Earlier entries of this series can be found here: archive.
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“All night long/ We would sing that stupid song/ And every word we sang I knew was true”
112. Steely Dan – Doctor Wu
The facts:
Year: 1975.
Genre: Jazz rock.
Country: United States of America.
Album: Katy Lied.
Acclaimed Music ranking: #6011.
Song ranking on Acclaimed Music in the artist’s discography: 8th.
Ranks higher than It Had to Be You by Betty Hutton, but lower than Our Love by Caribou.
Place in the Acclaimed Music Song Poll 2015: #841.
The people:
Written by Walter Becker & Donald Fagen.
Produced by Gary Katz.
Vocals by Donald Fagen.
Guitar by Walter Becker & Hugh McCracken.
Drums by Jeff Porcaro.
Bass by Walter Becker.
Piano by Donald Fagen & Michael Omartian.
Alto saxophone by Phil Woods.
The opinion:
The song Doctor Wu contains the line “Katie lies, you can see it in her eyes.” That’s where the album, Katie Lied, got it’s name from. The most fascinating thing about that album for me has never been the music, but the cover. There is this big bug looking straight at us. It doesn’t seem like something that fits Steely Dan, nor is it a typical 70’s cover. I finally found out what it means and it is tied to that one line from Doctor Wu that gave the LP its title.
You see, the bug on the cover is a katydid. The odd name of this creature is an onomatopoeia, in other words, it is named after the sound it makes. I personally don’t hear it, but some people hear in the chirping a back and forth between “Katy did” “Katy didn’t. I included their sound on the playlist below so you can judge for yourself.
“Katy did” isn’t the same as “Katy lied”, but apparently the Steely Dans thought it was close enough to warrant a cover as a sort of farfetched, visible pun on the title. Usually these guys are erudite and sophisticated, so it is strange to think they would go for such a lame association that doesn’t work (which, by the way, doesn’t mean I started to dislike the album cover; it was just more intriguing without knowing the backstory). Was this chronically unfazed duo finally starting to lose the plot and would this lead to a more loose or even dishevelled sound?
No and no. Instead, the bad cover/ title joke is not exemplary for what you get. With Katy Lied came an even more polished band then before. Becker and Fagen, the de facto leaders of Steely Dan, fired all the other band members, which they hardly used anyway, and created a revolving door for session musicians. It resulted in a sound so incredibly clean that it makes Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys sound like a set of punk demoes improvised on the spot and recorded in Brian Wilson’s basement during a particularly drunk night with he worst equipment ever. There were definitely more bands in the mid-seventies who went with and ultra-clean sound like Steely Dan’s, but even the Eagles or Fleetwood Mac would have to blink their eyes for the blinding sheen that shines from the songs on Katy Lied.
This sheen is a curse and a blessing, depending entirely on your tastes. Although Steely Dan haven’t quite survived as a band whose popularity has gone undiminished with mainstream audiences, like the aforementioned Eagles and Fleetwood Mac, or other contemporary acts like Queen or even Electric Light Orchestra, but they have maintained a huge following that seems very dedicated. I’ve noticed that Steely Dan fans in general love the perfectionism that is so clearly on display on Katy Lied. Everything sounds in place, the musicianship is top notch and the whole record is something of a landmark in tastefulness.
You might guess were this is going, but personally I can’t help but finding Katy Lied and the songs on it a bit dull. Like with Eagles and Fleetwood Mac I don’t particularly dislike Steely Dan, but I also mostly don’t feel anything when listening to it. There is so much polish that there is no room for spontaneity or deep emotion. With their cynical lyrics, which tend revolve around their disapproving of most people, accompanied by Fagen’s voice which always sounds like it is full of disdain, they make it hard to love. I’ve given up the hope of ever becoming a true Steely Dan fan, but Katy Lied is easily my least favourite album of theirs from the seventies. The others have their rewards, while this one highlights what I don’t like about them.
All this also goes for Doctor Wu, which seems to unanimously be seen as the best track from Katie Lied and if you are a true fan of the Dan it will probably be one of your favourite songs of all time. I have to admit, it is a rather intriguing song on paper. Two things make it stand out: he lyrics and the alto saxophone.
The lyrics are of course something Steely Dan are known for in general. Personally, I feel that they could have been more varied with their subject choices. I mean, there is definitely a place for songwriters who write about the flaws of other people, but when that become the modus operandi I’m starting to question if the problem isn’t in the writer’s own character. Doctor Wu sounds like another piece of bile, but the difference is that isn’t clear who it is directed towards. It feels like somebody is the butt of a joke, yet it is hard to tell if it is the singer, Katy or the doctor?
The lyrics are incredibly and appealingly obtuse. Going through interpretations on the internet by various anonymous commenters, official critics and even the Steely Dans themselves, it seems that this song inspires a lot of debate as to its meaning. So much so that Doctor Wu himself has become something of a legendary figure in the lives of Steely Dan. Apparently, around the time this song was recorded there really lived a Doctor Wu in either Washington or Miami, depending on who you ask. He had a rehabilitation clinic and was supposed to have helped Fagen and Becker kick their heroine habit. In the most notable theory, the doctor is supposed to be Dr. Jing Nuan Wu, a Chinese man who migrated to the States to work on the stock market, became involved in a shady scandal and then turned his life around to become a highly influential acupuncturist as well as a visual artist (indeed, his life could warrant another article).
The website The Steely Dan Dictionary, which provides an explanation all the obscure references in the band’s songs, leaves no doubt that this doctor is the one the song refers to. This seems to ignore several other facts. First, Dr. Jing Nuan Wu didn’t open a rehabilitation practice until the 80’s. Which isn’t to say he can’t have provided treatment while working at another practice, but why would these guys seek out an obscure medic in Washington when they are based in Los Angeles? Secondly, Fagen and Becker stated that the name Doctor Wu is made-up like the names of all their characters, to “protect the innocent”. Thirdly, Fagen himself has said in his autobiography that the song is about a love triangle between a man, a woman and dope, although his explanation is more obtuse than the song itself.
It does confirm (or does it?) another theory that the titular doctor is a drug dealer. That the woman is in love with the singer, but leaves him because in the end she likes the drugs more. She might have learned to know the dealer Wu because the singer gets drugs from him. Another interpretation is that Katy is the drug. Wu provides this Katy to the singer, but than becomes addicted himself, which is why he becomes “a shadow of the man I used to know” and loses touch with the singer. In yet another interpretation Katy is still a drug, but Wu is not the drug runner, but the one who saves the singer from addiction (like in the theory about Jing Nuan Wu). To complicate matters there is another interview with Fagen and Becker were they said that Wu is a psychiatrist and that the song is about the uncomfortable relationship between doctors and patients. No, I don’t know how to explain the song further with that theory.
That’s a lot of guessing and second-guessing, even by the original members. As for me, my original interpretation, before research, didn’t involve drugs at all, but then again, I hardly interpret any lyrics as being about drugs, unless it is bloody obvious like with The Velvet Underground’s Heroin or Jefferson Airplane’s White Rabbit. There is nothing obvious about Doctor Wu.
What you get when you take the lyrics as straight as they come is a tale about a guy (the singer) who sung a song with Katy which he tries to remember, all the while losing touch or failing to recognize a doctor. No, that’s not an insightful summary, but I think the appeal this song has to so many Dan fans is that it seems to mean something deep for everyone of them, for various reasons. It can be a deeply misanthropic song for the darkest minds among us, while for others it provides redemption and hope. I personally don’t get anything out of it, outside of the line that’s at the top of this article, but the big variety of interpretations do make it impossible for me to deny there is something in here.
There is also an alto saxophone, provided by Phil Woods, who would later have even bigger success with his iconic contribution to Just the Way You Are by Billy Joel. Steely Dan had been moving towards a jazz sound from their second album on out, but hadn’t really made full-on jazz rock yet. On Katy Lied they finally added a saxophone on one track, this of course being Doctor Wu. Again, the very vocal fan club of Steely Dan provided me with an explanation of why they loved the song so much and it turns out the alto saxophone solo by Woods is a very, very big factor of the love of this track. It seems that if you are more attuned to the Steely Dan sound than I am, this solo is a particularly emotional experience.
But I am not all that attuned to Steely Dan and although I have heard this song for about 20 times now I had a hard time remembering it even had a sax solo. Yes, I’m embarrassed of this. When it comes to Steely Dan, give me the rock edge of Countdown to Ecstasy or the more hardcore bile and bite of The Royal Scam. As for now, I can take or leave Doctor Wu and Katy Lied. Still, I can’t be angry about a song that makes me write about katydids and Chinese acupuncturists.
6/10
Other versions:
Donald Fagen himself said that Steely Dan songs aren’t suited to being covered (I’m not kidding, he really did say that here) and Doctor Wu seems to prove him right. There are obligatory karaoke versions and three faithful covers. Two break the mould, though. No less than the Minutemen turn Doctor Wu into an ultrashort, ultra-rough, punk mess. I suspect it is an intentional parody of the clean Steely Dan sound. The group Freelance do the opposite and make the sound bigger, grander, with an extended guitar solo. Both versions are kinda nice.
Further reading:
About Doctor Jing Nuan Wu, because you need to read about something else than music every now and then:
link
The playlist:
Yes, there is a 20 minute track of just katydid sounds on here, because you need to listen to something else than music every now and then.