1989Released
2:52

Did You Know?

Interesting facts and trivia about Got My Mojo Working. By Songfacts®.

"Got My Mojo Working" was written by a little-known blues musician named Preston Foster, and was first released by the gospel singer Ann Cole in 1956. Muddy Waters toured with Cole and picked up the song from her, adding some lyrics to his version. Waters popularized the song and it became a blues standard.

A "mojo" is a kind of magic charm that is a key element of the Hoodoo practice, a form of folk magic developed by African American slaves in the early United States. Other terms include "conjure hand," "lucky hand," "trick bag," "mojo bag," "gris-gris bag," or, as Waters sings on this track, a "mojo hand." Going down to Louisiana, gonna get me a mojo hand Gonna have all you women under my command Waters is looking for a very specific kind of mojo - one for attraction, since the one he has isn't working on the girl he desires. The term mojo "hand," specifically, may have developed because some of the common ingredients in mojo bags were and finger bones of animals or humans. Another source for the term may have been Lucky Hand root, a rare orchid root often used in mojo hands. Still another possible source may is the likening of the mixed-up mojo bag ingredients and the cards mixed up in a "hand" of cards.

Many blues musicians sang about their mojos, but this one is the most prominent (others include "Scarey Day Blues" By Blind Willie McTell and "Mojo Hand" by Lightnin' Hopkins). The concept of the mojo has been distorted and misinterpreted over the years as it became appropriated by a white audience. The "mojo" is often thought of as a concept - a kind of life force or sexual energy - when it is actually a tangible object. A lot of this has to do with Jim Morrison, lead singer of The Doors, who declared himself "Mr. Mojo Risin'" in the song "L.A. Woman." It's likely that Morrison heard this song and realized that "Mr. Mojo Risin'" is an anagram for "Jim Morrison." He then cast it in terms of his sexual prowess, and many believed he was singing specifically about his penis. The word "mojo" has since been used as the name of a magazine, a mountain bike, a radio format, and as the moniker for many DJs, writers and musicians looking for an edgy appellation.

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Song Analysis

Key, BPM (tempo) and time signature of Got My Mojo Working.
EKey
MajorMode
4/4Time Signature
114BPM

Album

The album Got My Mojo Working is released on.

Released By

The record label that has released Got My Mojo Working.
Geffen
© 1989 UMG Recordings, Inc.
A Geffen Records Release; This Compilation ℗ 1989 UMG Recordings, Inc.

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