Hey Nineteen

"Hey Nineteen" is a song from the band Steely Dan from their album Gaucho (1980)^[1] that describes an intergenerational seduction,^[3][4] a song that would become popular with the bands live performances after its 1993 reunion (becoming its third most-played).^[3] The song featured Steely Dan's composing duo of Donald Fagen (lead vocals and keyboards) and Walter Becker (bass and guitar), as well as Hugh McCracken (guitar), Rick Marotta, Victor Feldman, and Steve Gadd (percussion), and Frank Floyd and Zack Sanders (backing vocals).^{[not verified in body]} The song peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 (1981) and appeared at number 11 on Top Adult Contemporary charts through 1993.^{[5][6][needs update]}

"Hey Nineteen"
Single by Steely Dan
from the album Gaucho
B-side	"Bodhisattva" (live)
Released	21 November 1980 (single)[1]
Recorded	1978[citation needed]
Genre	Jazz fusion soft rock
Length	5:06 (album version) 4:31 (7" version)[1]
Label	MCA
Songwriter(s)	Walter Becker Donald Fagen
Producer(s)	Gary Katz[2]
Steely Dan singles chronology
"Josie" (1978) "Hey Nineteen" (1980) "Time Out of Mind" (1981)
Official Audio
"Hey Nineteen" on YouTube

Background

The song was released as the first single from the band's 1980 album Gaucho,^[1] and was produced by Gary Katz.^[2] The single's B-side is the 1974 live version of the song "Bodhisattva", with an introduction by an inebriated Jerome Aniton, one of the band's drivers,^[1][7] a single that was recorded at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium and was previously unreleased.^{[citation needed][8][page needed][failed verification]} As described by Bernstein, "Hey Nineteen" would become among the most played at the band's live performances (third, according to Setlist.fm), despite having gone unplayed by Becker and Fagen with their "part[ing of] ways in 1981"; its live performances only began with their reunion in 1993.^[3]

Lyrics and music

Lyrics

According to Will Layman, writing for Popmatters.com, the song "was about a middle-aged man's disappointment with a young lover";^[4] as described by Scott Bernstein for Jambase.com (quoting Songfacts.com), in the song, "an older man is seducing a 19-year-old girl. He’s a bit conflicted... However, on this particular night and with the help of some Cuervo Gold tequila, everything is wonderful."^[3]

Hence, the lyrics present an older man contemplating a romantic encounter with a 19-year-old with whom he has little in common; for example, she does not recognize a song by "'Retha Franklin".^[9] The song ends ambiguously, mentioning, "The Cuervo Gold" and "fine Colombian",^[9] going on to say that these "make tonight a wonderful thing",^{[citation needed]} again emphasizing the age difference.^{[citation needed]} Hence, as Stewart Mason states in his AllMusic review, the listener is "(quite deliberately)... unclear as to whether the singer's been left alone with "the Cuervo Gold/the fine Colombian"... or whether he's just resorted to getting the girl drunk and stoned enough to stop resisting".^[9]

Music

Walter Becker of Steely Dan described the band's music as "a whole new kind of bizarre concerto music" with the band "doing the very, very best contemporary disco-jazz-funk-space muzak with a reggae twist".^[3] In a generally negative review emphasizing this particular song's lyrical choices, Stewart Mason of AllMusic.com describes the song's melody as "lazy", with a "lackadaisical ultra-mellow drift", similarly addressing the song's arrangement, which he refers to as "possibly unconscious self-satire... [that] is so hermetically airtight and studiedly slick that it verges upon the mechanical".^[9]

Charts

"Hey Nineteen" peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in early 1981,^[5] number 11 on the Top Adult Contemporary charts through 1993,^{[6][full citation needed]} and, through 2022, its number 68 on the Billboard.com Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.^{[10][needs update]} On the Hot 100 Billboard.com chart, with a run of 19 weeks, "Hey Nineteen" is tied with "Peg" and "Rikki Don't Lose That Number", for being Steely Dan's longest-running chart hit (their peak positions being 10th, 11th, and 4th, respectively).^[5]

Credits

Band members appearing on the recording of the single were:^{[citation needed][verification needed]}

• 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

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for "Hey Nineteen" Chart (1980–1981) Peak position Australia (Kent Music Report) 48 Canada RPM Top Singles[11] 3 New Zealand (RIANZ)[12] 20 US Billboard Hot 100[13] 10 US Billboard Adult Contemporary[6] 11 US Billboard R&B[10] 68 US Cash Box Top 100[14] 10

Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for "Hey Nineteen" Chart (1981) Rank Canada[15] 25 US Billboard Hot 100[16] 72 US Cash Box[17] 80

Further reading

• Genius.com Staff (June 18, 2025). "Hey Nineteen: Steely Dan—Producer: Gary Katz". Genius.com. Retrieved June 18, 2025. This source provides possible information related to the production and performance credits for this musical work, citing Track 31 of "Showbiz Kids: The Steely Dan Story, 1972-1980".