Lyric discussion by SteelyDeb 

The song Black Cow is about Walter Becker’s drug habit, and Fagen wrote the song to his friend, Becker. It’s widely known that Fagan and Becker brought in expensive session musicians for meticulous creative jams on their LPs. Becker would show up stoned, and Fagen would try to make things right. The song Gaucho is also written about Becker by Donald Fagen. “Just when I say boy we can’t miss. You are golden. Then you do this.” (Becker showed up stoned while they were paying “heavy roller session musicians.”) Who is the gaucho? It’s Walter Becker on heroin, of course. (“Just as your ‘friend’’ will never be welcome here, high (on drugs) in the Custerdome (the building that housed their recording studios.)

@SteelyDeb I was about to write this comment myself. Thank you.

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