Somebody asked me where the title to yesterday’s Walter Becker posting came from. Here it is in it’s original context from the album Countdown to Ecstasy (which is also part of the “Citizen Steely Dan” box set, if you don’t have the original album!)

While the poor people sleepin’
With the shade on the light
While the poor people sleepin’
All the stars come out at night

After closing time
At the Guernsey Fair
I detect the El Supremo
From the room at the top of the stairs
Well I’ve been around the world
And I’ve been in the Washington Zoo
And in all my travels
As the facts unravel
I’ve found this to be true

While the poor people sleepin’
With the shade on the light
While the poor people sleepin’
All the stars come out at night

They got the house on the corner
With the rug inside
They got the booze they need
All that money can buy
They got the shapely bods
They got the Steely Dan T-shirt
And for the coup-de-gras
They’re outrageous

While the poor people sleepin’
With the shade on the light
While the poor people sleepin’
All the stars come out at night

Show biz kids making movies
Of themselves you know they
Don’t give a fuck about anybody else