Hey Nineteen

1980 single by Steely Dan

"Hey Nineteen"

Single by Steely Dan
from the album  Gaucho
B-side| "Bodhisattva" (live)
Released| 21 November 1980[1]
Recorded| 1978
Genre| Jazz fusion, soft rock
Length| 5:06 (Album version)
4:44 (7" version)
Label| MCA
Songwriter(s)|

* Walter Becker
* Donald Fagen

Producer(s)| Gary Katz
Steely Dan singles chronology
| "Josie"
(1978)  | "Hey Nineteen"
(1980)  | "Time Out of Mind"
(1981)

|
|

Official Audio
"Hey Nineteen" on YouTube

"Hey Nineteen" is a song by the band Steely Dan from their album Gaucho (1980).

## Background[edit]

According to one reviewer's interpretation, the song "was about a middle-aged man's disappointment with a young lover".[2]

The lyrics are about a man in his early thirties contemplating a romantic encounter with a nineteen year-old with whom he has nothing in common. For example, she does not recognize a song by "'Retha Franklin".[3] The song closes with the ambiguous line, "The Cuervo Gold, the fine Colombian, make tonight a wonderful thing," again emphasizing their age difference — when this song was written tequila was less popular among college-aged drinkers, and Colombian cannabis which in his college days was prized for its aroma and flavor was being replaced by Sinsemilla varieties valued primarily for their potency — and the listener is left to decide whether the narrator is drinking and smoking with her, or if he is in fact alone and thinking of days gone by.[3][4]

The B-side is a previously unreleased 1974 live version of the song "Bodhisattva", recorded at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, with an introduction by one of the band's drivers, Jerome Aniton, who is clearly inebriated.[5][6]

## Charts[edit]

"Hey Nineteen" peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in early 1981,[7] number 11 on the Adult Contemporary chart,[8] and number 68 on the R&B Singles chart.[9] With a chart run of 19 weeks, "Hey Nineteen" is tied with "Peg" and "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" for being their longest-running chart hit.

## Personnel[edit]

* Donald Fagen – lead vocals, electric piano, synthesizer
* Rick Marotta – drums
* Walter Becker – bass guitar, guitar
* Hugh McCracken – guitar
* Victor Feldman, Steve Gadd – percussion
* Frank Floyd, Zack Sanders – backing vocals

## Chart history[edit]

### Weekly charts[edit]

Weekly chart performance for "Hey Nineteen"  | Chart (1980–1981)  | Peak
position

|

Australia (Kent Music Report)  | 48
Canada RPM Top Singles[10] | 3
New Zealand (RIANZ)[11] | 20
US Billboard Hot 100[12] | 10
US Billboard Adult Contemporary[8] | 11
US Billboard R&B[9] | 68
US Cash Box Top 100[13] | 10

### Year-end charts[edit]

Year-end chart performance for "Hey Nineteen"  | Chart (1981)  | Rank

|

Canada[14] | 25
US Billboard Hot 100[15] | 72
US Cash Box[16] | 80

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Steely Dan - Hey Nineteen". hitparade.ch.
2. ^ Layman, Will. "Jazz Today: The Strange, Mixed Fate of Steely Dan" (April 10, 2006). Accessed July 31, 2006. Archived June 15, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
3. ^ a b Allmusic song review: "Hey Nineteen."
4. ^ "Remembering Walter Becker Of Steely Dan: 'Hey Nineteen' Banter". JamBase. 27 December 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
5. ^ Mansfield, Brian. "On the Road Again: Steely Dan". USA Today. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
6. ^ Sweet, Brian (August 16, 2018). Steely Dan: Reelin' in the Years. Omnibus Press. ISBN 9781787591295 - via Google Books.
7. ^ Steely Dan Chart History: Hot 100, Billboard. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
8. ^ a b Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993. Record Research. p. 228.
9. ^ a b Steely Dan Chart History: Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Billboard. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
10. ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1981-12-09. Retrieved 2018-12-17.
11. ^ "The Official New Zealand Music Chart". THE OFFICIAL NZ MUSIC CHART.
12. ^ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 \- ISBN 0-89820-089-X
13. ^ "Cash Box Top 100 2/14/81". tropicalglen.com.
14. ^ The 1981 Top 100 Singles chart is identified by the RPM Year-End article "Top 100 Singles (1981)". RPM. Retrieved 2018-01-05.
15. ^ "Top 100 Hits of 1981/Top 100 Songs of 1981 | Music Outfitters". www.musicoutfitters.com.
16. ^ "Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 26, 1981". Archived from the original on October 22, 2016. Retrieved September 12, 2018.

## External links[edit]

* "Hey Nineteen" lyrics at Steely Dan archive.com
* Rashida Jones talks about this song with NPR in the article "How Rashida Jones Found Her Inner Music Nerd"
* Bodhisattva (Live At The Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, CA on YouTube

* v
* t
* e

Steely Dan

* Donald Fagen

* Walter Becker
* Jeff "Skunk" Baxter
* Denny Dias
* Jim Hodder
* David Palmer
* Royce Jones
* Michael McDonald
* Jeff Porcaro

Studio albums|

* Can't Buy a Thrill (1972)
* Countdown to Ecstasy (1973)
* Pretzel Logic (1974)
* Katy Lied (1975)
* The Royal Scam (1976)
* Aja (1977)
* Gaucho (1980)
* Two Against Nature (2000)
* Everything Must Go (2003)

Live albums|

* Alive in America (1995)
* Plush TV Jazz-Rock Party (2000)
* Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz with Steely Dan (2005)
* Northeast Corridor (2021)

Singles|

* "Dallas"
* "Do It Again"
* "Reelin' In the Years"
* "Show Biz Kids"
* "My Old School"
* "Rikki Don't Lose That Number"
* "Pretzel Logic"
* "Bad Sneakers"
* "Kid Charlemagne"
* "Peg"
* "Deacon Blues"
* "FM (No Static at All)"
* "Josie"
* "Hey Nineteen"
* "Time Out of Mind"
* "Cousin Dupree"

Album tracks|

* "Aja"
* "Any Major Dude Will Tell You"
* "Dirty Work"

Compilations|

* Greatest Hits (1978)
* Steely Dan (1978)
* Gold (1982/91)
* A Decade of Steely Dan (1985)
* Reelin' In the Years (1985)
* Do It Again (1987)
* Citizen Steely Dan (1993)
* Then and Now (1993)
* Showbiz Kids (2000)
* The Definitive Collection (2006)
* Found Studio Tracks (2007)

Related articles|

* Discography
* Gary Katz
* Members
* Roger Nichols
* Yacht rock

* Category

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz work

|

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