Aja

The title track is made of several sections that were written independently and then strung together. Its middle section was adapted from Stand by the Seawall, an instrumental that predates Steely Dan. It has a jazz-based chord progression and solos by saxophonist Wayne Shorter, drummer Steve Gadd, guitarist Denny Dias and Becker. Katz asked Shorter if he wanted to play a Steely Dan session and the answer was a resounding no, until Dick LaPalm vouched for the band. Fagen played synthesizer and a police whistle and sang backing vocals with Timothy B. Schmit, and Chuck Rainey played bass, Michael Omartian piano and Joe Sample electric piano.

Online fans have spent years trying to decide what the oblique lyrics are about, the Guardian notes, and its list ranks the song thirteenth. Pitchfork's Amanda Petrusich singles out Gadd's minute-long drum solo that closes the track. The multitrack master was among those later found missing, which halted a surround mix. It appears in 654 setlists on setlist.fm, the seventh most of any of their songs.