Are You With Me Doctor?

Katy tried, I was halfway crucified
I was on the other side of no tomorrow
You walked in and my life began again
Just when I'd spent the last piaster I could borrow

All night long, we would sing that stupid song
And every word we sang, I knew was true

Are you with me Dr. Wu
Are you really just a shadow
Of the man that I once knew
Are you crazy are you high
Or just an ordinary guy
Have you done all you can do
Are you with me doctor?

Don't seem right, I've been strung out here all night
I've been waiting for the taste, you said you'd bring to me
Biscayne Bay where the Cuban gentlemen sleep all day
I went searching for the song, you used to sing to me

Katy lies, You could see it in her eyes
But imagine my surprise when I saw you

Are you with me Dr. Wu
Are you really just a shadow
Of the man that I once knew
She is lovely yes she's sly
And you're an ordinary guy
Has she finally got to you
Can you hear me doctor?

Are you with me doctor?
Can you hear me doctor?
Are you with me doctor?
Can you hear me doctor?

Are you with me doctor?
Can you hear me doctor?
Are you with me doctor?

Doctor Wu is one of my favorite Steely Dan songs. I’m not that fond of the Katy Lied album overall, but I can listen to Doctor Wu over and over again. It’s a treat both musically and lyrically. It’s always fun to try to decipher what Steely Dan songs are really about, and Walter Becker and Donald Fagen aren’t really interested in clarifying things. They seem to actually enjoy throwing people off the right trail, and I don’t take most of their commentary on lyrical interpretation at face value.

The internet is full of listener opinions on the meaning of the song Doctor Wu. There’s general agreement that the real Dr. Jing Nuan Wu is being referenced. He was a Chinese-born herbalist who may have helped Becker and/or Fagen cope with their drug addiction. I don’t know that Fagen was ever really a junkie, and Becker’s addiction lasted years past Katy Lied’s 1975 release. Still, they may have known him, or known of him. But I think the guy in the song is fictional.

Here’s my take, for what it’s worth. The narrator is a junkie. Katy is the narcotics addiction. Doctor Wu is the narrator’s dealer. At the start of the song, the narrator’s just used the last bits of his stash, and is desperate for more. Then his dealer arrives, and they get high together. The dealer has never been seen to really use before.

There’s a gorgeous saxophone solo by Phil Woods as a bridge between the verses. It’s actually a metaphorical drug trip. Follow the link and listen to it. It soars as the pair first feel the effects, and then dies out as the drug gradually wears off.

The narrator wakes up and Doctor Wu is gone. He’s supposed to return, but doesn’t, so the narrator has to out and search the back alleys of Miami for him. The narrator finally finds his dealer, and realizes the dealer is now a junkie too. Katy got to him. To make the connection clear, the saxophone returns as the song ends, closing this sad, yet beautiful vignette. As with other Steely Dan songs, it’s like a RaymondCarver story has been set to music.

One last bit of trivia; For anyone who wonders if Katy really lied, that’s a katydid on the album cover…