Mr. Becker

Mr. Walter Becker left us this past Sunday.   I found out via a text from a close relative, one with whom I've shared a love for Steely Dan for a majority of our days.  It was expectedly shocking, but also a gut punch, a twist in the stomach.  For many reasons, it felt as if a family member had passed.  Becker and his Dan co-founder Donald Fagen have created a bonding force between me and my loved ones.  I can't elaborate on this further right now, but know that it was and is immeasurably powerful.

Steely Dan has been discussed at length on this blog.  There isn't much left to discuss about the history. My connection to the music has gone beyond "entertainment" or "diversion".  I've always snickered along to the darkly comic lyrics, always been taken aback by the musicianship of the duo and their players.  But hearing a Steely Dan tune is like a comfortable session with one of your smartest friends. And despite the chilly air of their music, Walter and Donald's songs created an unexplainable warmth.  Warmth of familiarity, but also of a shared recognizance.  In a society filled with banality infiltrating every aspect of life: politics, art, faith, etc., a Steely Dan song was not only the expected raspberry back at them, but a mark of quality.  Even detractors admit the music (and the recording of it) was top notch.

Walter was described as being the snarkier of the duo, that most of the causticism was of his design.  Becker always struck me like a grouchy university professor, one always ready with a sarcastic retort, but also some nugget of wisdom.  Be it of the high brow or even the mildly smutty.  Pop music likely never had another like him.   R.I.P.