Most bands take a little while to find their definitive sound. Steely Dan, for the most part, was an exception. Their unique blend of complex yet smooth grooves and lyrical acidity made itself known on Can’t Buy A Thrill, their 1972 debut album.
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That said, one of the most enduring songs from that record, “Dirty Work”, sounds like the work of a different band, one more aligned with the soft rock of the time. An unusual lead singer had a great deal to do with the different feel.
A Spare Voice
Donald Fagen and Walter Becker thought they’d make their living writing songs for others. But a problem arose. The songs that they wrote proved a little bit too musically knotty and lyrically cynical for any interpreter to do them justice.
Hence, Fagen and Becker finally relented and decided they’d record the songs themselves. Since neither felt themselves to be a natural frontman to carry the weight of promoting such an enterprise, they put together a band. They dubbed it Steely Dan.
For the most part, Fagen handled the lead vocals on Can’t Buy A Thrill. In fact, there was plenty of evidence that he was up to that task. He sang on “Do It Again” and “Reelin’ In The Years”, huge hit singles from the record. But he worried about his vocal ability. That’s why the band hired a backup plan of sorts in David Palmer.
Down and “Dirty”
Palmer possessed a much more pop-friendly vocal style than Fagen. Hence, he was given the opportunity to sing lead on a few songs on the debut record. One of those songs was “Dirty Work”. The slow-moving, flugelhorn-laden, soulful track put Dan more in sensitive singer-songwriter territory than the jazz-rock hybrid most of the other songs perpetuated.
It’s fair to say that Palmer was the right choice for the track. His somewhat somber vocals tapped into the narrator’s frustration at being used. But he wasn’t very long for the band, even though “Dirty Work” turned into a reliable radio staple over the years. Fagen and Becker had moved on from him by the time they recorded Countdown to Ecstasy in 1973.
The fact that Steely Dan didn’t play “Dirty Work” live much perhaps testifies to the notion that Fagen and Becker felt it was unrepresentative of their work. Nonetheless, the song has outlived the band’s indifference. And it has kept Palmer’s mournful voice a part of pop culture.
Behind the Lyrics of “Dirty Work”
The narrator of “Dirty Work” laments his status as the pawn of a married woman having an affair. He’s aware of his usefulness to her. “So you find yourself somebody,” Palmer moans. “Who can do the job for free.” But he still can’t resist. “That’s the time you get me runnin’,” he sighs. “And you know I’ll be around.”
In the second verse, he likens his situation to someone in more chivalrous times, perhaps to hide from the tawdriness of it all. But he can’t escape the inevitable outcome. “I foresee terrible trouble,” he says. “But I stay here just the same.”
“Dirty Work” seems destined to continue confusing those who hear it for the first time and expect, upon seeing Steely Dan in the credits, to hear Donald Fagen’s voice. And it also provides an interesting look at an alternate songwriting path for the band’s two leaders.
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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