Rikki Don't Lose That Number

Is Rikki's statement on the song a bit disingenuous?

Steely Dan’s most successful single ever was “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number.” I haven’t been able to get it out of my head for days, except when I’ve been listening to innumerable other Steely Dan songs.

The band usually declines to talk about the origins of their lyrics, which is one of my favorite things about them. But this one eventually they did explain.

Apparently Rikki was the wife of a faculty member at Bard College, where Donald Fagen was in college. He had a crush on her, and the legend goes that he gave her his number at a party, even though he knew she was both married and pregnant.

She never called his number and did in fact lose it, ostensibly.

I have several vocabulary words for this story:

ostensibly

purportedly

allegedly

low-key I don’t believe it.

(The fourth is something the kids say these days.)

If you listen carefully to the lyrics of the song, they are way too detailed to believe that this was an entirely unrequited youthful fantasy. Now I am not accusing Mrs. Rikki of cheating on her spouse with a college student - I strongly suspect she did not, as these things are quite frowned upon. But I cannot be convinced that there was absolutely nothing there. [Note: I would like to thank The Giraffe for teaching me how to properly use “cannot” vs. “can not.”]

She was leaving… we found out later that she moved to France and did not hear the song until ten years after it was released. Back then it was hard to find someone if you lost their number, and phone numbers changed all the time. Whereas today it is easy to track most people down via social media, then you might have to GASP! look at a phone book!

I suspect the only people who will ever know what happened between Donald Fagen and Rikki are Donald and Rikki. I’d also bet that their recollections differ somewhat.

Donald Fagen is not dead. He was born in 1948 (an excellent vintage for men, in my learned opinion) to a Jewish family in New Jersey. His wife passed away in 2024. I have no idea if Rikki is still alive, likely she is not. But if she is, it’s not necessarily over between them. It’s never over until all parties are dead.

Then again, if Donald Fagen is not dead and is single… so am I! Maybe I have a chance too!

Does anybody have his number?