Lyrics for the album "Gaucho" by Steely Dan

Babylon Sisters
Hey Nineteen
Glamour Profession
Gaucho
Time Out of My Mind
My Rival
Third World Man
All words and music by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen.


Babylon Sisters

Drive west on Sunset to the sea
Turn that jungle music down
Just until we're out of town
This is no one night stand
It's a real occasion
Close your eyes and you'll be there
It's everything they say
The end of a perfect day
Distant lights from across the bay

Babylon sisters shake it
Babylon sisters shake it
So fine, so young
"Tell me I'm the only one"

Here come those Santa Anna winds again

We'll jog with show folk on the sand
Drink Kirschwasser from a shell
San Francisco show and tell
Well I should know by now
Like a Sunday in T.J.
That it's cheap but it's not free
That I'm not what I used to be
And that love's not a game for three

[chorus]

[solo]

My friends say no don't go for that cotton candy
Son you're playing with fire
The kid will live and learn
As he watched all his bridges burn
From the point of no return

[chorus]




Hey Nineteen

Way back when in Sixty seven
I was the dandy of Gamma Chi
Sweet things from Boston so young and willing
Moved down to Scarsdale where the hell am I

Hey Nineteen
No we can't dance together
No we can't talk at all
Please take me along when you slide on down

Hey Nineteen that's 'Retha Franklin
She don't remember the Queen of Soul
It's hard times befallen the sole survivors
She thinks I'm crazy I'm just growing old

Hey Nineteen
No we got nothin' in common
No we can't talk at all
Please take me along when you slide on down

ad libbed lines
nice, sure looks good,
hm hm hmm, skate a little lower now

The Cuervo Gold
The fine Columbian
Make tonight a wonderful thing
[say it again]

The Cuervo Gold
The fine Columbian
Make tonight a wonderful thing

The Cuervo Gold
The fine Columbian
Make tonight a wonderful thing

We can't dance together
No we can't talk at all.




Glamour Profession

6:05 outside the stadium
Special delivery for Hoops McCann
Brut and Charisma poured from the shadow where he stood
Looking good he's a crowd pleasing man
One on one He's schoolyard superman
Crashing the backboard he's Jungle Jim again
When it's all over we'll make some calls from my car, we're a star

It's a glamour profession
The L.A. concession
Local boys will spend a quarter
Just to shine the silver bowl
Living hard will take its toll

Illegal fun
Under the sun

All aboard The Carib Cannibal
Off to Barbados just for the ride
Jock with his radar stalking the dread moray eel
At the wheel with his Eurasian bride
On the town we dress for action
Celluloid bikers is Friday's theme
I drove the Chrysler
Watched from the darkness while they danced
I'm the one

[chorus]

Hollywood I know your middle name
Who inspires your fabled fools that's my claim to fame

[solo]

Jive Miguel he's in from Bogota
Meet me at midnight at Mr. Chow
Szechuan dumplings after the deal has been done
I'm the one

[chorus]




Gaucho

Just when I say
'Boy you can't miss
You are golden'
Then you do this
You say this guy is so cool
Snapping his fingers like a fool
One more expensive kiss-off
Who do you think I am

Lord I know you're a special friend
But you don't seem to understand
We got heavy rollers
I think you should know
Try again tomorrow

Can't you see they're laughing at me
Get rid off 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

What I tell you
Back down the line
I'll scratch your back,
You can scratch mine
No he cant 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

Lord I know you're a special friend
But you refuse to undrestand
You're a nasty schoolboy
With no place to go
Try again tomorrow

Dont tell me he'll wait in the car,
Look at you,
Holding hands with the man from the Rio
Would you care to explain?

Who is the Gaucho amigo,
Why is he standing
In your spangled leather poncho
With the studs that match your eyes
Bodacious cowboys
Such as your friend
Will never be welcome here
High in the Custerdome




Time Out of My Mind

Son you better be ready for love
On this glory day
This is your chance to believe
What I've got to say

Keep your eyes on the sky
Put a dollar in the kitty
Don't the moon look pretty

Tonight when I chase the dragon,
The water will change to cherry wine
And the silver will turn to gold
Time out of mind

Im holding the mystical stone
It's direct from Lasa
Where people are rolling in the snow
Far from the world we know

Children we have it right here
Its the light in my eyes
Its perfection and grace
Its the smile on my face

Tonight when I chase the dragon,
The water will change to cherry wine
And the silver will turn to gold
Time out of mind

[solo]

Children we have it right here
Its the light in my eyes
Its perfection and grace
Its the smile on my face

Tonight when I chase the dragon,
The water will change to cherry wine
And the silver will turn to gold
Time out of mind




My Rival

The wind was driving in my face
The smell of prickly pear
[My rival-show me my rival]
The milk truck eased into my space
Somebody screamed somwhere

I struck a match against the door
Of Anthony's Bar and Grill
I was the whining stranger
A fool in love
With time to kill

I've got detectives on this case
They filmed the whole charade
[My rival-show me my rival]
He's got a scar across his face
He wears a hearing aid

Sure he's a jolly roger
Until he answers for his crime
Yes, I'll match him whim for whim now

[solo]

I still recall when I first held
Your tiny hand in mine
[My rival-show me my rival]
I loved you more than I can tell
But now it's stomping time

[chorus]




Third World Man

Johnny's playroom
Is a bunker filled with sand
He's become a third world man

Smoky Sunday
He's been mobilized since dawn
Now he's crouching on the lawn
He's a third world man

Soon you'll throw down your disguise
We'll see behind those bright eyes
By and by
When the sidewalks are safe
For the little guys

I saw the fireworks
I believed that I was dreaming
Till the neighbours came out screaming
He's a third world man

[chorus]

When he's crying out
I just sing that Ghana Rondo
E'lera del terzo mondo
He's a third world man

[chorus]