“We’ll Build a World Together”: Intimacy, Alienation, and Donald Fagen’s Voice
2022; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 9; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/19401159.2022.2008157
ISSN1940-1167
Autores Tópico(s)Musicology and Musical Analysis
ResumoDonald Fagen’s voice is Steely Dan’s unifying thread, yet its distinctive sound has persistently eluded scholarly inquiry. In this article, I examine some defining features of Fagen’s voice while unpacking its role in Steely Dan’s enticing soundscapes. These soundscapes have a unique capacity to draw listeners in while simultaneously blinding them to the routinely unsavory goings-on of Steely Dan’s narrative worlds – a paradoxical esthetic ideology I call intimate alienation. I examine how “intimacy” and “alienation” might interact in Fagen’s voice and Steely Dan’s music more generally, particularly as regards their history of controversial engagement with issues of gender and race.
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