The connection between Deacon Blues by Steely Dan and Wake Forest University comes from a lyric in the song that references the university’s sports team.
In Deacon Blues, there’s a line that goes:
“They got a name for the winners in the world / I want a name when I lose / They call Alabama the Crimson Tide / Call me Deacon Blues.”
Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, the core members of Steely Dan, explained in interviews that the “Deacon Blues” name was inspired by Wake Forest University’s football team, the Demon Deacons. At the time, Wake Forest’s football program was not particularly successful, and Becker and Fagen thought “Deacon Blues” sounded like the perfect name for a poetic, down-on-his-luck character who embraces failure with style.
The song plays with the contrast between Alabama’s powerhouse football team (the Crimson Tide) and the struggling Wake Forest Demon Deacons, using it as a metaphor for a romanticized version of an underdog’s life.