Steely Dan Sunday, “Miss Marlene” (2012)

What makes “Miss Marlene” a great song? Is it Donald Fagen’s “H-Gang” like nostalgia for the protagonist? Is it Donald Fagen’s perfect vocal arrangement and use of Steely Dan singers, Carolyn Leonhart-Escoffery, Cindy Mizelle and Catherine Russell? Is it Jon Herington perfect Walter Becker-like lead/solo guitar? Is it the tasty interplay of the pseudonym-ed drummer and bassist?

Whatever it is, the song flat out works.

Lyrically, Fagen seems to step back into a time machine as the subject matter could have easily been incorporated in The Nightfly or Morph The Cat albums. This is not a bad thing. Indeed, the song is arguably stronger than most of Morph.

If you had told me I’d be praising a song about bowling three years ago I would have told you to shut your dirty little mouth. Yet “Miss Marlene” finds Fagen firmly in control of his muse, as all the elements are here for a classic Fagen song.

Apparently Fagen and co-producer Michael Leonhart kept the stew hot for next week’s track, “Good Stuff.”

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Preston Frazier

Preston Frazier is a bass-playing lawyer living in Atlanta. He is the author of 'Toto: The Band, Not the Dog,' a look at his favorite band. Frazier hosts the music-focused Slang of Ages Podcast and regularly writes about his favorite music on slangofages.com. He can be reached at [email protected]; follow him on Twitter: @slangofages.

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