Lyrics to
Dirty Work

This version of Dirty Work was released by Steely Dan in 1972.

Our About Steely Dan page at Decade Lyrics includes the lyrics for Dirty Work from 1972 as well as all of the other lyrics from Steely Dan that we have in our lyrics database.

Here's more interesting things in songs and lyrics tied to Steely Dan or about the 1970s in general.

Times are hard
You’re afraid to pay the fee
So you find yourself somebody
Who can do the job for free
When you need a bit of lovin’
Cause your man is out of town
That’s the time you get me runnin’
And you know I’ll be around

I’m a fool to do your dirty work
Oh yeah
I don’t wanna do your dirty work
No more
I’m a fool to do your dirty work
Oh yeah

Light the candle
Put the lock upon the door
You have sent the maid home early
Like a thousand times before
Like the castle in its corner
In a medieval game
I foresee terrible trouble
And I stay here just the same

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Steely Dan has released many songs over the years besides Dirty Work. Steely Dan released songs from 1972 to 2000 spanning across albums like Can't Buy A Thrill, Countdown To Ecstasy, Pretzel Logic, Katy Lied, The Royal Scam, Aja, Gaucho, and Two Against Nature. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Steely Dan.

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About Lyrics and Dirty Work by Steely Dan

The lyrics for Dirty Work are defined as the words making up the song released by Steely Dan in 1972. It also includes the verses and words used by the background chorus in the song. Like many hit songs, the lyrics to Dirty Work have different meanings to different people. While it is clear in some of the lyrics what the artist is trying to really say, only Steely Dan and those working with them know all of the meanings behind all of the lyrics to their songs.

Some folks are interested in word and phrase etymology. It is easy to understand the lyrics to Dirty Work by Steely Dan if you think through it. The word "lyric" itself derives from the Latin word lyricus, with the actual English word lyrics applied to the definition "words set to music" listed in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Continuing the chain, the Latin word lyricus derives from the Greek word λυρικός or lyrikós. This somewhat means "poetry accompanied by the lyre" or "words set to music." You can easily see that by looking at the background of the word lyric, that the "lyrics to Dirty Work" means the words set to the music of Dirty Work, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Steely Dan. The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song. However, the singular form lyric is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics. Hence, by this analysis of word structure, you could say that the lyric to Dirty Work and the lyrics to Dirty Work are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Steely Dan who came here looking just for the lyrics to Dirty Work, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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