Cousin Dupree?
A couple days ago we published an Opening Shot contribution for Woody Allen's "Annie Hall" in which Allen cited an old joke to illustrate a point about his view of life:
Two elderly women are at a Catskills mountain resort, and one of 'em says: "Boy, the food at this place is really terrible." The other one says, "Yeah, I know, and such small portions."I couldn't help but think of that when I saw the open letter Steely Dan's Donald Fagen and Walter Becker posted on their web site ("Open Letter to the Great Comic Actor, Luke Wilson"). Be sure to check out the groovy Residential Suites at Longworth stationery: "Where Value is King... And So Are You!"
Fagen and Becker address their open letter to Luke to complain about his brother Owen's movie, "You, Me and Dupree," which they say is a bad movie that they think Owen should have thanked them for, because they think the story (and title) resemble their song "Cousin Dupree," off the "Two Against Nature" album. "Cousin Dupree" is about a guy who... well, let them put it in their own words:
Well I've kicked around a lot since high schoolWrite Fagen and Becker:
I've worked a lot of nowhere gigs
From keyboard man in a rock'n ska band
To haulin' boss crude in the big rigsNow I've come back home to plan my next move
From the comfort of my Aunt Faye's couch
When I see my little cousin Janine walk in
All I could say was ow ow ouchHoney how you've grown
Like a rose
Well we used to play
When we were three
How about a kiss for your cousin Dupree
Anyway, they got your little brother on the hook for this summer stinkbomb -- I mean, check the reviews -- and he's using all his heaviest Owen C. licks to try to get this pathetic way-unfunny debacle off the ground and, in the end, no matter what he does or what happens at the box office, in the short run, he's gonna go down hard for trashing the work of some pretty heavy artists like us in the process. ... I mean, we're like totally out in the cold on this one -- no ASCAP, no soundtrack, no consultant gig (like we got from the Farrelly Bros. when they used a bunch of songs in their movie, "You, Me and Irene" or whatever). No phone call, no muffin basket, no flowes, nothing....OK, I can see some similarities between one Dupree and the other -- especially the ramblin' nature of the character, the sleeping on the couch, and all that.But, hey, luke, man -- there is one petite solid you could do for us at this time -- do you think you could persuade your bro to do the right thing and come down to our Concert at Irvine and apologize to our fans for this travesty?
But, frankly, I think Owen Wilson's Dupree is even more like the out-of-place "special friend," the unwelcome guest who will not leave, who is the title character of the Dan masterpiece "Gaucho":
Can't you see they're laughing at meUPDATE: Discussion of various interpretations of "Gaucho" (any or all of which work) here. Best of all: " It's obvious that the singer is berating an acquaintance (a roommate or other such cohabitant?) for his association with some poseur, a lightweight, freeloading hipster fraud who's long overstayed his welcome. Beyond that, though, we know nothing. Who are these characters? What are the circumstances of their involvement? What is the Custerdome? In the end, of course, it doesn't matter, because we're hearing a snippet of a diatribe from one character to another, and that's all we're supposed to be hearing."
Get rid of him
I don't care what you do at home
Would you care to explain...Who is the gaucho amigo
Why is he standing
In your spangled leather poncho
And your elevator shoes
Bodacious cowboys
Such as your friend
Will never be welcome here
High in the Custerdome...No he can't sleep on the floor
What do you think I'm yelling for
I'll drop him near the freeway
Doesn't he have a home...
Jim, although there was no such word in 1980 when Gaucho came out, have you ever noticed the (slightly more than) faint whiff of... homophobia... in the narrator's choice(s) of words in the song?
Every song on that album is great though. Nice to see/hear I'm not the only guy still enjoying it in its entirety; like most of the all-time best rock albums, it actually plays something like a movie... which is another thought I'd appreciate your views on.
STEVE/Lakewood, CA
Steely Dan fan
Gaucho Defender
JE: I don't think it's quite homophobia, Steve -- although the narrator seems to think his fancy company (clients of some sort?) will not welcome this odd duck who's "snapping his fingers like a fool." I think it's pretty matter-of-fact about the sexuality, ahead of its time in that regard. As far as a story can be discerned, it seems to be told from the point of view of a guy with a (gay?) friend and roommate who brings home a rather exotic stranger -- probably, from the way he talks about him, a foreigner who doesn't speak English. "No he can't sleep on the floor/What do you think I'm yelling for?!?!" I know people who've been in the same spot -- either as the one who brings home the stranger, or the one who doesn't want this unknown person sleeping on their floor! But the point-of-view isn't fully on the side of the "narrator," either, who seems overly concerned with what the hoity-toity folks high in the Custerdome (hilarious term) will think of him: "We got heavy rollers... Can't you see they're laughing at me?"
How funny... I never thought I'd see a discussion of "Gaucho" here. But you're right, Jim, that song fits You, Me and Dupree much better than Cousin Dupree actually does. I'm still trying to figure out how serious the Dan are being, though. The tone of their letter, though quite funny, seems uncomfortably to bear some genuine bitterness, which, if it's the case, seems a bit petty. Yes, I thought of "Cousin Dupree" too, when I first heard about the Wilson flick, but could it possibly be the name was used coincidentally?
A Steely Dan discussion on Scanners... rock on!
SD love to parody the SoCal entertainment industry with all its greedy, grasping lawyerliness, especially after having been sued for plagiarism themselves (guilty).
I thought exactly the same thing when that film came out, although I didn't see it. I think the letter was their way of making the point in such a way that its seriousness remains ambiguous.