I think that this is probably one of the least obscure songs Steely Dan ever recorded. It's all out there. Haiti, like the Dominican Republic, offers quickie no-fault, single-party divorces to all comers. Babs and Clean Willie got married, got disenchanted with each other pretty rapidly, and so Babs's dad pays for a trip to Port au Prince so she can disentangle from a hasty mistake. Once she's out of City Hall with her Haitian Divorce, she decides she's earned a night out on the town. She drinks a Zombie (one of the most stealthily intoxicating cocktails known to man, with TWO different kinds of rum, as well as other liquors), goes dancing, finds a gigolo who spins her around the dance floor to the Merengue (one of those dances which resembles a pelvic exam in its various motions), then into bed. She comes back to a tearful reunion with her family (no mention at ALL of going back to Clean Willie) with a bun in the oven; as the baby grows, it's obvious that the child is "semi-mojo," or half-black. The refrain (sung by Babs's Dad) becomes mocking at the end, as her dance through life culminates in a little bittersweet humiliation. Folks, sometimes a banana is just a banana.
@loupgarous Rather than "Babs' Dad," I think "Papa" is a snide reference to "Papa Doc" Duvalier, the notorious dictator of Haiti at the time. To me, the chorus was always a satirical, imaginary travel ad, where Papa Doc promotes his country: "Come down to beautiful Haiti for your no-tears divorce!"
@loupgarous Rather than "Babs' Dad," I think "Papa" is a snide reference to "Papa Doc" Duvalier, the notorious dictator of Haiti at the time. To me, the chorus was always a satirical, imaginary travel ad, where Papa Doc promotes his country: "Come down to beautiful Haiti for your no-tears divorce!"
I think that this is probably one of the least obscure songs Steely Dan ever recorded. It's all out there. Haiti, like the Dominican Republic, offers quickie no-fault, single-party divorces to all comers. Babs and Clean Willie got married, got disenchanted with each other pretty rapidly, and so Babs's dad pays for a trip to Port au Prince so she can disentangle from a hasty mistake. Once she's out of City Hall with her Haitian Divorce, she decides she's earned a night out on the town. She drinks a Zombie (one of the most stealthily intoxicating cocktails known to man, with TWO different kinds of rum, as well as other liquors), goes dancing, finds a gigolo who spins her around the dance floor to the Merengue (one of those dances which resembles a pelvic exam in its various motions), then into bed. She comes back to a tearful reunion with her family (no mention at ALL of going back to Clean Willie) with a bun in the oven; as the baby grows, it's obvious that the child is "semi-mojo," or half-black. The refrain (sung by Babs's Dad) becomes mocking at the end, as her dance through life culminates in a little bittersweet humiliation. Folks, sometimes a banana is just a banana.
@loupgarous Rather than "Babs' Dad," I think "Papa" is a snide reference to "Papa Doc" Duvalier, the notorious dictator of Haiti at the time. To me, the chorus was always a satirical, imaginary travel ad, where Papa Doc promotes his country: "Come down to beautiful Haiti for your no-tears divorce!"
@loupgarous Rather than "Babs' Dad," I think "Papa" is a snide reference to "Papa Doc" Duvalier, the notorious dictator of Haiti at the time. To me, the chorus was always a satirical, imaginary travel ad, where Papa Doc promotes his country: "Come down to beautiful Haiti for your no-tears divorce!"