Hey Nineteen

"Hey Nineteen"
"Hey Nineteen"
Single by Steely Dan
from the album Gaucho
B-side	"Bodhisattva (Live)"
Released	21 November 1980
Recorded	1978
Genre	Jazz fusion, soft rock
Length	5:10; 4:44 (7" version)
Label	MCA
Songwriter(s)	Walter Becker; Donald Fagen;
Producer(s)	Gary Katz
Steely Dan singles chronology

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

Background[]

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

Hey Nineteen, that's 'Retha Franklin
She don't remember the Queen of Soul
It's hard times befallen the Soul Survivors
She thinks I'm crazy but I'm just growing old.^[2]

The song's bridge suggests there is pleasure in the relationship as well, though the song is ambiguous enough to suggest the song's protagonist is indulging by himself.

The Cuervo Gold
The fine Colombian
Make tonight a wonderful thing.

"Colombian" is another name for cocaine from Colombia.^[3] In the 1960s, "fine Colombian" was marijuana.^{[citation needed]}

Charts[]

"Hey Nineteen" peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in early 1981,^[4] number 11 on the Adult Contemporary chart,^[5] and number 68 on the R&B Singles chart.^[6] 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[]

Donald Fagen – electric piano, synthesizer (solo), vocals
Walter Becker – bass guitar, guitar
Hugh McCracken – guitars
Rick Marotta – drums
Victor Feldman, Steve Gadd – percussion
Frank Floyd, Zack Sanders – backup vocals

Chart history[]

Weekly charts[]

Chart (1980–81)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)	48
Canada RPM Top Singles^[7]	3
New Zealand (RIANZ)^[8]	20
US Billboard Hot 100^[9]	10
US Billboard Adult Contemporary^[5]	11
US Billboard R&B^[6]	68
US Cash Box Top 100^[10]	10

Year-end charts[]

Chart (1981)	Rank
Canada^[11]	25
US Billboard Hot 100^[12]	72
US Cash Box^[13]	80

Notes[]

^ "Steely Dan singles".
^ 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
^ Bender, Steven (2008). The Significance of Spanish in English-only Times. Floricanto Press. p. 109. ISBN 9781888205084.
^ Steely Dan Chart History: Hot 100, Billboard. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993. Record Research. p. 228.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Steely Dan Chart History: Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Billboard. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1981-12-09. Retrieved 2018-12-17.
^ NZ Top 40 Singles, 8 March 1981
^ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
^ Cash Box Top 100 Singles, February 14, 1981
^ The 1981 Top 100 Singles chart is identified by the RPM Year-End article "Top 100 Singles (1981)". RPM. Retrieved 2018-01-05.
^ Musicoutfitters.com
^ "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[]

"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"
Steely Dan - Hey Nineteen on YouTube

[1] "Steely Dan singles".

[layman-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] Bender, Steven (2008). The Significance of Spanish in English-only Times. Floricanto Press. p. 109. ISBN 9781888205084.

[4] Steely Dan Chart History: Hot 100, Billboard. Retrieved February 11, 2020.

[autogenerated228-5] Jump up to: ^a ^b Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993. Record Research. p. 228.

[chart-6] Jump up to: ^a ^b Steely Dan Chart History: Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Billboard. Retrieved February 12, 2020.

[7] "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1981-12-09. Retrieved 2018-12-17.

[8] NZ Top 40 Singles, 8 March 1981

[9] Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X

[10] Cash Box Top 100 Singles, February 14, 1981

[11] The 1981 Top 100 Singles chart is identified by the RPM Year-End article "Top 100 Singles (1981)". RPM. Retrieved 2018-01-05.

[12] Musicoutfitters.com

[13] "Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 26, 1981". Archived from the original on October 22, 2016. Retrieved September 12, 2018.

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show v t 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)
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" "Cousin Dupree" "Janie Runaway"
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 (1987) Do It Again (1987) Citizen Steely Dan (1993) Then and Now (1993) Showbiz Kids (2000) The Definitive Collection (2006)
Related articles	Discography Gary Katz Roger Nichols
Category