What's a Hoodoo in CCR's "Born on the Bayou"?!


Question: Does anyone know what Creedence Clearwater Revival is referring to in this song when they sing about their "hound-dog barking, chasing down a Hoodoo there"? That's been driving me nuts everytime I hear this song playing on the radio at work! :-)

Answers: Does anyone know what Creedence Clearwater Revival is referring to in this song when they sing about their "hound-dog barking, chasing down a Hoodoo there"? That's been driving me nuts everytime I hear this song playing on the radio at work! :-)
I think Hoodoo typically referers to a system of magic. I remember hearing that CCR song wondering the same damn thing. So, I looked it up from the website I've listed. This term has been used in lots of early blues songs as it was considered a term stemming from African-American folk magic. "Hoodoo" can be used as a noun, adjective and a verb.
("He used hoodoo on her") ("Doctor Buzzard was a great hoodoo in his day") ("She hoodooed that man until he couldn't love no one but her")

Next time someone bugs me, I'm going to tell them to "take their hoodoo behind somewhere else." Good times.
HOODOO is a Mississipi,Bayou good time with friends Report It

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  • Girl Geek.'s Avatar by Girl Geek.
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    • According to the Offical CCR website:

    Hoodoo is a thing that can do harm to you. (Perhaps that was one of the reasons why John decided not to release "Hoodoo" LP) Also a kind of magic Gypsy practiced was called so.
    That's just rock-n-roll short-hand. It shows up when the lyric writer wants to make a statement fit to the song's melody. Think of it like "chasing down 'a WHO do there'".
    I’m going to throw this one out there… now within the lyrics of the song does it not say “chasing down a hoodoo there?” In my best opinion “Hoodoo” is slang for Who Is There? I interpret it to mean “wondering who is there?” Combine that with a Mississippian accent and there you go.

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