Golden City

video: Matt Kerns

Golden City

Walter Becker, © 1994/2018

I pulled my house down and made my invocation To the clapped-out pleasures of a dying world A whole new fresh for ’94 situation A brand new city and a brand new girl

Then I went down to the Union Station Where I stood there crying in the lonely queue That’s when I knew my true destination That’s when I come all over again in love with you

Poor little match-girl heart I thought I felt you beating Against the crossed rhythms of your chorus line I’m not hard of hearing there’s no need in repeating I guess I already heard you now the second time

Spell out your demands on tattered funny pages Hung out like proud banners in the cobalt sky Strung out like a ribbon through the bars and the cages We’ll read them all weeping in the salty by and by

Yeah Kingdom come Seven come eleven

Yeah Kingdom come Seven come eleven

So I quit the pale precincts of your endless evening Of your long-suffering New Jerusalem You won’t do me with any easy loaves and fishes But hey that starlet rising, now that’s a nifty one

Last night I walked down to the near side of the river There was a golden city shining in the sun Where we all laughed and loved all our chump change sins forgiven But you know me I’ll believe it when that day is come

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Matt Writes ....

[Excerpted from today’s Newsletter ]

Well, that year went a lot like a Steely Dan lyric.

2020. It was a year. A pandemic, calls for social justice, a contentious election, an economic crisis...and none of them contained in just 2020, each threatening to spill over the border of 2021. That’s right, you heard it here first. The first part of 2021 is going to feel an awful lot like the last part of 2020. Except it will feel that way with a new (to you) Walter Becker track.

At this point, through the machinations and under the auspices of the Walter Becker Media, we’ve made thirty-four rare, unreleased, or demo tracks available for your listening pleasure, plus offered up a growing sampler of his unique prose to ponder

We’ve trusted you to accept these offerings as what they are: examples of Walter Becker the composer, arranger, musician, writer, and lyricist at work, but not necessarily—and in some cases not at all—indicative of what the final product might have been, had Walter chosen to pursue these germinal ideas to a satisfying conclusion.

The hope is that with each thing we send out into the world, the public understanding of Walter’s prodigious talents becomes a little bit broader and a little bit clearer...a little bit harder to ignore.

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To me the last lyric stanza really captures my feelings looking into 2021. I’d love to believe we’re heading into the bright golden city of the future, a brand new situation and a brand new lease on life. I’d love to believe that we’ll find peace in a new vaccine or a new political reality or a new tune. But you know me, I’ll believe it when that day is come.

In the meantime, I’m glad to have some prescient music to fill the silence. Welcome 2021.

-- Matt