5 Meanings
Add Yours
Follow
Share
Q&A
The Envoy Lyrics
Nuclear arms in the Middle East
Israel is attacking the Iraqis
The Syrians are mad at the Lebanese
And Baghdad does whatever she please
Looks like another threat to world peace
For the envoy
Things got hot in El Salvador
CIA got caught and couldn't do no more
He's got diplomatic immunity
He's got a lethal weapon that nobody sees
Looks like another threat to world peace
For the envoy
Send the envoy
Send the envoy
Whenever there's a crisis
The President sends his envoy in
Guns in Damascus
Oh, Jerusalem
Nuclear arms in the Middle East
Israel is attacking the Iraqis
The Syrians are mad at the Lebanese
And Baghdad do whatever she please
Looks like another threat to world peace
For the envoy
Send the envoy . . .
Send for me
Israel is attacking the Iraqis
The Syrians are mad at the Lebanese
And Baghdad does whatever she please
Looks like another threat to world peace
For the envoy
CIA got caught and couldn't do no more
He's got diplomatic immunity
He's got a lethal weapon that nobody sees
Looks like another threat to world peace
For the envoy
Send the envoy
Send the envoy
The President sends his envoy in
Guns in Damascus
Oh, Jerusalem
Israel is attacking the Iraqis
The Syrians are mad at the Lebanese
And Baghdad do whatever she please
Looks like another threat to world peace
For the envoy
Send the envoy . . .
Send for me
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
The song was written about former U.S. envoy Philip Habib. Wikipedia- "Warren Zevon wrote the song "The Envoy", from his 1982 album of the same name, in honor of Habib. He later claimed to have received a letter of appreciation from Habib on U.S. State Department stationery."
The USA fancies itself as a world policeman. Their success is however questionable. Footnote: Remember "Lethal Weapon 2" with the South African badguys? Check out the references in lines 3 and 4 in the 2nd verse "diplomatic immunity" and "lethal weapon". Coincidental?
@chrisb1 From WWII to the current Russian war on Ukraine, the US has done a better job than anyone else. A lazy, dumb argument.
@chrisb1 From WWII to the current Russian war on Ukraine, the US has done a better job than anyone else. A lazy, dumb argument.
The album this song was on (also called The Envoy) was released in 1982, seven years before Lethal Weapon 2.
If anything, this song and Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner are like passages that were written by Noam Chomsky and set to music. Zevon was an astute observer of the times and that may explain why he was never as popular as he could've been. When you right heady material, most people won't get it therefore it will not be consumed as rapidly. If anybody could musically write about the downfall of Western civilization, it was Warren Zevon.
Astute observations OpinionHead. Agree 100%. It's pretty sad that Warren didn't get the recognition he deserved, though I'm not certain his primary interest in art was fame... because had it been, I'm sure he could have sacrificed a certain amount of artistic merit for commercial noticability. He was certainly savvy enough to do that had he wanted to. But he was always more intellectual and artistic about the things he wrote, and wasn't going to sacrifice any of his principles just to attain commercial success... and THANK GOD! It's good to have at least one singer/songwriter rock musician that has principles to keep, much less keep them.
Indeed, I discovered warren late in the game (1989) as I was very anti-american music of the 70's 80's (ie KISS [the worst band of all time], REO speedwagon, Boston.... need i say more) but he was a breath of fresh air and i continue to listen and search for scarce material of his. Ten
Indeed, I discovered warren late in the game (1989) as I was very anti-american music of the 70's 80's (ie KISS [the worst band of all time], REO speedwagon, Boston.... need i say more) but he was a breath of fresh air and i continue to listen and search for scarce material of his. Ten