The Royal Scam

Can it be this sad designCould be the very same?A wooly man without a face

Can it be this sad design

Could be the very same?

A wooly man without a face

And a beast without a name

Nothin' here but history

Can you see what has been done?

Memory rush over me

Now I step into the sun

[Chorus]
Before the fall when they wrote it on the wall
When there wasn't even any Hollywood
They heard the call
And they wrote it on the wall
For you and me we understood

On this date in 1976, Steely Dan released its fifth album, The Royal Scam, with its best known songs being Kid Charlemagne (with THAT Larry Carlton guitar solo) and Don't Take Me Alive (with THAT OTHER Larry Carlton guitar solo).  My favorite is Sign In Stranger, with its humorous Eliot Randall guitar solo and Paul Griffen piano work.

One of the lesser known cuts is The Caves Of Altamira, from which the lyrics at top are taken.  The Cave of Altamira is located on the north coast of Spain in the small town of Santillana del Mar.  It is home to some of the most marvelous prehistoric cave art in existence.  Discovered in 1879 and now closed to the public, the cave contains a thousand meters of depictions of animals and of abstract designs.  Perhaps the only pop/rock song about cave art, but just another day in the rather odd life of Steely Dan.