must Go" (2003), the final record from Steely Dan. Final? Well, that's what some of the diehard fans read into the title. It didn't help that Steely Dan - i.e. Walter Becker and Donald Fagen insisted that there is more to come.

What you do get is an album that has a theme running through the songs. From the opening lines of the first track; "attention all shoppers, it's Cancellation Day, yes the big adios, is just a few hours away", to the finishing song's "'cause we're going out of business, everything must go", it is a record about loss. About time being up. Getting rid of the old.

The cover is part of the theme:. A street peddler selling his cheap watches and jewelry. The photo cut so that only half his face is visible, and that half of the face covered with his hand. He looks tired. He's probably ready to give you a good price if you just buy something off of him. He's fed up.

However, the focus is not on the person but what he's selling. The watches being present all through the booklet, with a new clock face accompanying each lyric, counting down the record. Time's almost up...

In contrast to this bleak theme, the music itself stands out as being the first "band effort" in years from the Steely Dan. Abandoning the usual way of recording, Donald and Walter did not pick new musicians for each track. Instead they stuck with the same musicians for the whole album. And not only that. They also recorded much of it "live" in the studio, giving this record a warmer and more personal feel.

Donald Fagen and Walter Becker arent much for explaining the music they make, the lyrics they write:
"It's really not my place to analyze this music.... We have other people doing it." - Donald Fagen
(And if you don't believe him go check this site: http://www.feverdreams.net/frontdoor.html)

"It's a goddamn party record.... The lyrics are sparkling and bright and scintillating, even the grim, depressing ones - of which lord knows there's plenty." - Walter Becker.

N.S.