Monkey In Your Soul

Where's that fatback chord I found?

Album: Pretzel Logic

Track Number: 11

I have no set order I promised myself I’d write these reviews in, though I am trying to keep it fairly “random,” in as much as a Danaddled mind can commit to true randomness. But I did promise myself I wouldn’t front load my schedule with bangers to keep myself challenged. You might find yourself challenged, too, by “Monkey In Your Soul,” a short number that rounds out 1974’s Pretzel Logic. You probably won’t find this track on many best-of lists, and only a fool would try to determine the “worst” Steely Dan song, as if any of them could actually have a negative valence rather than just being the forgotten track at the bottom of the pile. Which “Monkey In Your Soul” kind of is.

There are Steely Dan songs that sound like Steely Dan, and then there are Steely Dan songs that sound like the 70s. This is, in the author’s opinion, the latter. The opening begins with a simple chord strummed on a slightly distorted guitar panned right. Next, a clap, with the same roomy reverb, establishing the dimensions of the space we’re in. Then a clean, bluesy guitar bends into existence on the left channel, grounding us. DF’s ever-present Rhodes enters the scene a little later, somewhat attached to and sometimes playing against the dirty guitar and horns that live stage right - but first, the weird laryngitic star of the show coughs in: a grumbly bassline that carries the song and really turns up the sleaze.

Sleaze is a primary axis on which all Steely Dan songs can be placed. It’s a hard thing to quantify exactly, but it’s determined by lyrics, music, and importantly, the irony between them. Certain Steely Dan themes are hallmarks of sleaze: drugs & addiction, gambling, adultery (and anything else involving sex, really, since there’s not really a notion of “normal” sex in the Daniverse), passionate sax solos, edgy guitar that wants to break out of the song. All Steely Dan tracks have some sleaze - it’s hard to find a true 0. But to give you a sense of where I rank things: a sweet ballad like “Brooklyn” is probably closer to the low end of the spectrum, maybe a 1, whereas a song like “Green Earrings” is practically dripping in it at 8 or 9.

So: a song about addiction, about someone who doesn’t want to stick around to watch someone destroy themselves, with a bass line that calls attention to itself like a fatback drunk kicking open the saloon doors: pretty sleazy. I’m inclined to think this was a Becker joint initially, which would explain the bass choice as well. Sometimes addiction and loserdom can be tragic and operatic (c.f. Deacon Blues), but other times, it’s just pure sleaze. Sometimes you have a monkey in your soul. I think the short length of the song speaks to the duo’s taste: they know that if you’re going to serve a plate of sleaze, you keep the portion size small.