About the song
Background:
- Released in 1*972 on Steely Dan’s debut album “Can’t Buy a Thrill”
- Second track on the album
- Features signature Steely Dan sound with intricate instrumentation and Donald Fagen’s distinct vocals
- Included on several Steely Dan compilation albums
Themes:
- Infidelity: The song details a man’s perspective on an affair with a married woman.
- Self-Loathing: The narrator recognizes the wrongness of the situation but feels powerless to end it.
- Manipulation: The lyrics hint at the woman using the narrator for her own emotional needs.
- Soap Opera Drama: Described as having a dramatic, almost melodramatic quality.
Overall, “Dirty Work” paints a complex picture of a forbidden relationship filled with emotional entanglement and internal conflict.
Video
Lyrics
Times are hardYou’re afraid to pay the feeSo you find yourself somebodyWho can do the job for freeWhen you need a bit of lovin’‘Cause your man is out of townThat’s the time you get me runnin’And you know I’ll be around
I’m a fool to do your dirty workOh yeahI don’t wanna do your dirty workNo moreI’m a fool to do your dirty workOh yeah
Light the candlePut the lock upon the doorYou have sent the maid home earlyLike a thousand times beforeLike the castle in its cornerIn a medieval gameI foresee terrible troubleAnd I stay here just the same
I’m a fool to do your dirty workOh yeahI don’t wanna do your dirty workNo moreI’m a fool to do your dirty workOh yeah
I’m a fool to do your dirty workOh yeahI don’t wanna do your dirty workNo moreI’m a fool to do your dirty workOh yeahI don’t wanna do your dirty workNo moreI’m a fool to do your dirty workOh yeah