Either a Whit Stillman-esque coming out / gay love story or a parable about Clash frontman Joe Strummer; really, it’s both of these things. Music critic Simon Reynolds called it “everywhere/everywhen pop” in his 2011 book Retromania.
Rostam had this to say about it in a Reddit AMA:
Ezra sent me a...
[Verse 1: Ezra Koenig]
It's not right, but it's now or never
And if I wait, could I ever forgive myself?
On a night when the moon glows yellow in the riptide
With the light from the TVs buzzing in the house
[Pre-Chorus: Ezra Koenig]
'Cause I'm gonna cut it where I can
And then I'm gonna duck out behind them
If I ever had a chance, it's now then
But I never had the feeling I could offer that to you
To offer it to you would be cruel
When all I want to do is use, use you
[Chorus: Ezra Koenig]
He was a diplomat's son, it was '81
He was a diplomat's son, it was '81
Oh-oh, oh-oh
[Verse 2: Ezra Koenig]
Dressed in white with my car keys hidden in the kitchen
I could sleep wherever I lay my head
And the sight of your two shoes sitting in the bathtub
Let me know that I shouldn't give up just yet
[Pre-Chorus: Ezra Koenig]
'Cause I'm gonna take it from Simon
And then I'm gonna duck out behind them
If I ever had a chance, it's now then
But I never had the feeling I could offer that to you
To offer it to you would be cruel
When all I want to do is use, use you
[Chorus: Ezra Koenig]
He was a diplomat's son, it was '81
He was a diplomat's son, it was '81
Oh-oh, oh-oh
[Bridge: Rostam Batmanglij]
I know, you'll say I'm not doing it right
But this is how I want it
I can't go back to how I felt before
There's–
[Verse 3: Ezra Koenig]
That night I smoked a joint with my best friend
We found ourselves in bed, when I woke up, he was gone
[Chorus: Ezra Koenig]
He was a diplomat's son, it was '81
He was a diplomat's son, it was '81
[Instrumental Break]
[Outro: Ezra Koenig]
Looking out at the ice cold water all around me
I can't feel any traces of that other place
In the dark, when the wind comes racing off the river
There's a car, all black with diplomatic plates
Diplomat’s Son was written by Rostam.
Diplomat’s Son was produced by Rostam.
Vampire Weekend released Diplomat’s Son on Mon Jan 11 2010.
The sample is of M.I.A. singing an onomatopoeia of drumming on the side of a boat:
We drum on it
Like jun cha cha ju gu ju gu cha!
Jun cha cha ju gu ju gu cha!