This is also pure speculation, but i think the song is about two police officers who believe it is their personal duty to clean up crime and to "Pull up the weeds before they're too damn big". I think describing prostitution and drugs as "nature" is a particularly important clue to their mindset that things are naturally like this, but they still have to fix them.
The Erzulie verse really puzzled me so I did some research. Apparently Erzulie is a symbol in Vodou and is sometimes associated with homosexual relations. So I think that they're talking about a man who is in denial that he is gay and had a one night stand with a man, a fact which he discovers only the next morning with the "pantela" (cigars) and "derby hat" on his nightstand. Also in the next verse "They all massisi we hang tough". Massisi apparently can mean gay in Haitian, so its possible that these to cops are against this aspect of "nature" as well. Phew, this song has alot more to it than other Steely Dan songs.
This is also pure speculation, but i think the song is about two police officers who believe it is their personal duty to clean up crime and to "Pull up the weeds before they're too damn big". I think describing prostitution and drugs as "nature" is a particularly important clue to their mindset that things are naturally like this, but they still have to fix them.
The Erzulie verse really puzzled me so I did some research. Apparently Erzulie is a symbol in Vodou and is sometimes associated with homosexual relations. So I think that they're talking about a man who is in denial that he is gay and had a one night stand with a man, a fact which he discovers only the next morning with the "pantela" (cigars) and "derby hat" on his nightstand. Also in the next verse "They all massisi we hang tough". Massisi apparently can mean gay in Haitian, so its possible that these to cops are against this aspect of "nature" as well. Phew, this song has alot more to it than other Steely Dan songs.