10 Adult Rock Songs That No One Understood As Kids

2. Kid Charlemagne - Steely Dan

There's a good chance that most people tend to see Steely Dan's music nowadays as something many a dad would love to hear. Given how non-threatening and sophisticated some of the harmonies are, this seems to be the perfect kind of music to soundtrack some ritzy yacht club in the middle of the Caribbean, where you can just turn your brain off and have fun. Though Kid Charlemagne does guarantee fun in one form, you might want to keep your wits about you for the lyrics.

Although the actual song title itself just reads like a clever bit of wordplay, the nickname was actually taken by Donald Fagen from a famous drug dealer that he had heard about back in the day. Written almost with a bit of sympathy for this character, you can see Kid Charlemagne getting into more and more seedy behavior as the song goes on, all while the intense groove plods along.

Things do end up taking a drastic turn once we hit the final verse, as the cops have arrived and Charlemagne has to go on the run, having to clean up his drug-addled mess before the police come in and bust him for abusing narcotics. As far as dad rock is concerned, this is the kind of story that leaves kids questioning what exactly Dad is really into.