For My Sunday Song #304, we are talking about “Hoodoo/Voodoo Medicine Man” by Aerosmith off their highly successful 1989 album ‘Pump’. The song was written by Steven Tyler and Brad Whitford who does not generally get a lot of writing credits which is a shame. The song was not a single, but it is a personal favorite on the album and I am sure helped it sell over 7 million copies.
The song seems to be about the abuse modern civilization is doing to each other and to Mother Earth. It is like we are all under the spell of a voodoo medicine man as we masturbate with a noose, believe all the corruption and the lies of our politicians. There is an anger in the lyrics and an anger in Steven’s vocals as he sings.
“Hoodoo” is a musical interlude (with Tyler rambling on softly about something) and opens with a khean performed by Randy Raine-Reusch who has handled all the weird instruments used on this album. It is very tribal sounding. A Khean is a mouth organ whose pipes, which are usually made of bamboo, are connected with a small, hollowed-out hardwood reservoir into which air is blown. You learned something new today if you didn’t already know.
After this little interlude, “Voodoo Medicine Man” kicks in and seems to be going for dramatic and epic like “Janie’s Got a Gun” and I think they succeed. Kramers drum barrage is awesome, Hamilton’s bass groove is killer and Tyler’s vocal deliver of the chorus all just gels and totally kicks some ass. Brad gets lead guitar duty and doesn’t let you forget how talented he really is. A full out rocker.
2 Loud 2 Old Music 