Lyrics for Aja as interpreted by AbFab

Aja Lyrics
Up on the hill,
People never stare,
They just dont care,
Chinese music under banyan trees
Here at the dude ranch
Above the sea,

Aja,
When all my dime dancin' is through
I run to you

Up on the hill,
They've got time to burn,
There's no return
Double helix in the sky tonight
Throw out the hardware, lets do it right,

Chorus

[big instru solo]

Up on the hill
They think I'm OK
Or so they say
Chinese music always sets me free
Angular banjoes
Sound good to me

Chorus

[another big solo instru]

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  • 25 Comments
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sprin001
12-21-2005

Rated 0 
Aja Pyers is Awesome

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taosjedi
01-30-2006

Rated 0 
I loved this song when it came out and I even named my daughter Aja cause it was such a cool name...

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Kronan
01-31-2006

Rated 0 
One of my favorate songs, Brilliant drums
I'll keep Aja in mind if I ever have a daughter.

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Tim Dogg
03-13-2006

Rated 0 
Brilliant track love the whole damn album they had reached a new level of cool by this album. the scottish group deacon blue got their name from the third track on the album as the dan was the lead singers fav group.

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stoolhardy
05-11-2006

Rated 0 
Yeah, but what are the lyrics in the song about? This is the title track of the album "Aja," so there must be some signifigance in that ramdom choice of a word. It sounds like Aja is a hill with a banyan tree with people under it playing banjoes. I really don't get it.

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1 Reply
what123ever
05-26-2006

Rated 0 
"Aja" is an intentional misspelling of "Asia". This song, I believe, is a parody of the trend at the time (and to an extent still now) of interest in Eastern philosophy. "Angular banjoes" is a borderline-offensive reference to Chinese pentatonic musical styles ... the sort of comment an ignorant person would make (hence being parodied here). Similarly "People don't stare, they just don't care ... They think I'm OK, or so they say" is a reference to the popular belief the Eastern philosophy is especially tolerant. Which explains its popularity among shallow, self-indulgent Americans!
Steely Dan always thought they were cleverer and better than everyone else, and they were mostly right.
Great music though.

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WritingIsMyReligion
08-31-2006

Rated 0 
I think this song is both parody and a delusional raving. To me, "Aja" is a person who represents the continent of Asia as the narrator sees it.

I think that the narrator is some kind of veteran, probably from 'Nam, who has PTSS or some other conflict-related condition and has been placed in an mental instution "on the hill." Obviously "they just don't care," since it's a place full of raving lunatics. And quite obviously, once you are committed, there is "no return."

In this insane place, our narrator falls to daydreaming about his time spent in Asia, specifically about a woman there whom he loved and whom he calls "Aja." It's important here to note that in some cultures, people used to be paid a small amount--a "dime"--to dance with people they wouldn't choose normally. "Dime-dancing," to me, means doing one's duty, going ahead even when you don't particularly want to, because you feel some compulsion to do so.

So in his daydreams, the narrator tells this vision from his past that when his "dime-dancing" has been completed--when he's finished doing everything he has to do, whatever that might be at an institution--he will run to her and be with her, since she is what he clings to to keep him relatively sane.

"Double helix in the sky tonight/Throw out the hardware, let's do it right" therefore becomes his longing to have sex with Aja and conceive a child--he wants to create DNA (which is shaped like a "double helix"), so to do so, he needs to get rid of all the sex toys and whatever and really get back to basics.

This song is truly crazy, no matter what interpretation you give it, but because AJA is such a dark album, and this is the title song, I think that "Aja" must be the epitome of dark, sadistic, twisted, strange craziness.

:>)

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igluau
10-04-2006

Rated 0 
I don't know whether or not Walter Becker or Donald Fagen had started their association with Upcountry Maui before writing Aja, but I see the song as describing the area where they were to build their recording studio. This was adjacent to the Ulupalakua Ranch--which can be described as a "dude ranch above the sea".

On the way to Ulupalakua you pass Keo Kea which is where many Chinese workers settled in the late 19th Century and where decendents still live. Sun Yat Sen lived here and developed his thinking about overcoming monarchs while observing the Hawaiian monarchy overthrown. There is today a tranquil Sun Yat Sen Park on the way to Ulupalakua.

Maui has lots of celebrity residents, and by and large, people never stare and in general think they are OK. We do spend a lot of time gazing at the incredible stars in the sky--we also have a lot of hardware for doing so up on the summit of Haleakela (see http://www.maui.afmc.af.mil/) although "throwing out the hardware" and just using your eyes is certainly more romantic.

Angular banjos sound good to me--especially the Okinawan style which is square shaped. Some are trianglular. These instruments and music styles originate from China. I would imagine that Walter and Donald would appreciate this music and certainly would have heard it on Maui.

I think that the Asian ideal of putting the ego aside is healthy and indeed is a refuge from all our "dime dancing".

Perhaps Walter and Donald are not being so sardonic here.

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rainwalk
03-21-2007

Rated 0 
I used to think this was about a woman. Maybe a 'professional' or casual sex acquaintance that the protagonist would occasionally see, but who become a much deeper interest for him. To the point that he dreams of one day being with her "when all his dime dancing is through" i.e. when he can retire. "Thow out the hardware, let's do it right" might have referred to actually 'making love' instead of whatever he would usually see her for (bondage? S&M?) I imagine the woman as Asian, and there are no inhibitions or taboos with her ("people never stare", "time to burn")

But now that I actually LOOK at the lyrics there's very little to substantiate that LOL. Maybe I'm just a perv. I didn't know the stuff that igluau wrote, and THAT seems like a cincher if it's true. Fagan always sang about things that were close to his experiences, or at least tangentially related to his times. (this could apply to my theory too though).

I also like WritingIsMyReligion's reference to 'twisted, strange craziness'. Yes, there is something Hunter Thompson-esque about all the Dan's music. Which is why it's so frickin' great, like a chinese box.

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Dantex
11-11-2007

Rated +1 
I've heard this song in the past as a song about LSD. Before you roll your eyes and scroll down to the next comment, I hope you'll hear me out. Steely Dan's lyrics, always so tantalizingly hard to interpret, are sometimes their strangest when they're about drugs. Kid Charlemagne, Doctor Wu... I'm sure you can think of others.

I've heard Aja like this:

"The hill" is a reference to San Francisco's Hippy Hill, a notorious drug sales hotspot. Hippy Hill was referenced as "the hill" previously in Kid Charlemagne, in the line "On the hill the stuff was laced with kerosene." In Kid Charlemagne "the stuff" clearly refers to LSD, as the whole song is about Owsley Stanley, the famous LSD-chemist. Therefore, Steely Dan thinks of "the hill" as, possibly among other things, a place to buy LSD. Hippy Hill's denizens, due to their countercultural lifestyles and drug use would "never stare," they "just [wouldn't] care," "they [would] have time to burn," and they would "think [the presumably degenerate narrator ] was okay."

Now, for a few other lines:

"Dime-dancing" refers to use of drugs that can be bought in "dimebags," i.e. cocaine, heroin, and marijuana. Many of those are used with equipment such as pipes, syringes, etc, but LSD is simply swallowed. Hence; "throw out the hardware, let's do it right."

Even "double helix in the sky tonight" could refer to the visions of an acid trip.

Obviously there's a lot more to the song even if it is about LSD on one level, but I feel like I've made some possibly valuable connections here...

Please let me know what you think!

Yours,
An obsessive college student

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Nightvoice
12-20-2007

Rated 0 
I think people are reading a lot more into this song than needs to be. I've been listening to it since I was a kid, and it remains one of my top 10 favorite tunes. To me, it's simply a vignette, a taoism-oriented snapshot of a time and place. It could be Chinatown, it could be any place with a strong Chinese ethnic population. "Aja" is a general reference to any place where one can experience Asian culture (and I know a lot of Asian-Americans will blast me for that--let 'er rip!). The song reminds me of visiting a Chinese area of California and soaking up some local restaurants or street markets, then attending a parade of some kind. "Double helix in the sky" could simply be fireworks, but if you take the drug tack on it, it could mean swallowing or snorting the drugs as opposed to smoking them or freebasing. "Dime-dancing" is also a general term for working; "dancing on a dime" was once a term for earning a wage, so the singer could simply be stating that he prefers to hang out in Asian locales after work every day.

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marxbites
12-20-2007

Rated 0 
There is a celestial object in the night sky called the Helix Nebula.

See: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/12/041219121101.htm

"Throw out the hardware, let's do it right" may refer to the setting up of telescopes, and the good (bigger) ones at that, often referred to as hardware by astronomers pro and amateur.

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shanef
02-09-2008

Rated 0 
Dantex - I think you're closest, but I think others have some points.

Overall, the song could have many references, pointing to many different things, but still be about one, overall concept. The song doesn't necessarily have to be about just one idea, but still, overall, I think is about one overal MAIN idea, with other references sprinkled in.

Nightvoice - people read a lot into the lyrics cause there usually is much to Steely Dan lyrics than the obvious. The group rarely was straightforward in its lyrics. To the naive, I'm not trying to be critical. Steely Dan had TONS of disguised drug lyrics and references in their songs.

Definitely about pot and LSD - the hill definitely San Francisco's Hippy Hill just like Dantex says, and I think AJA is an acronym for LSD, just don't know what the letters, in their minds, stand for. (Notice the clever reference to actual ASIAN culture, which makes sense in San Francisco, to hide the true meaning)

Damn right, up on the hill, they're gonna do some LSD. dime-dancin - a reference to a dime bag of pot and possibly to other drugs, as Dantex says. No more messing around with the little stuff or other stuff, no more messing around with the hardware needed for heroin - no more messing around with pot - still need hardware - bong, pipe, papers, etc.

Tonight we do it right - LSD.

Double Helix = Northern Lights, a very high strain of marijuana. also, like Dantex said, could be a double refernce to the trip their gonna take with LSD, but I definitely think a reference to marijuana, too. In fact, they could be saying, "right now we're doing some high quality marijuana - Northern Lights - okay, throw this out, let's do some LSD now.."

Love how Steely Dan rights a nice, slow, haunting piece that sounds like a song written for a woman, when it's actually about LSD.

Finally, again, I'm not saying this is the end-all, be-all. I'm sure lots of references that others have made may be in the song, but to me, anyway, LSD is the ultimate meaning. And, reading others' posts helped me to form this opinion, so thanks to all who added some insight for me. Anyway, just my take...

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Danfan
02-19-2008

Rated 0 
I have my dad to thank for getting me into the Dan. He said the drummer here is Steve Gadd and I just thought "WOW!" I was 16 and I've never looked back (I'm 19 now so thats not too far). They're probably the best cult in the world! They'll always be there for me and everyone who appreciates brilliant music

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Newfrontier
03-08-2009

Rated 0 
This could be pure politics... up on the hill... being capital hill. This could be a congressman's or senator's affair in chinese politics... or with a girl of chinese persuasion. Remember as the song moves on there is more acceptance of AJA, be that a person or china. First they never stare, then they have time to burn, then they think I'm OK, three statements easily lined to Washington. This is written in abot 1975, right after Nixon opens up relations with China big time...

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massglass
03-25-2009

Rated 0 
This song is about bhuddism and seeking enlightenment or the sublime. Think about it, and if you don't know much about bhuddism, well read up on it. The bhudda himself realized enlightenment while meditating under a banyon tree, or so it is said, that fact alone should be enough to convince you. The bhuddist temples are typically located in the mountains or on the tops of hills. They never stare and they just don't care could be referring to meditation itself, commonly done with closed eyes, and the bhuddist don't care about the things most people do, they live a very different life. And so on. and so on. I don't think this song is about drugs or anything like that, in fact it is probably just the opposite, Fagen was a heroin addict for some time and eventually realized that you don't need drugs to get high, thats the dime dancing is through part, the chorus none the less. DNA is in the form of a double helix, that part could be like trying to find ones connection to everything, to the universe so to speak, that the us and the universe are one together.

Bottom line, read a little about bhuddism and you will be "enlightened" to the meaning of this piece. It can mean whatever you want it to really, but it is clearly related to bhuddism and enlightenment.

So now you all know. Great song.



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massglass
03-25-2009

Rated 0 
And to add, the ending is about death. Many bhuddists have a goal of meditating to their deaths, and have done it. In fact many bhuddists have mummified themselves in meditation, many of the remains were destroyed but some still exist and they are literally mummified in a position of meditation. So that last verse about "they think Im okay or so they say" and being set free I believe deal precisely with this. In the eyes of a bhuddist this death is completely exceptable and is encouraged, and it makes sense that they think "I'm okay" because one wouldn't be able to tell if they were dead or not, and even if they were it wouldn't matter to them, it is glorified. Again, Im not a scholar on bhuddism but I know a little bit about it. Read up. Very interesting stuff.

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Biedrzyckijoseph
04-03-2009

Rated 0 
I think that most of you guys don't get it. The "up on the hill" stuff is nothing. I'll bet my last peso that the "double helix" and "throw out the hardware" reference is just about sex. This is a veritable post-modern bolero...In my mind ...their best work.



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KUUMBA
04-11-2009

Rated 0 
I've spent about ten minutes reading all the interpretations, so many varieties.... you know you have good music when people give their opinion and can come up with so many variations...it could mean what they are saying literally or have a few different meanings... they're "simply genius"!

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aldrich
05-11-2009

Rated 0 
"DOUBLE HELIX IN THE SKY" IS REFERENCE TO A CUM SHOT!

DNA is a double helix

in the sky? "the shot!

keep in mind the dan often has twisted[get it] sexual references.

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aldrich
05-11-2009

Rated 0 
"throw out the hardware, lets do it right"

get rid of the sexual toys"

see above "double helix"



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1 Reply
jago99
06-14-2009

Rated 0 
i always believed its a porn or sexual reference also.
esp 'throw out the hardware'
but the stargazing theory is interesting too.
whatever it is this is great music.

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MichaelKleinman
08-23-2009

Rated 0 
I like massglass' interpretation about Buddhism for sure.

And the LSD stuff and the sex stuff.

Put them all together and you have poetry!

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shanef
09-14-2009

Rated 0 
Acid, Just Acid...

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ratfinkabooboo
10-15-2009

Rated 0 
I always thought this was another diss on pretentious Western aficionados of Eastern culture, like the one in "Throw Back The Little Ones".

I also thought "angular banjoes" was "add in a banjo, sounds good to me".

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