
I'VE BEEN HOODOOEDTRANSCRIBED by catherine yronwode (cat@luckymojo.com) 30 Sep 2000
by Jim Towel
I've been hoodooed, I've been hoodooed
Hoodooed, hoodooed by a darky hoodoo
I've been hoodooed, I've been hoodooed
Hoodooed by a doctor, sure as you're born
A gal for me had a great infatuation
She wanted me to marry, but she had no situation
When I refused, she near went wild,
Says, "I'm bound to hoodoo that child"
She went and got a rabbit foot, she buried it wit' a frog
Right in the hollow of an old burnt log.
Right on the road where I had to walk along
Ever since then my head's been wrong.
My bones begin to ache, my teeth begin to chatter
I went to the doctor, he couldn't tell the matter
Says, "Ol' child, you're goin' up the spout,"
He looked at my hair and my hair fell out
Nobody knows how funny I feel
Even 'til the husk fell off my heel
I went to the dock, start to jump in the river
Looked at the water, my bones begin to quiver
Laid on the dock, fell fast asleep
Try to wake up, my flesh begin to creep
Laid on the dock, I got a pain in the head
When I woke up, to tell the truth, I found myself dead
I've been hoodooed, hoodooed
Hoodooed, hoodooed by a doctor hoodoo
I've been hoodooed, hoodooed
Hoodooed by a doctor, sure's you're born
Put on your state, you children
Listen to what i say
Don't disgrace the coloured race
Now, don't be led astray
Put on your state, you children
There's a time to make your mark
If you can't come yeller, come the right colour
But for goodness sake, don't come dark
'Cause I've been hoodooed, hoodooed
Hoodooed, hoodooed by a doctor hoodoo
I've been hoodooed, I've been hoodooed
I've been hoodooed by a doctor, sure as you're born
Put on your slick, you children,Jim Towel's song, according to Oliver, was written by the black composer Gussie Davis in 1894, and he suggests that the implication of the "put on your state" verse is that the hoodoo is the white man - ie that white people are the source of black people's troubles. This, as Paul *doesn't* point out, would be a switch from the meaning of the rest of the song, which is clearly about real hoodoo.
Regularly paint you on the face;
Now don't disgrace our coloured race,
Listen to what I say.
Go put on your slick, you children,
It's time to make your mark;
Now don't come yeller, but come the right colour,
For God's sake don't come dark
However, Jim Towel does seem to sing "state," and not slick" as per Jackson. Chris took this to infer the meaning "dress up and act fancy" for "state" -- but my 5th edition Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (1936) gives two meanings for the word "state" that are even more apropos to this song, in the sense of "estate":
3: condition with reference to wealth, social position, etc.; standing; esp., high rank; eminence.That is, the singer is not only adjuring the children of the Negro race to "dress up and act fancy" but to "show the world your social aspirations with a display of wealth, pomp, formal dignity, and lightened skin colour." This is in keeping with the fact that "I've Been Hoodooed" is a 19th century coon song, not a blues, because poking fun at the uppity pretensions of upwardly mobile African-Americans was part and parcel of the coon song genre, even in -- perhaps especially in -- songs composed by black lyricists.
4: condition of living; specif., elaborate condition befitting a person of rank and wealth; hence, formal dignity, pomp, or the like.
A black James Towel was enumerated
as a New York resident in 1910 and 1920,
both times described as a theatre actor. The 1910 census gave his age as 53,
the 1920 one as 60. He was born in DC (1910) or MD (1920). He is briefly
mentioned, as Jim Towel, in a "New York Notes" section in the "Indianapolis Freeman"
in 1913 as having made a hit at a NY theatre,
all of which goes some way to explaining the nature of his material.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Individual acknowledgements for
transcriptions and discographical data appear on each
song-page, but i want to note that this Blues Lyrics and
Hoodoo archive would never have been possible without the
contributions of Gorgen Antonsson, who generously shared
with me the format and content of his own personal lyrics
archive, and Alan Balfour and Chris Smith, who have
devoted a great deal of time to supplying me with tapes,
transcribed lyrics, and detailed discographical information.
Additionally, i wish to thank the kind members of the prewar
blues e-list who have aided my research in innumerable ways.
If you have missing data to supply, hear a substantially
different take on a transcription, or want to let me know
about a song that has been overlooked in these pages, please
contact me through the prewar blues e-list:
http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/pre-war-blues.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Due to certain social, economic, and
political paradigms in place at the time of their
composition, many early blues songs were improperly
copyrighted or not copyrighted at all. Many bore no composer
credits. Many were ripped off by unethical music publishers
who falsely claimed authorship and copyrighted them in their
own names. Many that were once copyright-protected are now
in the public domain due to publishers' or composers'
failures to properly renew the copyrights. Many have since
been ripped off by unethical performers or music publishers
who have pretended to be the composers for the purpose of
securing a belated copyright or who have claimed
"arranger's" credits on songs they falsely swore were
"traditional" when in fact the songs were composed by the
people who originally performed them on record. It is my
sincere belief that the song transcribed on this page bears
the implied moral copyright of its composer, whoever that
may be. If you believe that you control the copyright by
virtue of authorship or legal legerdemain, you may contact
me in a civil and polite manner and i will attempt in good
faith to satisfy your needs in the matter of obtaining
formal permission to quote the lyrics in this scholarly
publication.
FURTHER INFORMATION: The following web pages can be consulted for more details about the topics referenced in this song:
V.1 hoodooed (poisoned), hoodoo doctor (practitioner)
V.3 rabbit foot
V.3 where i had to walk along (foot track magic)
V.5 the husk fell off my heel (foot track magic)
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