Editing Steely Dan (section)

==Musical and lyrical style==
===Music===
====Overall sound====
Steely Dan's albums are notable for the characteristically 'warm' and 'dry' production sound, and the sparing use of [[Echo (phenomenon)|echo]] and [[reverberation]].{{Citation needed|reason=Reliable source needed for the entire section|date=May 2022}}

====Backing vocals====
Becker and Fagen favored a distinctly soul-influenced style of backing vocals, which after the first few albums were almost always performed by a female chorus (although [[Michael McDonald (musician)|Michael McDonald]] features prominently on several tracks, including the 1975 song "Black Friday" and the 1977 song "[[Peg (song)|Peg]]"). [[Venetta Fields]], [[Sherlie Matthews]] and [[Clydie King]] were the preferred trio for backing vocals on the group's late 1970s albums.<ref>[http://banyantrees.net/collector/session.html Steely Dan Session Players] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050216013313/http://www.banyantrees.net/collector/session.html |date=February 16, 2005 }}, Under the Banyan Trees with Steely Dan (archives). Retrieved January 18, 2007</ref> Other backing vocalists include [[Timothy B. Schmit]], [[Tawatha Agee]], [[Carolyn Leonhart]], [[Janice Pendarvis]],  [[Catherine Russell (singer)|Catherine Russell]], [[Patti Austin]] and [[Valerie Simpson]].{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

====Horns====
Horn arrangements have been used on songs from all Steely Dan albums. They typically feature instruments such as trumpets, [[trombone]]s and saxophones, although they have also used other instruments, such as [[flute]]s and [[clarinet]]s.  On their earlier albums Steely Dan featured guest arrangers and on their later albums the arrangement work is credited to Fagen.{{fact|date=July 2023}}

====Composition and chord use====
Steely Dan  use the add 2 chord, a type of [[added tone chord]], which they nicknamed the "mu major". The mu major chord differs from a [[Suspended chord|suspended second (sus2)]] chord, as suspended chords do not contain the [[major third|major]] (or [[minor third|minor]]) third.<ref name=mumajorchord_1>{{cite web|url= http://www.steelydan.com/songbook.html|title= Intro to the Steely Dan Song Book|access-date= February 10, 2010|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100103160023/http://steelydan.com/songbook.html|archive-date= January 3, 2010|url-status= dead}}</ref><ref name=mumajorchord_2>{{cite web |url= http://www.hakwright.co.uk/steelydan/mu-major.html|title= Explanation of the Steely Dan Mu Major Chord|access-date=February 10, 2010}}</ref><ref name=mumajorchord_3>{{cite web |url= http://www.jazzguitar.be/steely_dan_chords.html|title= Steely Dan Chords|access-date=January 20, 2010}}</ref> In a 1989 interview, [[Walter Becker]] explained that the use of the chord developed from trying to enrich the sound of a major chord without making it into a "jazz chord".<ref name="Zollo">[http://www.granatino.com/sdresource/14zollo.htm "Winter 1989 interview with Walter Becker"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050210033218/http://www.granatino.com/sdresource/14zollo.htm |date=February 10, 2005 }}, ''Metal Leg: The Steely Dan Magazine'', Issue 14, Fall 1990.</ref> In the ''Steely Dan Songbook'', Becker and Donald Fagen state that "[[Inversion (music)|inversions]] of the mu major may be formed in the usual manner with one caveat: the voicing of the second and third scale tones, which is the essence of the chord's appeal, should always occur as a whole tone [[consonance and dissonance|dissonance]]."<ref name="Intro">Becker and Fagen. [https://sdarchive.com/songbook.html "Intro to the Steely Dan Song Book "], ''SteelyDan.com''. Posted 05/96.</ref>

===Lyrics===
{{Original research section|date=October 2017}}
Steely Dan's lyrics are known for their cryptic nature, often laden with irony and containing cynical or philosophical themes. Much of the band's lyricism contains subtle and encoded references, unusual (and sometimes original) slang expressions, and a wide variety of "word games". The obscure and sometimes teasing lyrics have given rise to considerable efforts by fans to explain the "inner meaning" of certain songs.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.steelydandictionary.com/|title= The Steely Dan Dictionary|access-date=December 21, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://cordmeyer.spymac.com/|title=Welcome page|access-date=March 10, 2015|archive-date=January 23, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090123141320/http://cordmeyer.spymac.com/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Jazz is a recurring theme, and there are numerous other film, television and literary references and allusions, such as "Home at Last" (from ''Aja''), which was inspired by [[Homer]]'s ''[[Odyssey]]''.<ref>{{cite AV media | people = Alan Lewens (Director) | date = 2000 | title = Classic Albums: Steely Dan: Aja | medium = television episode}}</ref>

Lyrical subjects are diverse, but in Becker and Fagen's basic approach, they often create fictional [[persona]]e that participate in a narrative or situation. The duo have said that in retrospect, most of their albums have a "feel" of either Los Angeles or New York City, the two main cities where Becker and Fagen lived and worked. Characters appear in their songs that evoke these cities, such as in ''Aja''{{'}}s title track, which in the opinion of Alex Pappademas, co-author of ''Quantum Criminals,''  is a personification of Los Angeles.<ref name="Pappademas">{{Cite book |last1=Pappademas |first1=Alex |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1373980134 |title=Quantum criminals ramblers, wild gamblers, and other sole survivors from the songs of Steely Dan |last2=LeMay |first2=Joan |date=2023 |publisher=[[University of Texas Press]] |isbn=9781477324998 |edition=1st |location=Austin |pages= |oclc=1373980134}}</ref>{{rp|169–170}} In the song "Everyone's Gone to the Movies", the line "I know you're used to 16 or more, sorry we only have eight" refers not to the count of some article, but to [[8 mm film]], which was lower quality than 16&nbsp;mm or larger formats and often used for [[pornography]], underscoring the illicitness of Mr. LaPage's movie parties.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/song/everyones-gone-to-the-movies-mt0005016727 |title=Steely Dan - Everyone's Gone to the Movies - Overview |last=Mason |first=Stewart |work=Allmusic.com |access-date=August 5, 2021 }}</ref> 

Many of the individuals in the band's lyrics are impulsive people in denial.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pappademas |first=Alex |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1373980134 |title=Quantum criminals ramblers, wild gamblers, and other sole survivors from the songs of Steely Dan |date=2023 |others=Joan LeMay |isbn=978-1-4773-2746-3 |edition=1st |location=Austin |oclc=1373980134}}</ref> Some{{who|date=July 2023}} have argued that Steely Dan never wrote a genuine love song, instead dealing with personal passion in the guise of a destructive obsession.<ref name="Mp3.com">{{cite web|url= http://www.granatino.com/sdresource/060302%20mp3%20com.htm|title= Interview with Donald Fagen|access-date= December 21, 2006|last= Rolls|first= Chris|date= March 2, 2006|work= [[MP3.com]]|url-status= dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070310152539/http://www.granatino.com/sdresource/060302%20mp3%20com.htm|archive-date= March 10, 2007|df= mdy-all}}</ref>  Many of their songs concern love, but typical of Steely Dan songs is an ironic or disturbing twist in the lyrics that reveals a darker reality. For example, expressed "love" is actually about prostitution ("Pearl of the Quarter"), incest ("[[Cousin Dupree]]"), pornography ("Everyone's Gone to the Movies"), or some other taboo subject.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/ae/music/2014/08/07/Crunching-on-Steely-Dan-s-Pretzel-Logic/stories/201408070131|title=Uncovering the mysteries of Steely Dan|work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|access-date=November 5, 2017|language=en}}</ref> However, some of their demo-era recordings show Fagen and Becker expressing romance, including "This Seat's Been Taken", "Oh, Wow, It's You" and "Come Back Baby".