Pretzel Logic (song)

"Pretzel Logic" is a single released by Steely Dan from their album Pretzel Logic, originally released in 1974 by ABC Records. It reached number 57 in the Billboard charts.^[1] In the lyrics, the speaker describes wanting to visit the Southern United States with a minstrel show, wanting to meet Napoleon Bonaparte because Napoleon is lonely, and being the victim of fashion by being questioned about his shoes, to which he answers that he saw them in motion pictures and television and that "the times are changing".

In Brian Sweet's 1994 Steely Dan Biography Reelin' in the Years, Donald Fagen states that the lyrics are actually about time travel.^[2] Sweet also hypothesizes that the first verse was inspired by the band's distaste for touring, particularly the tours of the American South that their record label had sent them upon the previous year.

This is one of the first Steely Dan songs to feature bassist Walter Becker as a lead guitarist. He would do so periodically on every Dan release since.

Credits

• Drums: Jim Gordon
• Bass: Wilton Felder
• Solo Guitar: Walter Becker
• Rhythm guitar: Dean Parks
• Piano: Michael Omartian
• Electric piano/Vocals: Donald Fagen
• Sax: Plas Johnson
• Trumpet: Ollie Mitchell
• Trombone: Lew McCreary
• Backing vocals: Donald Fagen, Tim Schmit

Covers

In 1987, it was covered by Hiram Bullock on his album Give It What You Got.

A live version by INXS was performed during the Moontan Double J Concert At Manly Vale Hotel, October 1980 show. A recording is available presumably as a bootleg.

The song was performed by the Warren Haynes Band, the solo project of Allman Brothers Band and Gov't Mule leader Warren Haynes, which he started in 2010. A staple of the band's live shows, often running over ten minutes in length and featuring multiple solos from band members, it appears in this form on their 2012 album Live at The Moody Theater.

References