Hoodoo Operator

Hoodoo is not slang for Folk Magic. Hoodoo is a specific folk magic tradition native to the Southern United States whose practice is and was remains predominant among the African American community, as it is an admix of African(Slave), Native American, and European(Mostly Celtic) folk traditions. This admix is distinct from its motherparts and is largely unrecognizable to the origins(save it West African, and West Indies counter parts), Hoodoo isnt slang, its the name.

The song is not about selling your soul to the Devil. In Hoodoo there is always a price, nothing is to taken, and nothing is to be given, it must be paid for.

The Hoodoo(the word is also used as the name of a practitioner) comes to collect what is owed to them-- the implication of the Song is that the hoodoo man now has the white man's soul for all the conjures the Hoodoo man provided him at "A poor man's cost" -- Note that at the end of the song he no longer has a "broken push cart", but a broken "White man". This song follows the old traditions one would expect to find in a Negro Song from the turn of the century, which if you are familiar with Clutch, is no surprise-- see Motherless Child(named after a Negro Spiritual), Gullah(named after a former slave community). Reading is fundamental kids.

Many Clutch songs reference Hoodoo practices.

Love this song. Does anyone have the slightest idea what the Hoodoo operator is??

maybe it has something to do with this: http://www.santiampassskipatrol.org/history/history1.html But then again who knows but Neil?

I have done a bit more thinking about this song and while the surface meaningmay have to do with some creepy dude he saw while skiing, "Hoodoo Operator" is most likely a metaphor for satan. It becomes obvious with these lyrics

"Ah, he'll sell you liquids To cure that whooping cough And fine liniments At a poor man's cost Ah, but when your time is up boy And you feel that chill He will come softly knocking To collect his bill" Meaning, all the trespasses of life (quick fixes like lies, eic.) will be payed for in the afterlife.

^ I agree. Sounds like selling your soul to Satan.

Especially the last refrain in which he is regretting selling it.

Yeah I'd say it's about selling your soul to the devil. Hoodoo is slang for folk magic.

Seems like a pretty straightforward interpretation of selling your soul to the devil. I absolutely love the musical texture an imagery of the song, though.

In keeping with Clutch's tradition of mixing the mundane and fantastical, Cape Kid's interpretation could actually be correct at the same time - The Devil may indeed be a ski-lift operator in Oregon.