“Rose Darling”—third song, side one of Katy Lied (1975)

There's no shortage of pop songs about masturbation, but this one is my favorite, as it's also one of my favorites of Steely Dan's straightforward “love” songs—it's just quite lovely—so much so, in fact, that I've always kind of ignored the lyrics, and glossed over that first, somewhat arresting image: “Snake Mary.” I believe Fagen had Jewish parents, not sure about Becker, but not being a hardwired Catholic helps you spotlight the weirdness of imagery like the Virgin Mary stepping on a snake, that represents Satan—and I don't think: Satan, snake, sexually aroused male, here, is a stretch for anybody. As masturbation is the major social topic among young boys, it's rather eyeopening to discover that the undeniable act is considered a mortal sin for some of your peers (and as complicated as that is, it's nothing compared to the convoluted dynamics you later discover, that the entire foundation of the church is built around the oppression of women). The character in this song has come to terms with his love affair with “Rosy Palm (and her five sisters)” by recognizing that Snake Mary is merely human, too—and that he's freed of her watchful eye late at night, when Mary dreams of “Detroit, with lots of money in the bank.” That's just an amazing, weird image, which I'm no doubt getting wrong, but love anyway (which is why I love Steely Dan). (By the way, there are a couple other notable odes to Rosy Palm a few years later—Jackson Browne, Toto, and I'm sure, others.) Of course, then, a line like: “The spore is on the wind tonight/You won't feel it 'til it grows” gets a bit literal, but I'm okay with them spelling it out, because musically the song is so perfect. It's a beautiful piano song, what all jazz pop should aspire to, this one—and it sounds like it wants to be a radio hit, rushing in at three minutes, which also mimics the sexual frenzy. There is literally no breath taken between first and second verse, nor even between the chorus and the third verse and chorus—which is then followed by a guitar solo that is so perfunctory (for a SD song) and effortless sounding, I'm convinced it was conceived to express sexual release and ejaculation, without being gross about it (like, for example, Los Marauders' hilarious “You Make Me Cum In My Pants!”). You can just hear the character's heavy breathing then, followed by the slowing of the heartbeat, calm, relaxation, and untroubled sleep.

—Randy Russell 12.22.19