Steely Dan - Black Cow + Aja (from their 1977 album Aja) (HQ Audio)

Black Cow 00:00
Aja 05:08

Steely Dan is an American rock band that was formed in 1972. The band’s sixth studio album, Aja, was released on September 23, 1977. The album was produced by Steely Dan’s longtime producer Gary Katz and features contributions from nearly 40 musicians.

The album’s title track, Aja, is a jazz rock song with elements of jazz fusion and progressive rock. The album peaked at number three on the Top LPs & Tape chart, and number five on the Billboard 200, ultimately becoming Steely Dan’s most commercially successful release. The album was also nominated for several Grammy Awards, winning one for Best Engineered Recording – Non-Classical.

Black Cow has a laid-back sound, sophisticated chord progressions, and catchy melody. The lyrics of the song focus on a man’s struggle to get over a past relationship. The song has a number of lyrical interpretations, including a troubled relationship, an ode to self-doubt, a commentary on nightlife, and a reference to Hindu culture (cows are sacred). The song could also be about Thelonious Monk, the American jazz composer who is often regarded as the father of bebop. In the Classic Albums episode on the album Aja, Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, perhaps showing their wry sense of humour, described the lyric as “self-explanatory,” but did offer some insight as to what they had in mind. “It starts out with this guy talking about this girl he used to be involved with,” Fagan said. “She’s sitting at a counter, and he describes her behaviour and habits, and out of that you begin to see her character and their relationship.” The song was never released as a single, but it earned lots of airplay on FM radio and became a Steely Dan favourite, with the band often playing it in concert.

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