yorolpal
You sound like someone who hasn't really read or studied all of Don's and Walt's lyrical output. Some are very well done. Gaslighting Abby, Two Against Nature and even a hit like Ricki Don't Lose That Number come easily to mind. But then I'm a huge fan. Their music and chord structures too while occasionally seeming quaintly simple, on futher study, are subtly complex, interesting and, many times, hold hidden "inside baseball" doffs of the hat to the Duke, the Count and other earlier jazz luminaries. Plus the tide your choosing to swim against is just about tsunami sized. But swim on, ol pal.
No. I come from a literary family, and quasi-literature is boring, and too many times a copy of the original.
You you wanna get a taste of the real thing, go read Naked Lunch, but telling me that Steely Dan is that great is boring. It's just WAYYYYYYY better than the majority of CRAP out there on the radio at the time and today, and in that sense yes it is better, but it does not compare to the best.
Kinda weird that you can defend their words, but you won't read other's to find out what this is all about. Even the Bonzo Dog Band was more important lyrically, and way more literary!
It's VERY GOOD work, no doubt about it. But it's pop music, and nothing else! On top of it worshipping a dildo! Oh ... do you remember that little pipe that said "Steely Dan" on it, and the end that you smoked from was ... yep! You got it. You should have seen the girls laughing at the guys!