Voodoo Lady
| "Voodoo Lady" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Ween | ||||
| from the album Chocolate and Cheese | ||||
| B-side | "Buenas Tardes Amigo"/"There's a Pig"/"Vallejo" (original release) "Cover It With Gas and Set It on Fire" (limited edition release) | |||
| Released | 1994 | |||
| Recorded | c. Fall 1993–Spring 1994 | |||
| Length | 3:48 | |||
| Label | Flying Nun Records, White Label Records, Elektra Records | |||
| Ween singles chronology | ||||
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| "Voodoo Lady (demo)" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Ween | ||||
| from the album Chocolate and Cheese (deluxe edition) | ||||
| Released | July 19, 2024 | |||
| Length | 4:36 | |||
| Label | Rhino Records | |||
| Ween singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Voodoo Lady" is a song by Ween from the 1994 album Chocolate and Cheese.
Song Details[edit | edit source]
Recording and Composition[edit | edit source]
"Voodoo Lady" is in the key of A minor.
Gene Ween sings the lead vocal. Claude Coleman plays the bongos on the album version.[1] The noise interlude was created by cranking knobs on the guitar amps to create various noise effects. Dean Ween has appeared to explain that Andrew Weiss took that solo on the Chocolate and Cheese version, based on a 4-track demo version played by Deaner. However, it is unclear whether Weiss played the actual guitar for that solo, or only created the noise effects.[2]
The idea for the song was conceived by Ween in New Orleans while on the Pure Guava tour, inspired by voodoo culture.[3]
Live Performances[edit | edit source]
"Voodoo Lady" was introduced with the live band in the fall of 1993, nearly a year before the release of Chocolate and Cheese. Starting with the tour for that album, it has consistently been one of the most common live songs in every era of Ween (with the notable exception of the 1996 country tour).[4] The song is often extended as a lead guitar vehicle for Dean Ween. Three live recordings have been officially released:
- December 1997 - on Paintin' the Town Brown (from the Mollusk tour)
- 7/7/2000[5] - on Live at Stubb's (from the White Pepper tour)
- 11/7–9/2003[6] - on Live in Chicago (from the Quebec tour)
In addition, Gene Ween has played "Voodoo Lady" live several times, both solo acoustic and with the Gene Ween Band.[7]
Video[edit | edit source]
The song had an official music video, directed by Roman Coppola. He incorporated some visual tricks he had learned while working with his father, Francis Ford Coppola, on the 1992 film Bram Stoker's Dracula, including inverting colors using negatives, and a photographic process called Schlieren photography which was used to create the effect of heat waves coming out of Gene and Dean's mouths. The underwater scenes were shot in a swimming pool.[8]
Single Release[edit | edit source]
The 1994 CD single also includes the album track "Buenas Tardes Amigo", and the non-album B-sides "There's a Pig" and "Vallejo".
In other media[edit | edit source]
"Voodoo Lady" was used in the 2000 film Road Trip,[9] as well as the 2000 film Dude, Where's My Car?[10]
Lyrics[edit | edit source]
Official lyrics were printed in the Chocolate and Cheese liner notes:
Voodoo lady
Shakin' that stick and drivin' me crazy
Your eyes look red and hazy
Doin' that stuff that you do
Messin' me up with your voodoo
You drive me crazy with that
Boogie oogie oogie oogie oogie
You drive me crazy with that
Boogie, boogie, boogie
Your lips are hot and spicy
Servin' up red beans and rice
At midnite she's a-howlin' and stompin'
Makin' love to the gators in the swampin'
You drive me crazy with that
Boogie oogie oogie oogie oogie
You drive me crazy with that
Boogie, boogie, boogie
I feel you now inside me
Never once did you deny me
Doin' that stuff that you do
Knockin' me out with your voodoo[11]
Song Themes[edit | edit source]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ H. Shteamer, Chocolate and Cheese, p.103
- ↑ H. Shteamer, Chocolate and Cheese, p.104–105
- ↑ H. Shteamer, Chocolate and Cheese, p.104
- ↑ https://brownbase.org/every_time_played.php?band=all%20bands&song_id=232
- ↑ Played on both 7/7 and 7/8. Listening to the recordings via Brownbase confirms that the 7/7 performance is the one used for the Stubb's album.
- ↑ Played on all three nights; which night was used on the album cannot be confirmed because taping was not permitted at these shows.
- ↑ https://brownbase.org/every_time_played.php?band=all%20bands&song_id=232
- ↑ H. Shteamer, Chocolate and Cheese, p.105–106
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yz-jmLrT25k&t=8s
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqwzuiSy9y0
- ↑ From the Chocolate and Cheese liner notes