Lyrics for Do It Again as interpreted by AbFab

Do It Again Lyrics
In the mornin you go gunnin'
For the man who stole your water
And you fire 'til he is done in
But they catch you at the border
And the mourners are all singin'
As they drag you by your feet
But the hangman isn't hangin'
And they put you on the street

CHORUS:
You go back, Jack do it again
Wheel turnin' 'round and 'round
You go back, Jack do it again

When you know she's no high climber
Then you find your only friend
In a room with your two timer
And you're sure you're near the end
Then you love a little wild one
And she brings you only sorrow
All the time you know she's smilin'
You'll be on your knees tomorrow

CHORUS

Now you swear and kick and beg us
That you're not a gamblin' man
Then you find you're back in Vegas
With a handle in your hand
Your black cards can make you money
So you hide them when you're able
In the land of milk and honey
You must put them on the table

CHORUS

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Kittypaw
04-28-2003

Rated 0 
God how I love this song.. I guess I'm the only one who still digs Steely Dan? and I'm only 17!

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2 Replies
Ostrich
05-01-2003

Rated 0 
No, you're not the only one... I'm 17 too.

On the surface, this song is about getting away with murder (reminds me of Hey Joe - Jimi Hendrix). But after a second look, this song could be about anything. For me, it is about unrequited love (to which I am no stranger). "Jack" cannot seem to grasp the fact the his girl doesn't love him back and continues to vie for her affection, hence "Go back, Jack. Do it again." Basically, Jack is whipped.

The last verse is still about Jack's inexorable struggle. Vegas is a symbol for love; both come with huge risks.

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ProfGlitch
05-31-2004

Rated 0 
The first verse's theme is irony. The guy gets his water stolen (critical that it's WATER being stolen, the most abundant resource there is) and shoots the guy who stole it. This is a very harsh and irrational decision...

The cops catch him at the border and bring him to justice. He gets his trial and all those who love and miss the dead guy are singing, cause they guy is being brough to justice. However, since he only shot the man due to him being a thief, "the hangman" (a metaphor for the justice system as a whole) isn't hanging, and they put him on the street. A man commits such a petty crime like stealing water, and pays for it with his life; another man shoots a man and goes free. Irony.

The second verse is about discord in relationships. The guy finds out his girl "is no high climber" (doesn't have high standards) and finds his best (only!) friend in a room with his girl, having an affair. He lost his only friend and his girl, and he's sure he's near the end (of his rope? patience? sanity?)

He rebounds with a girl who is very high maintenance. She goes crazy with him and his belongings, when in the end she's only using him. She doesn't give him what he wants (a relationship here, not sex) yet he keeps getting strung along and playing into her game (all the time you know she's smiling)... in the end, she will betray him just like the first girl did (you'll be on your knees tomorrow)

The third verse is about the "bad guys" in the world. Gambling is used as a metaphor here. You swear and kick and beg us that you're not a (lying/manipulative/cheating/etc.) man, then you find you're back in Vegas with a handle in your hand. This basically says that all people have some elements of "darker natures" in them, or some form of a vice, and as much as they deny it, it is still there and they are still a slave to it

"Black cards" refer to all the sins and "dark talents" you may have -- abilities you have which can get you an unfair advantage over others... However, in the Land of Milk and Honey (a common term used for Heaven) you will be judged on them.

All three verses share a common theme of things repeating themself. Crime perpetuates in the first verse, a man's unlucky streak with love in the second, and cheating/vindication in the third (as a man will cheat, but then be cheated at the Pearly Gates). However, as all three verses hint, there is nothing we can do about it; the first verse, the guy gets off due to a legal loophole; the second verse, the guy is doomed to live a loveless life; and in the third verse, you may swear you have no vices, but in reality, you're "back in Vegas with that handle in your hand."

What else would we expect, though, with a song titled "Do It Again?" History repeats itself. Bottom line. =)

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gpciie
03-19-2005

Rated 0 
quite a bit of time on your hands, huh prof?

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ProfGlitch
04-03-2005

Rated 0 
You have no idea.

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blackled222
04-17-2005

Rated 0 
Awesome analyzation, prof.

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hubofhip
06-15-2005

Rated 0 
Although I like prof's interpretation, I disagree on some points.

the song is, yet again, Fagen speaking of a cheating woman, and a man who keeps going back to her and getting hurt.

"The man who stole your water" in the first verse is referencing the man who slept with Jack's woman, who Jack shoots.

"The hangman isn't hangin' and they put you on the street," for whatever reason, Jack gets acquitted, and is released.

He knows that his woman is a cheater (You know she's no high climber) but he has no one else to go to (Then you find your only friend). He keeps saying he's through with her, but inevitably goes back to this cheating woman (In a room with your two timer
And you're sure you're near the end
Then you love a little wild one
And she brings you only sorrow
All the time you know she's smilin'
You'll be on your knees tomorrow)

Although she continually runs around on him, Jack keeps going back, and Doing It Again. The last verse is just a metaphor for his decision every time to gamble on the chance that his woman may have changed. Every time, he says he's through with her (Now you swear and kick and beg us
That you're not a gamblin' man)

But he goes back anyway (Then you find you're back in Vegas) He becomes an alcoholic (With a handle in your hand)

Honestly, I have yet to figure out my interpretation of the rest of the last verse...

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nagromnai
12-15-2005

Rated 0 
Can I just say - I love the percussive element to the music!!!! Damn, I can't go as deep as you guys!!

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funstuff
03-09-2006

Rated 0 
hmm.. k maybe youre over analizing a song...don't ruin it. plus 17 isnt that young for liking steely dan...try 3 years younger.

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wetcoaster
03-28-2006

Rated 0 
Some trivia for you young bucks who've latched on to this great band. Did you know they named themselves after a dildo? read 'The Naked Lunch' by William Burroughs

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saucytango
07-21-2006

Rated 0 
Basically, this song is about addictive behavior or the vicious cycle of addiction.

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WritingIsMyReligion
08-31-2006

Rated 0 
This is a song about addiction in all forms--addiction to killing/general craziness and overreaction with a gun, addiction to unhealthy love affairs, and addiction to gambling, respectively.

"The vicious cycle of addiction" is an excellent phrase, saucytango. I agree.

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dueydrummer87
12-09-2006

Rated 0 
good call wetcoaster. im one of the young bucks you refer to and i did know that. of what i've experienced, not many people of any generation know of the original name of steely dan. its an odd bit of trivia that many radio stations fail to mention (understandably)

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TMiller68
03-08-2007

Rated 0 
agreed, addictive behavior in various forms. Bad relationships, gambling what have you....

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Chawke
04-06-2007

Rated 0 
Its about karma. The narration takes place in three different era... three stories... but the wheel of dharma keeps rolling

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BazBear
05-13-2007

Rated 0 
Definitely a song with a Kharma feel.

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kizasoze
06-19-2007

Rated 0 
i like the analysis here. Anyone have other thoughts about "water" though? I feel like it means something else but can't figure out what. Maybe instead of emphasizing that water is an abundant resource, I would suggest its more important that its a VITAL resource, especially because this has a western desert backdrop (water = love or a woman maybe?). And I think the song is basically about a guy who gets his love stolen, kills the other man then goes back to falling in love. And obviously, the analogy would be love and gambling with the comment that both are painful, addictive and have the potential to bring out the baser instincts.

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fiascodagama
09-17-2007

Rated 0 
am i the only one who doesnt see a very racial theme to the first paragraff?

i get teh feeling its possible about a lynching 'the hangman isnt hanging.' maybe it means a crazy kkk or something.

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nagromnai
09-27-2007

Rated 0 
Jeez - I know lyrics are important, but no-one has mentioned the muisc - I have checked out other Steely dan lyrics, & very rarely is the music mentioned

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madsmk9
10-05-2007

Rated 0 
danm the first two are badly mistaken im 17 and i have loved this song all my life! something about it just moves me and nagromnai ur right the music kicks some ass!

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Bullzeye
10-08-2007

Rated 0 
"Handle in your hand" refers to a slot machine, not a "handle" as in an extra large bottle of booze. And the whole gambling thing is a metaphor anyway, as best I can tell.

The song starts off in the old west, where he shoots a man for "stealing his water", which is, by the way, a major crime up there with horse-stealing, NOT a trivial matter in those days before public water supplies. Think about how terribly valuable water must have been in places like Tombstone, Arizona! I think it's a reference to screwing his old lady, anyway...same type of capital, major crime...and it fits with the rest of the song.

Anyway...the song seems to be about how people throughout history keep repeating the same stupid idiotic mistakes of their forefathers...mostly, not using their judgment and shackling themselves to unfaithful women and then suffering for it...over and over again, forever. Go back, Jack, and do it again. That's my take.

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Nightvoice
12-19-2007

Rated 0 
And all along, I thought it was simply a song about criminal recidivism and the futility of the justice system.

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Oh well
01-05-2008

Rated 0 
I've heard many people opine it's a song about a gangster, in the Mob.

The analysis equating stole your water to sleeping with your girl is, I think, correct. That first verse is couched in 'wild west' terms, but applies to a person in the modern era.

The hangman = criminal justice system is correct, too.

The second verse: choose a girl with low ambitions, but she gives you the sex you need. Then you find your dumb girlfriend in a room with your only friend... same shit in verse one, so go back and whack (kill) the guy (do it again). Start over agian with another woman - a little wild one - who's sexually exciting, but trouble with a capital T, and when she's smiling its because she's cheating on you. You know you'll be on your knees asking for penance tomorrow after you kill again.

I'd always heard the first line of the third verse as "Now you swear to Deacon Davis" but "kick and beg us" seems to be the accepted lyric. Anyway, you'd sworn to reform, but there you are, about to kill again. The black cards make you money - the things you can do to survive (like, kill for hire) but you want to hide that from society (you hide them when you're able). There are just times, though, when you have to go and kill again (in the land of milk and honey, where no one expect it) you must put your cards on the table (reveal yourself). I think this last verse is saying you have to come clean to someone if you want to have her? in your life.

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Danfan
02-19-2008

Rated 0 
I knew very well that Steely Dan is a dildo from "Naked Lunch" at age 18. Is it worth reading? The whole bizarre nature of Steely Dan in general is summed up in their name. Pretty good debut song this. The Denny Dias electric sitar solo just hits all the right notes and peaks at the right time. Just a fab fab song!

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billybayou
03-06-2008

Rated 0 
Consider this, Do It Again could refer to reincarnation. In the first verse Jack slays the man who stole his water, and is hanged. "And they put you on the street", is a metaphor for his reincarnation to another life; in the second verse, he again misbehaves, dying on his knees. In the third verse he is reincarnated again and being menaced by casino security, likely bound for a shallow grave in the desert. Wheel turning round and round. Any thoughts?

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