The song was inspired by veteran American diplomat, and special envoy to the Middle East, Philip Habib's shuttle diplomacy during Israel's Lebanon incursion of 1982. The song depicts such a diplomat being sent around the world to deal with various crises and to protect American interests. This involves various issues of nuclear armaments in the volatile Middle East and various tensions and conflicts between nations there as well as the also unstable, more so at the time of the song's release, Latin American region. The song talks about the envoy's talents and diplomatic immunity and says that whenever there is trouble he is sent out by the President. The song ends by suggesting that the singer, Zevon, is actually the envoy in question. In the liner notes for the 1996 I'll Sleep When I'm De