That Unsettling Funk: A Cynical Chronicle of Hollywood Hangers-On and the High Price of Being Hip.
Ah, Steely Dan. Just the mention of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen evokes the sound of immaculate, jazz-infused rock, a sonic tapestry woven with the threads of cynicism, wit, and astonishing musical sophistication. For the discerning listener of a certain vintage, their 1977 masterpiece, Aja, wasn’t just an album; it was a watershed moment in recorded music—a sound so flawlessly engineered it became the industry standard for testing high-end audio equipment. Deep within this immaculate record lies “I Got the News,” a track that, while never released as a single and thus lacking a chart position of its own, is a vital cog in the album that peaked triumphantly at #3 on the Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart and won a Grammy for Best Engineered Recording.
“I Got the News” is a perfect distillation of the Steely Dan ethos: a silky-smooth musical surface concealing a dark, morally ambiguous core. It is a stunning example of their “studio band” approach, which saw them employ a rotating cast of the era’s finest session musicians, most notably the jazz-fusion legend Tom Scott on saxophone and horn arrangements, whose contribution gives the entire Aja album much of its distinctive, sophisticated shimmer. Scott’s arrangements here provide the brassy, tight punctuation that underpins the track’s distinctive funk groove, driven by the incredibly precise drumming of Ed Greene.
The story and meaning of the song are classic Dan—cryptic, unsettling, and focused squarely on the seedy edges of the Los Angeles fast lane. The lyrics paint a tableau of rich, morally bankrupt characters and the hangers-on who orbit them, all trying to maintain a facade of cool professionalism. The song is ostensibly a conversation where the narrator has received some ambiguous but important “news,” perhaps about a romantic rival, a betrayal, or a social shift. Lines like “I may never walk again / But I still can make you crawl” are delivered with Fagen’s characteristic sneer, suggesting a relationship built on manipulation and self-interest rather than affection.
It’s been interpreted as a critique of the superficiality and backstabbing endemic in the Hollywood elite—a world where every social interaction is a negotiation and every pleasantry hides a dagger. The song’s structure is deceptively simple, but the harmonic complexity and the unexpected melodic turns, especially during the Michael McDonald-led backing vocals and Tom Scott’s flawless horn charts, create a sense of unease that perfectly mirrors the lyrical themes. “I Got the News” may often be ranked as the “funkiest” track on the Aja album, but beneath its irresistible rhythmic pulse lies the melancholy realization that even good news, in this world, often comes at a terribly high price. It is a track that, even after decades, feels utterly modern and utterly relevant, a cynical masterpiece that still grooves with unsettling perfection.