Those Days Are Gone Forever

Those days are gone forever

Over a long time ago

Oh, yeah

- Steely Dan, "Pretzel Logic"

I think about it more now.  A few days ago, Hershel "Woody" Williams, the last living recipient of the Medal of Honor for conduct in WW2, died at 98.  I'm not a medal recipient, nor combat veteran, and still more than a quarter-century younger than Mr Williams, but I think more about the span of time and the difference between how I perceive it and those a generation or two younger.  My memories are linked to things I experience and no matter how I describe them to someone younger it will never fully convey whatever feelings it invoked or what it was like to go through it at the time.

Here's an exquisite and soulful live version of Pretzel Logic from 2014 by The Dukes of September, featuring Donald Fagen of the Dan, Boz Scaggs, and Michael McDonald, who along with his solo and Doobie Brothers career, endured Fagen and Becker's perfectionist demands in the recording studio, as he laid down background vocals on vocals on many Dan tracks.

I stepped out on the platform

The man gave me the news

He said, "you must be joking son, where did you get those shoes?"