Babalu, a soundie

"Babalú" is a Cuban popular afro song written by Margarita Lecuona, the cousin of composers Ernestina and Ernesto Lecuona. The song title is a reference to the Santería deity Babalú Ayé.

The song was first published in the United States in 1939 by Peer International. The first publication with an English translation (by Sydney King Russell) was in 1941.

"Babalú" was the signature song of the fictional television character Ricky Ricardo, played by Desi Arnaz in the television comedy series "I Love Lucy," though it was already an established musical number for Arnaz in the 1940s as evidenced in the 1946 film short Desi Arnaz and His Orchestra. By the time Arnaz had adopted the song, it had become a Latin American music standard, associated mainly with Cuban singer Miguelito Valdés, who recorded one of its many versions with Xavier Cugat and his Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra. Arnaz made the song a rather popular cultural reference in the United States.

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