My Old School -- Steely Dan

I remember the thirty-five sweet goodbyes When you put me on the Wolverine
Up to Annandale It was still September When your daddy was quite surprised
To find you with the working girls In the county jail I was smoking with the boys upstairs When I heard about the whole affair I said oh no
William and Mary won't do Well I did not think the girl Could be so cruel And I'm never going back To my old school

Oleanders growing outside her door Soon they're gonna be in bloom
Up in Annandale I can't stand her Doing what she did before
Living like a gypsy queen In a fairy tale Well I hear the whistle but I can't go
I'm gonna take her down to Mexico She said oh no Guadalajara won't do

California tumbles into the sea That'll be the day I go Back to Annandale
Tried to warn you About Chino and Daddy Gee But I can't seem to get to you
Through the U.S. Mail Well I hear the whistle but I can't go
I'm gonna take her down to Mexico She said oh no Guadalajara won't do 


The "Old School" referred to in this song is Bard College in Annendale, New York, where Donald Fagen and Walter Becker met. The song is at least partially inspired by an event that occurred at Bard, where both Becker and Fagen, along with their girlfriends, were arrested in a pot raid on a party that was orchestrated by an ambitious young District Attorney named G. Gordon Liddy . Despite the fact that California has not  tumbled into the sea, both Fagen and Becker have returned to Bard. (songfacts)