| Hey Nineteen | |
| Cover: | Hey Nineteen cover.jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Steely Dan |
| Album: | Gaucho |
| B-Side: | "Bodhisattva" (live) |
| Released: | 21 November 1980[1] |
| Recorded: | 1978 |
| Genre: | Jazz fusion, soft rock |
| Length: | 5:06 (Album version) 4:44 (7" version) |
| Label: | MCA |
| Producer: | Gary Katz |
| Prev Title: | Josie |
| Prev Year: | 1978 |
| Next Title: | Time Out of Mind |
| Next Year: | 1981 |
"Hey Nineteen" is a song by the band Steely Dan from their album Gaucho (1980).
According to one reviewer's interpretation, the song "was about a middle-aged man's disappointment with a young lover".[2]
The lyrics are about a man in his early thirties contemplating a romantic encounter with a nineteen year-old with whom he has nothing in common. For example, she does not recognize a song by "'Retha Franklin".[3] The song closes with the ambiguous line, "The Cuervo Gold, the fine Colombian, make tonight a wonderful thing," again emphasizing their age difference — when this song was written tequila was less popular among college-aged drinkers, and Colombian cannabis which in his college days was prized for its aroma and flavor was being replaced by Sinsemilla varieties valued primarily for their potency — and the listener is left to decide whether the narrator is drinking and smoking with her, or if he is in fact alone and thinking of days gone by.[4]
The B-side is a previously unreleased 1974 live version of the song "Bodhisattva", recorded at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, with an introduction by one of the band's drivers, Jerome Aniton, who is clearly inebriated.[5] [6]
"Hey Nineteen" peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in early 1981,[7] number 11 on the Adult Contemporary chart,[8] and number 68 on the R&B Singles chart.[9] With a chart run of 19 weeks, "Hey Nineteen" is tied with "Peg" and "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" for being their longest-running chart hit.
| Australia (Kent Music Report) | 48 | |
|---|---|---|
| Canada RPM Top Singles[10] | 3 | |
| New Zealand (RIANZ)[11] | 20 | |
| US Billboard Hot 100[12] | 10 | |
| US Billboard Adult Contemporary | 11 | |
| US Billboard R&B | 68 | |
| US Cash Box Top 100[13] | 10 |
| Rank | ||
| Canada[14] | 25 | |
|---|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100[15] | 72 | |
| US Cash Box[16] | 80 |
