(Alright, yeah, there you go)
(Yeah, hey, you sounded good to me)
(Sounded like)
(You've been listening close, haven't yeah)
(Yeah, here you go)
(Yeah)

Now when I was just a little boy
Standin' to my daddy's knee
My Poppa said, "Son, don't let the man getcha, do what he done to me
'Cause he'll get ya
Get ya now, now"

And I can remember the Fourth of July
Runnin' through the backwood bay
And I can still hear my old hound dog barkin'
Chasin' down a hoodoo there
Chasin' down a hoodoo there

Born on the Bayou
Born on the Bayou, alright
Born on the Bayou, do, do, do, do

Yeah, wish I was back on the Bayou
Rollin' with some Cajun Queen, Lord
Wishin' I were a fast freight train
Oh, just a-chooglin' on down to New Orleans

Born on the Bayou
Born on the Bayou, alright
Born on the Bayou
Do it, do it, do it, do it

And I can remember the Fourth of July
Runnin' through the backwood bay
And I can still hear my old hound dog barkin'
Chasin' down a hoodoo there
Chasin' down a hoodoo there

Born on the Bayou
Born on the Bayou, alright
Born on the Bayou
Do it, do it, do it, do it
Alright

(Wow, sounded like a bomb going off)


Lyrics submitted by 3ssence

Born on the Bayou Lyrics as written by John C. Fogerty

Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC

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Born On The Bayou song meanings
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19 Comments

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  • +7
    General Comment

    From the horse's mouth:

    "Born on the Bayou" is the first track on Creedence Clearwater Revival's second album, Bayou Country.

    As the author, John Fogerty, commented:

    "Born on the Bayou" was vaguely like "Porterville," about a mythical childhood and a heat-filled time, the Fourth of July. I put it in the swamp where, of course, I had never lived. It was late as I was writing. I was trying to be a pure writer, no guitar in hand, visualizing and looking at the bare walls of my apartment. Tiny apartments have wonderful bare walls, especially when you can't afford to put anything on them. "Chasing down a hoodoo." Hoodoo is a magical, mystical, spiritual, non-defined apparition, like a ghost or a shadow, not necessarily evil, but certainly other-worldly. I was getting some of that imagery from Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters."
    xrocketman1967on May 28, 2007   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    What's a hoodoo?

    Fully__Completelyon November 23, 2004   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    He's definitely saying "hoodoo there", not "hoodoo hare"

    It's an awesome awesome song :)

    victoryfieldson March 17, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Lynard Skynyrd is from Talahassee Florida, not Alabama.

    I can see how people get confused easily on things like that.

    Muzzyon March 05, 2003   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Self-correction: The song is "Proud Mary" not "Rollin' On a River."

    stoolhardyon December 28, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    yeah, that's bogus. This song isn't about a BMX rider. "The man" probably refers to the government, or maybe his boss. Maybe his dad told him not to trade his hours for dollars, like he did.

    Fully__Completelyon September 21, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    A hoodoo is a practitioner of voodoo (this makes sense as there are were high racial tensions in the south, and most followers of voodoo/hoodoo were black), though it could also be used to describe a ghost/nothing.

    nemton January 24, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Yeah, this songs excellent. Nicely toasted number to jam out for a rockin' 5 mins.

    heyjude55on May 25, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    If you listen a live version it almost sounds like he is saying HooDoo Hare as in a rabbit. Which would make a lot more sense.

    mavrick480on January 11, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This is my favorite CCR song. Definitely about a childhood of some sort.

    rocknrolljessieon August 29, 2009   Link

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