squonk

The Squonk, made mildly famous in the Steely Dan lyric "Have you ever seen a Squonk's tears?" in "Any Major Dude," was another attempt by Becker/Fagen to include literary elements into their music that were vague at best. The Squonk itself was a mythical beast that could cry itself into a bag of tears.

The squonk (Lacrimacorpus dissolvens) haunts the hemlock forests of Pennsylvania, chiefly at night. It is sad and tearful most of the time because it is so damn ugly, covered with warts and moles. I have no idea if the squonk is a literary creation or a piece of Pennsylvania folklore. To see a drawing, surf to: http://www.hum.au.dk/romansk/borges/vakalo/zf/html/the_squonk.html