New Frontier (song)

The songset in the early 1960scenters on teenagers finding romance in an underground fallout shelter. It has been described as equally sarcastic and nostalgic in its lyrics. Musically, the song contains elements of jazz and funk. ==Background==

The narrator of the song is a "gawky teenager circa 1962", He opens the song with discussion of his family's backyard fallout shelter—which he casually describes as "'just a dugout that my dad built, in case the reds decide to push the button down." The narrator meets a girl at a party in the shelter ("a summer smoker underground"), The teenager also holds big dreams for his future: "I can't wait till I move to the city, 'till I finally make up my mind to learn design and study overseas." Robert J. Toth of The Wall Street Journal considered that Fagen used the term humorously as a "metaphor for the mysteries of sex and adulthood." It contains a "four-note piano riff that functions as a sort of musical exclamation point to certain lines in the verses." Toth wrote that "the music sounds as frenetic as the teenage hero's hormones, and its deliberately cheesy tone matches the kid's skin-deep sophistication." ==Critical reception==

"New Frontier" received critical acclaim. Billboard labeled it a top single pick, with an unspecified writer commenting, "The lyrics are diffuse and unsettling, but Fagen wraps them in a comfortable, shuffling rhythm and layered harmonies for an overall pleasant effect." The Independent Phil Johnson called the song a "sardonic take on the optimism of America in the Cold War period," while Laura Sinagra from The New York Times a "biting Reagan-era recollection of 60's hope." Jon Matsumoto at the Los Angeles Times considered it "rhythmically effervescent," feeling it "captured both the anxieties and the innocence of the era." Stewart Mason, writing for AllMusic, praised the dual sarcasm and nostalgia of Fagen's lyrics, as well as its "easy, bouncy groove", summarizing it as "one of Fagen's most delightful tunes." ==Music video==

The music video for "New Frontier" was produced, for Cucumber Studios, by Annabel Jankel and was directed by Rocky Morton. The music video continues the song's concept of a teenage romantic evening in a bomb shelter. It mixes animation and live-action footage. Fagen appears only in a poster for The Nightfly seen on the wall of the bunker. Stewart Mason of AllMusic said the clip for the song was "widely considered one of the great videos of the early MTV era." It was later included as a bonus feature on the DVD-Audio reissue of The Nightfly. == Formats and track listing ==

;7" (1983) • "New Frontier" 3:50 • "Maxine" 3:50 ;12" (1983) • "New Frontier" 3:50 • "Maxine" 3:50 • "The Goodbye Look" 4:47 ;CDV maxi single (1988) • "New Frontier" (7" Version) 4:30 • "Maxine" (LP Version) 3:50 • "New Frontier" (Video) 4:40 ==Personnel==

Information adapted from the liner notes of The Nightfly. • Donald Fagen lead vocals, background vocals, synthesizer • Larry Carlton lead guitar • Ed Greene drums • Abraham Laboriel bass • Hugh McCracken harmonica • Michael Omartian piano, electric piano • Vander "Stars" Lockett percussion, background vocals == Charts ==