Rikki, Don't Lose That Number

Welcome Guest. Please Login or Register.

Rikki, Don't Lose That Number

Posted: 10/21/07 at 12:50am

What the hell is this song about? We're coming up on 25 years of FM radio airplay (with no static at all) and NO ONE has any idea what these guys are talking about.

I think it's Gay. "I have a friend in town, he's heard your name...You tell yourself you're not my kind, but you could have a change of heart...Rikki don't lose that number. It's the only on you want."

re: Rikki, Don't Lose That Number

Posted: 10/21/07 at 12:55am

You know, I never even looked that deeply into the song. I thought it was just to not lose the number so the person would not lose contact with Rikki! I do remember when friends of mine used to play it on their answering machine messages (you know, those ugly devices that sat on coffee tables that recorded a telephone message when you weren't home to take the call- or you wanted to screen your call- you know, before voicemails) mom

re: Rikki, Don't Lose That Number

Posted: 10/21/07 at 12:59am

A lot of Steely Dan tunes are about nothing in particular

"Never before has an American president been so closely tied to a foreign power that harbors and supports our country's mortal enemies."

re: Rikki, Don't Lose That Number

Posted: 10/21/07 at 1:00am

Joe, that is widely considered what the song is about, but with Steely Dan, it's hard to tell. (P.S. Hi, Joe!!!!)

"Be on your guard! Jerks on the loose!"

http://www.roches.com/television/ss83kod.html

**********

"If any relationship involves a flow chart, get out of it...FAST!"

~ Best12Bars

re: Rikki, Don't Lose That Number

Posted: 10/21/07 at 10:10am

Hey MP!

I saw a fan-made video on You Tube and the comments were a veritable debate, with passionate theories across the spectrum. Some claimed it's a Marijuana reference ("Number" meaning joint). Others say it's a hetero affair gone bad, about a professor's wife from Fagen's college. The weirdest is that it's about failed negotiations to bring Clapton out of retirement to join the band. (Althought that does explain the drive along "Slowhand Road.") The only thinkg all agreed on was that it was NOT about Rikki Lee Jones as she'd have been an anonymous pre-teen when the song was written.

But really can you even imagine Clapton in Steely Dan????

re: Rikki, Don't Lose That Number

Posted: 10/21/07 at 11:27am

supportive mom, my sister still has an answering machine.......somehow she feels since she bought her condo she needs to cut costs.
I told her the $3 a month she saves on her Verizon home phone from not having their service won't help much, but.....

It is ridiculous to set a detective story in New York City. New York City is itself a detective story... AGATHA CHRISTIE, Life magazine, May 14, 1956

re: Rikki, Don't Lose That Number

Posted: 10/21/07 at 2:29pm

Love, love, LOVE Steely Dan!! Came to them very late in the game but a huge fan now.

"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.” ~ Muhammad Ali

re: Rikki, Don't Lose That Number

Posted: 10/21/07 at 2:44pm

BB, I love them too!!!

There is a website with a Steely Dan forum where people talk about what songs mean, provide trivia, offer other tidbits of information and so forth.

My brother and I have been doing this for decades, of course!

"Be on your guard! Jerks on the loose!"

http://www.roches.com/television/ss83kod.html

**********

"If any relationship involves a flow chart, get out of it...FAST!"

~ Best12Bars

re: Rikki, Don't Lose That Number

Posted: 10/22/07 at 12:40pm

Well, drink your big black cow and get outta here!

#10

re: Rikki, Don't Lose That Number

Posted: 10/22/07 at 12:48pm

My favorite WTF lyrics:

"Mirror in the Bathroom" - The English Beat

Mirror in the bathroom
please talk free
The door is locked
just you and me.
Can I take you to a restaurant
that's got glass tables
You can watch yourself
while you are eating.
Mirror in the bathroom
I just can't stop it,
Every Saturday you see me
window shopping.
Find no interest in the
racks and shelves
Just a thousand reflections
of my own sweet self, self, self...
Mirror in the bathroom
You're my mirror in the bathroom
You're my mirror in the bathroom
You're my mirror in the bathroom...
Mirror in the bathroom
recompense
For all my crimes
of self defense.
Cures you whisper
make no sense
Drift gently into
mental illness.
Mirror in the bathroom
please talk free
The door is locked
just you and me.
Can I take you to a restaurant
that's got glass tables
You can watch yourself
while you are eating.
Mirror in the bathroom
Mirror in the bathroom...

Art has a double face, of expression and illusion.

← Back to Message Board

View all Videos

Tickets From $59

Tickets From $95

Tickets From $80

Tickets From $73