Steely Dan — King Of The World
Album: Countdown to EcstasyAvg rating:
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Total ratings: 972
Length: 4:54
Plays (last 30 days): 2
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Hello one and all
Was it you I used to know
Can't you hear me call
On this old ham radio
All I got to say
I'm alive and feeling fine
If you come my way
You can share my poison wine
No marigolds in the promised land
There's a hole in the ground
Where they used to grow
Any man left on the Rio Grande
Is the king of the world
As far as I know
I don't want your bread
I don't need your helping hand
I can't be no savage
I can't be no highwayman
Show me where you are
You and I will spend this day
Driving in my car
Through the ruins of Santa Fe
No marigolds in the promised land
There's a hole in the ground
Where they used to grow
Any man left on the Rio Grande
Is the king of the world
As far as I know
I'm reading last year's papers
Although I don't know why
Assassins cons and rapers
Might as well die
If you come around
No more pain and no regrets
Watch the sun go brown
Smoking cobalt cigarettes
There's no need to hide
Taking things the easy way
If I stay inside
I might live til Saturday
No marigolds in the promised land
There's a hole in the ground
Where they used to grow
Any man left on the Rio Grande
Is the king of the world
As far as I know
Was it you I used to know
Can't you hear me call
On this old ham radio
All I got to say
I'm alive and feeling fine
If you come my way
You can share my poison wine
No marigolds in the promised land
There's a hole in the ground
Where they used to grow
Any man left on the Rio Grande
Is the king of the world
As far as I know
I don't want your bread
I don't need your helping hand
I can't be no savage
I can't be no highwayman
Show me where you are
You and I will spend this day
Driving in my car
Through the ruins of Santa Fe
No marigolds in the promised land
There's a hole in the ground
Where they used to grow
Any man left on the Rio Grande
Is the king of the world
As far as I know
I'm reading last year's papers
Although I don't know why
Assassins cons and rapers
Might as well die
If you come around
No more pain and no regrets
Watch the sun go brown
Smoking cobalt cigarettes
There's no need to hide
Taking things the easy way
If I stay inside
I might live til Saturday
No marigolds in the promised land
There's a hole in the ground
Where they used to grow
Any man left on the Rio Grande
Is the king of the world
As far as I know
Comments (48)add comment
Wild, trippy, time-machine song, for sure -- seems like just yesterday I was in my old room at home on a lazy Saturday morning and this song came out of the little Sony transistor perched on my bedside table among my model rockets and schoolbooks... BLEW ME AWAY!
More Steely Dan please!! There are SO many exceptional tunes worthy of RP!! I challenge anyone to listen to Bodhisattva and not have the volume maxed out by the end! Try it!
Thanks for playing Steely Dildo
They’re the best.
Music, new or old, is the best on RP.
Thank you Mr William and crew.
They’re the best.
Music, new or old, is the best on RP.
Thank you Mr William and crew.
Dinges,_the_Dude wrote:
Hurry up & do something about it!
I see I rated this song an 8. Shame on me!
Hurry up & do something about it!
I see I rated this song an 8. Shame on me!
The Dan..!!
indatube1 wrote:
Yep, yep, yep. One of the few bands I can listen to for hours straight, and miss listening to them a week later. Seems there is always something I missed that I get to discover.
Perfect! Very well put!
Yep, yep, yep. One of the few bands I can listen to for hours straight, and miss listening to them a week later. Seems there is always something I missed that I get to discover.
Perfect! Very well put!
More Dan!
One of my favorites from Steely Dan. Thanks for playing this!
Steely Dan,,,,Excellent Quality Music,,,,no matter what tune it is!
Thanks for playing Steely Dan to kick off my day. I just saw the band (Donald Fagan & the band he has together) in Colorado Springs a couple of months ago. I've been a fan since the first album but this was the first time I've seem them live. Absolutely killer show!
MayBaby wrote:
Same here. I loved this one back in the day, and appreciate the musicianship even more now.
Wow, I just love this. Bumping it from an 8 to a 9.
Same here. I loved this one back in the day, and appreciate the musicianship even more now.
ImaOldman wrote:
Yep, yep, yep. One of the few bands I can listen to for hours straight, and miss listening to them a week later. Seems there is always something I missed that I get to discover.
I have all the Steely Dan recordings on my iTunes and have had them on shuffle for the last few days. They contain, IMHO, some of the finest guitar work ever recorded, song after song. Just a truly remarkable body of work all the way around, musicianship, production, recording, etc.
Yep, yep, yep. One of the few bands I can listen to for hours straight, and miss listening to them a week later. Seems there is always something I missed that I get to discover.
I saw Joe Jackson in concert a few weeks back. He was great - seriously great. He did this song. Knocked me off my seat. Did it sincere justice. You can tell when an artist really likes something by another artist.
I have all the Steely Dan recordings on my iTunes and have had them on shuffle for the last few days. They contain, IMHO, some of the finest guitar work ever recorded, song after song. Just a truly remarkable body of work all the way around, musicianship, production, recording, etc.
Wow, I just love this. Bumping it from an 8 to a 9.
ddpakey wrote:
I feel a deep affinity with Steely Dan, & think I know what they're getting at in this case. I believe the synth is meant to evoke sci-fi music such as the theme to Star Trek or other sci-fi films of the era, many of which dealt with the end of the human race in a nuclear apocalypse. Thus the cosmic is linked with the particular experience of one human who may be the last living person, & who accepts both his fate & the fate of the human race, & who searches for someone with whom to take one last cruise, sharing radioactive wine & cigarettes.
Nothing Steely Dan has done sounds dated to me. They were a totally unique band that has held up very well, IMHO. If only I could convince Bill to have a Steely Dan Mix channel on the RP app!
Proclivities wrote:
Most of their stuff sounds pretty dated (as in "very-much-of-its-time") to me - especially their first few albums. That doesn't make it bad, even if it is kind of a goofy sounding keyboard on this number.
Most of their stuff sounds pretty dated (as in "very-much-of-its-time") to me - especially their first few albums. That doesn't make it bad, even if it is kind of a goofy sounding keyboard on this number.
Why do I always think of Game Show music when I hear the hook on this song? I expect to see Gene Rayburn walk out with his long microphone any minute now.
pinto wrote:
And this is a GREAT album. Maybe their best. It's aged well.
Agreed!!!!
And this is a GREAT album. Maybe their best. It's aged well.
Agreed!!!!
Funkybro wrote:
Hard to believe Skunk Baxter transitioned to a NSA Security Analyst....https://www.mspinsights.com/doc/what-a-hippie-rock-guitarist-with-top-secret-clearances-has-to-do-with-managed-services-0001
what? a bit weird, but someone's gotta do it as long as it's on the up and up. i don't have high trust levels for "security analysts"
still weird
Hard to believe Skunk Baxter transitioned to a NSA Security Analyst....https://www.mspinsights.com/doc/what-a-hippie-rock-guitarist-with-top-secret-clearances-has-to-do-with-managed-services-0001
what? a bit weird, but someone's gotta do it as long as it's on the up and up. i don't have high trust levels for "security analysts"
still weird
pinto wrote:
Agreed. Excellent album. Great guitar work from Denny Dias and Skunk Baxter.
Hard to believe Skunk Baxter transitioned to a NSA Security Analyst....https://www.mspinsights.com/doc/what-a-hippie-rock-guitarist-with-top-secret-clearances-has-to-do-with-managed-services-0001
Agreed. Excellent album. Great guitar work from Denny Dias and Skunk Baxter.
Hard to believe Skunk Baxter transitioned to a NSA Security Analyst....https://www.mspinsights.com/doc/what-a-hippie-rock-guitarist-with-top-secret-clearances-has-to-do-with-managed-services-0001
idiot_wind wrote:
which is what drives me to love this song as much as I do.
There's something hooky/weird/unnerving about those keyboard chords...Monk-like?
which is what drives me to love this song as much as I do.
RIP Walter Becker, who apparently wrote most if not all of Steely Dan's trippy, cryptic, iconic lyrics, & Thanks to RP for keeping it all alive!
fraserji wrote:
And we lost a great one in Walter.
Soundtrack of my 20's. Great song, great album, great band.
And we lost a great one in Walter.
coloradojohn wrote:
along with the cosmic jam of The Dan we are presented with another "magical pass" by RP's Yaqi in Chief coloradojohn!
I had to think of:
Man, The Dan can JAM! Yeah! Been awhile since I heard this amazing song. Really fabulous work in every regard; dig the spacey keyboards (early Kansas featured some in this vein), love the fluid guitars and incredible drumming, too. Saw 'em at Red Rocks in 2012, and as we arrived, just as the dancing bear shroom chocolates kicked in, of course — they opened with "Your Gold Teeth."
along with the cosmic jam of The Dan we are presented with another "magical pass" by RP's Yaqi in Chief coloradojohn!
I had to think of:
Carlos Castaneda (December 25, 1925–April 27, 1998) was an American author with a Ph.D. in anthropology.
Starting with The Teachings of Don Juan in 1968, Castaneda wrote a series of books that describe his training in shamanism, particularly with a group whose lineage descended from the Toltecs. The books, narrated in the first person, relate his experiences under the tutelage of a Yaqui "Man of Knowledge" named don Juan Matus.
Fantastic
aspicer wrote:
A lot of their stuff sounds pretty dated (as in "very-much-of-its-time") to me - especially their first few albums. After all, there were some different production methods and musical trends in the early '70s. That doesn't make it bad, even if it is kind of a goofy-sounding keyboard on this number.
A pleasant track, but the keyboards really make it sound dated.
A lot of their stuff sounds pretty dated (as in "very-much-of-its-time") to me - especially their first few albums. After all, there were some different production methods and musical trends in the early '70s. That doesn't make it bad, even if it is kind of a goofy-sounding keyboard on this number.
There's something hooky/weird/unnerving about those keyboard chords...Monk-like?
aspicer wrote:
Just the keyboards?
It is Steely Dan. The nostalgia factor is in over-drive.
Incidentally, the keyboard bit I just heard would likely be performed with an electric guitar these days.
A pleasant track, but the keyboards really make it sound dated.
Just the keyboards?
It is Steely Dan. The nostalgia factor is in over-drive.
Incidentally, the keyboard bit I just heard would likely be performed with an electric guitar these days.
dragon1952 wrote:
Like 45 yrs dated? I mean, it's not like this was just released :^ /
Exactly! So many other better SD tunes I'd rather here...
Like 45 yrs dated? I mean, it's not like this was just released :^ /
Exactly! So many other better SD tunes I'd rather here...
Soundtrack of my 20's. Great song, great album, great band.
aspicer wrote:
Like 45 yrs dated? I mean, it's not like this was just released :^ /
A pleasant track, but the keyboards really make it sound dated.
Like 45 yrs dated? I mean, it's not like this was just released :^ /
A pleasant track, but the keyboards really make it sound dated.
kurtster wrote:
And this is a GREAT album. Maybe their best. It's aged well.
One of my favorite Dan songs !
And this is a GREAT album. Maybe their best. It's aged well.
One of my favorite Dan songs !
gubbin wrote:
Slug Slime?!!
That's it, I'm sending Vinny over to pay you a visit! ; )
Steely Dan? Time to change stations. I'm sure I could appreciate their technical expertise and jazzy chords and time signatures, and how cool it is that they named themselves for a sex toy from a Burroughs novel, but ICK.
They are as slug slime against my ears.
They are as slug slime against my ears.
Slug Slime?!!
That's it, I'm sending Vinny over to pay you a visit! ; )
The instrumental section is to be accompanied by a guy in a cardigan jumping onto a car bonnet.
Steely Dan? Time to change stations. I'm sure I could appreciate their technical expertise and jazzy chords and time signatures, and how cool it is that they named themselves for a sex toy from a Burroughs novel, but ICK.
They are as slug slime against my ears.
Some of y'all don't like my fave bands either.
They are as slug slime against my ears.
Some of y'all don't like my fave bands either.
Man, The Dan can JAM! Yeah! Been awhile since I heard this amazing song. Really fabulous work in every regard; dig the spacey keyboards (early Kansas featured some in this vein), love the fluid guitars and incredible drumming, too. Saw 'em at Red Rocks in 2012, and as we arrived, just as the dancing bear shroom chocolates kicked in, of course — they opened with "Your Gold Teeth."
Pretty awesome guitar and bass on this
Oh man..... this sends me way back!
On_The_Beach wrote:
Agreed. Excellent album. Great guitar work from Denny Dias and Skunk Baxter.
Thanks for adding another track from my fave Dan album. : )
Agreed. Excellent album. Great guitar work from Denny Dias and Skunk Baxter.
Haven't heard this in ages.
Thanks for adding another track from my fave Dan album. : )
What? The first?
A lot of their stuff sounds pretty dated (as in "very-much-of-its-time") to me - especially their first few albums. After all, there were some different production methods and musical trends in the early '70s. That doesn't make it bad, even if it is kind of a goofy-sounding keyboard on this number.
I believe the keyboard sound was intentionally made to sound science-fictiony, like the theme song of the original Star Trek, in order to invoke the science-fiction aspects of nuclear war as perceived during that era. So a song written in 1973 was intentionally made to invoke 1966.