Steely Dan have hit back at the Republican National Convention’s cover band for choosing to perform their track ‘Reelin’ In The Years’.
The Nashville band Sixwire â comprised of Andy Childs (lead vocals, guitar), Steve Hornbeak (keyboards, vocals), John Howard (bass guitar), Steve Mandile (guitar, vocals) and Chuck Tilley (drums, percussion) â provided a massive setlist filled with covers of classic tracks at the 2024 Republican National Convention (RNC) that took place last week (July 15-18).
The set list included classic covers of such as Cheap Trick‘s ‘I Want You to Want Me’, Foo Fighters‘ ‘Learn To Fly’, U2‘s ‘Where the Streets Have No Name’ and Steely Dan’s ‘Reelin’ In The Years’.
Now, Steely Dan have taken to their official Facebook page to respond to the band’s cover of their 1972 song, suggesting that they perform Donald Fagen’s anti-Trump song ‘Tin Foil Hat’ instead.
“Hey Sixwire: If you want to play our music, how about playing the man in the Tin Foil Hat?” read the post shared on Steely Dan’s official Facebook page.
Released in 2017 on Todd Rundgren‘s album ‘White Knight’, ‘Tin Foil Hat’ features Steely Dan co-founder Donald Fagen and condemns Trump’s presidency from 2017-2021. “Cause the man in the tin foil hat, Is tweeting like a teenage girl / He puts the Pluto in plutocrat, It’s gonna be a yuge yuge yuge new world,” they sing in the chorus, referencing the former president’s tweeting habits.
The song also mentions other Trump moments such as âcoming down the escalator,â, alternative facts, tiny hands and Fagen comparing his presidential term to a “coup dâétat.â
This is not the first time the ‘Dirty Work’ band has hit out at the Republican party. Speaking to Rolling Stone back in 2016, he said: “All those right-wingers suffer from an enlargement of the amygdala in the lower brain. It makes them paranoid and aggressive.â
In other news, King Princess’ cover of ‘Dirty Work’ was featured in the third season of Hackers.