Steely Dan

Well this is weird. I meant to sit down and write about Florence + The Machine and now I am writing about Steely Dan. Bear with me here for a moment. I might even get some Kate Bush in here. 

First I am stuck by the limited number of cultural references I  actually have in my life. Buffy being the primary influence of course, but the lack of others seems kind of sad. This will become evident if you actually keep reading. 

So Florence + The Machine were on Saturday Night Live last week…maybe the week before…. TiVo….anyway, I like her. I heard Dog Days Are Over on KCRW in late 2009.When I first listened to the song all I could picture was Buffy.  

Buffy and Zombies. 

In London. 

When I listen to the song I see The Slayer running through a green field. Running fast, but happy, smiling. Then in the distance I can see a large city. It’s surrounded by a green belt. Then there is a zombie. Then another. They are the slow kind. Buffy does not care. The Slayer has got to get where The Slayer has got to go!  

Buffy plows through them with her super powers, ripping off their stupid zombie heads without even slowing down. Carnage to the beat of the song. She keeps running, faster now, entering the center of the city and then there are way more zombies. Buffy keeps on running and pillaging. At one point the song slows down and I see in slow motion a zombie head flying up in the air, then an arm, then a leg. Buffy it totally smiling still. You know that smile. That calm weird relaxed happy smile she had in the very last moment of the very last scene after Sunnydale had been destroyed. 

Finest moment of television history. 

Oh hi Faith! Yes Faith is on Oxford Street dancing to her own zombie death beat by the way.

Five by five. 

Oh shit. I have become one of those Steely Dan "My Old School" people. You know what I mean right? There are all these sad lost old people stuck in a period that was "their time". Usually college or a backpack trip to Europe when they lost their virginity. They still talk about that tribe of friends from back then, actually go to their reunions, give money to their school, get drunk and dance to whatever crap music was playing back then. Fuck me. 

No, no, no, Buffy is not like that for me. Really. Anyway, he said, changing the subject quickly, Florence + The Machine were on SNL last week. Her performance was amazing. She is so fantastic live. But now having bought the album I must say it's all kind of the same song. 

I want to hold a candle up high and sing along and cry while and I am blasted by a tornado of vocal energy and a wall of giant sound. This is anthem music. Yes, its anthem music with a harp, but still, it’s too much. I like her, but she should not do it this way. It’s almost impolite. 

I can’t help but think about another female singer from the UK who knew better. Kate Bush? Why on earth would I think of Kate Bush here? Because I am gay and every gay man in the universe loves  "The Man With The Child In His Eyes!?!?!?   Well, OK, every gay man on earth does love that song, but Kate Bush has nothing to do with this, you judgmental homophobe. 

I really am trying to bring this full circle so stay with me. 

Florence has a great voice, a super-powerful voice in fact. She can evoke weird Celtic energy even while referencing American soul music, but it’s just too bombastic. There is no subtly. It’s not polite to use your super powers all the time. 

If we go back to ancient times, before Steely Dan, there was a woman who had even stronger super powers, and a pretty name.

She wanted that wall of sound around her that Florence uses now, but she was a mature performer at birth. She knew just how far to push it. She could show you how much power she had with a single phrase, but never crossed the line. She took us just up to the limit and then backed off. What class. What style. This is what it really means to have super powers. 

Go now, buy I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself on iTunes and just....listen. Listen to the sound of super powers under control. Picture a slow, gentle walk through Hyde Park. Buffy is smiling. That same smile. She is walking slowly, like the zombies.  She pulls off an arm here, a leg there, some fingers, and gently tosses them in the air. It is summer time and no one is in a hurry.  

“Oh hi Faith!” 
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"B! Toss that one over here and I’ll break its neck."

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"Five by Five."

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