I got the John de Cockeroo. You know I'm here. Everybody know I'm here. I got the black magic. I'm gonna mess with you.
Hoochie Coochie Man
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nr839d9t44I
Mannish Boy Mojo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoVO9zZTJ10
Hoochie Coochie Man
Written by Willie Dixon and first sung by Muddy Waters.
Gypsy woman told my mother 'fore I was born, You got a boy child coming, gonna be a son of a gun. Gonna make pretty women's jump and shout, And then the world gonna know what this all about. But you know I'm here. Everybody knows I'm here. Well, I'm the hoochie coochie man. Everybody knows I'm here. I got the black cat bone and I got a mojo, too. I got the John de Cockeroo, gonna mess with you. I'm gonna make you girls lead me by my hand, And then the world will know the hoochie coochie man. But you know I'm here. Everybody knows…African witch doctors had power and prestige, and their memory lived on among African Americans. The song really tells of the desire of the neglected, oppressed man for status, respect, recognition.
Magic, after all, if effective, would confer real power on the possessor, enabling him to bypass the social barriers that were all aimed at the black man's manhood. No doubt many of Muddy's songs are about manhood because those numbers worked well among his poor black audiences in Chicago. Of course, Muddy isn't the only African American musician to work the manhood theme. There is also, for example, James Brown and Wilson Pickett. But it was Muddy who blazed the trail.
The person with "a mojo" is someone with magic power -- perhaps in the form of what Europeans once called a familiar spirit. He might keep various amulets and magical implements in his "mojo bag."
Wiktionary tells us that "mojo" is probably of Creole origin, cognate with "Gullah moco" (witchcraft), Fula moco'o (medicine man, witch doctor).
The word usually refers to a magic charm or spell, or a supernatural skill or luck.
Slang meanings include personal magnetism; charm; sex appeal; sex drive; illegal drugs.
But what about Muddy's "second cousin, that little Johnny Cockeroo" (as he has it in his song Mannish Boy) ?
We have from Wikipedia that "the Conqueror, also known as High John the Conqueror, John de Conquer, and many other folk variants, is a folk hero from African-American folklore. He is associated with a certain root, the John the Conqueror root, or John the Conqueroo, to which magical powers are ascribed in American folklore, especially among the hoodoo tradition of folk magic."
The old tale is that "John the Conqueror was an African prince who was sold as a slave in the Americas. Despite his enslavement, his spirit was never broken and he survived in folklore as a sort of a trickster figure, because of the tricks he played to evade his masters." Again, it is easy to see the appeal of a character who uses his cunning to outsmart the white person "who has it good."
But "John de Cockeroo " refers to a specific herb known as John the Conqueror Root, which Wikipedia tells us is "said to be the root of Ipomoea jalapa (also known as Ipomoea purga), an Ipomoea species related to the morning glory and the sweet potato. The plant is known in some areas as bindweed or jalap root. It has a pleasant, earthy odor, but it is a strong laxative if taken internally. It is not used for this purpose in folk magic; it is instead used as one of the parts of a mojo bag. It is typically used in sexual spells of various sorts and it is also considered lucky for gambling. It is likely that the root acquired its sexual magical reputation because, when dried, it resembles the testicles of a dark-skinned man. Because of this, when it is employed as an amulet, it is important that the root used be whole and unblemished. Dried pieces and chips of the root are used in formulating oils and washes that are used in other sorts of spells."
We are told that John the Conqueror root is a tuber, perhaps carried in the user's mojo bag. The spell involves rubbing the root. John the Conqueror root is carried by the user, and the spell is cast by rubbing the root.
Another herb known as Low John is the root of the trillium or wake-robin, Trillium grandiflorum, Wikipedia explains. It is carried on the person for assistance in family matters. It is also known as Dixie John or Southern John, and additionally is the basis for a hoodoo formula called Dixie Love Oil.
The term "Hoochie Coochie" was adopted by songwriter Willie Dixon to refer to a man with some form of magic power. Originally it was a phrase associated with lewd, sexually provocative dancing. But doubtless Dixon thought "hoochie coochie" had a better syncopation to it than "hoodoo," which is the name of the African American witchcraft cult in the Deep South that both he and Waters, both Mississippi men, would have known about.
In any case, among black men (and men generally) sexual power represents power. So the mixing of raw sexual power with dark, dangerous magical power had a strong appeal among men who were oppressed and disenfranchised.
Waters mixed mojo into his magic with another number, "I got my mojo working."
Got my mojo working, but it just won't work on you Got my mojo working, but it just won't work on you I want to love you so bad, I don't know what to do Going down to Louisiana to get me a mojo hand Going down to Louisiana to get me a mojo hand I'm gonna have all you women under my command Got my mojo working Got my mojo working Got my mojo working Got my mojo working Got my…Got my mojo working
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gNs-29s-0Q
The Urban Dictionary relates that the top definition of "mojo hand" is: "A powerful hoodoo charm, usually a cloth bag filled with roots, herbs, minerals, goofer dust, etc. Does not actually refer to an actual hand, but to certain roots commonly used in mojo. Also called a gris-gris."
Wikipedia tells us "Mojo" was written by Preston (Red) Foster in 1956, with Ann Cole's first recording released in 1957. Waters popularized the song that year and it became a feature of his performances throughout his career.
