Bill Callahan, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy Tackle Steely Dan’s ‘Deacon Blues’

Bill Callahan and Bonnie “Prince” Billy have continued their cover series with Steely Dan’s “Deacon Blues,” with Bill MacKay lending a hand.

Directed by Michael Tully, the clip features a woman finding change on the ground, guzzling Gatorade, and eventually watching projections of Callahan and Billy on a house. They perform the Aja track across acoustic guitar: “Learn to work the saxophone/I play just what I feel/Drink Scotch whiskey all night long/And die behind the wheel.”

“Party got busted,” Billy said of the cover. “All clear. Let’s get our buzzes back buzzing. Cup size BBB.” Added Tully: “When the honorable Bill Callahan and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy asked me to direct a music video for their cover of Steely Dan’s ‘Deacon Blues,’ my initial Covid-safe plan was to cut together an avant-garde montage of archival NFL Films footage of legendary lineman Deacon Jones wreaking havoc on the gridiron. But that idea died when the NFL quoted 15 THOUSAND DOLLARS for every 1 MINUTE of footage used. Bwahahahaaa!”

“Deacon Blues” follows Callahan and Billy’s cover of Billie Eilish’s “Wish You Were Gay,” “Yusuf/Cat Stevens’ 1967 protest song “Blackness of the Night,” Hank Williams Jr.’s “OD’d in Denver,” Dave Rich’s “I’ve Made Up My Mind,” and more.