"Hey Nineteen" is a song by the band Steely Dan from their album Gaucho (1980).
Background
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.[3][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]
Charts
"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.
