Steely Dan FAQ author Anthony Robustelli describes "Dirty Work" as a "song of self-loathing." The lyrics describe an affair between a man and a married woman, sung by the man having the affair. The singer recognizes that the woman is using him but is too infatuated to end the affair. The lyrics make an oblique reference to the game of chess, which was a hobby of Becker's. "Dirty Work" is one of the songs on Can't Buy a Thrill on which David Palmer provided the lead vocal. Steely Dan biographer Brian Sweet hypothesizes that Fagen did not want to sing the song himself because he and Becker did not even want to include it on the album. But the executives at ABC Records wanted some more conventional tunes on the album and so they insisted that "Dirty Work" be included. After Palmer left the group, Steely Dan ceased playing the song live in concert, but revived it in 2006 with their trio of female backing vocalists singing it and the perspective changed to that of a woman having an affair with a married (or attached) man.
Steely Dan FAQ author Anthony Robustelli describes "Dirty Work" as a "song of self-loathing." The lyrics describe an affair between a man and a married woman, sung by the man having the affair. The singer recognizes that the woman is using him but is too infatuated to end the affair. The lyrics make an oblique reference to the game of chess, which was a hobby of Becker's. "Dirty Work" is one of the songs on Can't Buy a Thrill on which David Palmer provided the lead vocal. Steely Dan biographer Brian Sweet hypothesizes that Fagen did not want to sing the song himself because he and Becker did not even want to include it on the album. But the executives at ABC Records wanted some more conventional tunes on the album and so they insisted that "Dirty Work" be included. After Palmer left the group, Steely Dan ceased playing the song live in concert, but revived it in 2006 with their trio of female backing vocalists singing it and the perspective changed to that of a woman having an affair with a married (or attached) man.
Steely Dan FAQ author Anthony Robustelli describes "Dirty Work" as a "song of self-loathing." The lyrics describe an affair between a man and a married woman, sung by the man having the affair. The singer recognizes that the woman is using him but is too infatuated to end the affair. The lyrics make an oblique reference to the game of chess, which was a hobby of Becker's. "Dirty Work" is one of the songs on Can't Buy a Thrill on which David Palmer provided the lead vocal. Steely Dan biographer Brian Sweet hypothesizes that Fagen did not want to sing the song himself because he and Becker did not even want to include it on the album. But the executives at ABC Records wanted some more conventional tunes on the album and so they insisted that "Dirty Work" be included. After Palmer left the group, Steely Dan ceased playing the song live in concert, but revived it in 2006 with their trio of female backing vocalists singing it and the perspective changed to that of a woman having an affair with a married (or attached) man.