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.
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.