“Babalú” — famously performed by Desi Arnaz — is about an Afro-Cuban deity named Babalú Ayé, who is a Yoruba orisha (spirit or deity) associated with healing, disease, and the poor.
Babalú Ayé originates from West African Yoruba religion, specifically from what is now Nigeria and Benin, and was carried to the Americas through the transatlantic slave trade. In Cuba, he became a central figure in Santería (a syncretic Afro-Cuban religion blending Yoruba orishas with Catholic saints). Babalú Ayé is often associated with Saint Lazarus in Catholic tradition, and is known as the deity who afflicts and heals diseases like smallpox, leprosy, and other illnesses.
Desi Arnaz, who was born in Cuba, often performed “Babalú” in a theatrical, ritualistic style that included drumming and chants, drawing from Afro-Cuban religious and musical traditions. The song was originally composed by Margarita Lecuona in the 1930s and is deeply rooted in Afro-Caribbean spiritual culture.
When Desi sang “Babalú,” he was invoking an actual African-origin deity, not just doing a catchy performance. His rendition helped popularize Afro-Cuban music in the U.S., though often stripped of its deeper spiritual meaning in mainstream settings.
Most American viewers of I Love Lucy in the 1950s did not know that Desi Arnaz’s performance of “Babalú” was rooted in Afro-Cuban religion, specifically Santería and the worship of the Yoruba deity Babalú Ayé.
To the average viewer, especially in segregated and culturally insulated white America, “Babalú” was just an exotic, rhythmic number — a catchy, foreign-sounding song that matched Desi’s Cuban persona. The U.S. mainstream in the 1950s generally lacked awareness (and interest) in the African origins of Caribbean culture. This was an era when:
African religions were often viewed with suspicion or dismissed as “primitive.”
Afro-Caribbean spirituality was rarely explained or contextualized in media.
Latin culture was often reduced to “spicy,” “hot-blooded,” or “exotic” stereotypes.
Desi’s performance style — energetic drumming, call-and-response, and chanting — mirrored Afro-Cuban religious rituals, but it was largely received as entertainment rather than spiritual expression. Most white audiences likely viewed him as a charming, foreign novelty — not as someone channeling African diasporic spirituality.
So, while Desi knew exactly what Babalú was, the viewers mostly didn’t. The performance was unintentionally a kind of cultural masking: deep Afro-religious meaning cloaked in the safe package of TV entertainment.
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