I could have sworn I posted this this morning but I had to rush out for an appointment so may not have hit the right button.  It’s late but still the same day.

Listening to Steely Dan’s Pretzel Log while coloring. There were so many hits that came out of this album: Rikki Don’t Lose that Number, Any Major Dude will Tell You, Barrytown, Pretzel Logic, With a Gun. One that didn’t hit the airwaves but needs to be heard is, “Charlie Freak.” This song is being offered with compassion to anyone who has found themselves in dire circumstances and needs to depend upon the kindness of strangers. How would each of us react if we were the one in need? If we were the one being depended on for kindness? Do you feel anything or anyone will – or can — interrupt Charlie’s trajectory?

Pretzel Logic is the third studio album by the American rock band Steely Dan, released on February 20, 1974, by ABC Records. It was written by principal band members Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, and recorded at The Village Recorder in West Los Angeles with producer Gary Katz. It was the final album to feature the full five-member band of Becker, Fagen, Denny Dias, Skunk Baxter, and Jim Hodder, and also featured significant contributions from many prominent Los Angeles-based studio musicians.

Charlie Freak had but one thing to call his own
Three weight ounce pure golden ring no precious stone
Five nights without a bite
No place to lay his head

And if nobody takes him in
He’ll soon be dead
On the street he spied my face I heard him hail
In our plot of frozen space he told his tale

Poor man, he showed his hand
So righteous was his need
And me so wise I bought his prize
For chicken feed

Newfound cash soon begs to smash a state of mind
Close inspection fast revealed his favorite kind
Poor kid, he overdid
Embraced the spreading haze

And while he sighed his body died
In fifteen ways

When I heard I grabbed a cab to where he lay
‘Round his arm the plastic tag read D.O.A.
Yes Jack, I gave it back
The ring I could not own

Now come my friend I’ll take your hand
And lead you home

Songwriters: Donald Jay Fagen / Walter Carl Becker