Hoodoo (song)

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Muse song
Name Hoodoo
Album/single
Length 3:43
Alternative titles Nina
First live performance 24th October 2006
Latest live performance 6th August 2007
Recorded Officine Meccaniche Studios, Milan - 2005/2006[1]
Writer/composer Matthew Bellamy
Producer Rich Costey


Listen

Description

A quiet song, consisting of Spanish-esque electric guitar and a romantic piano section.

The romantic piano bears a resemblance to the piano part in Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovksy's Piano Concerto #1, Op. 23 - 1. Allegro Non Troppo E Molto Maestoso at time [0:11]. The beginning of Hoodoo consists of only an almost whisper soft Bellamy and the Spanish-esque guitar, very similar to a passage in Isaac Albeniz's Asturias (Leyenda) academic composition for guitar. The beginning is almost entirely arrhythmical until [1:13] when strings and drums join and the song builds tension and dynamics until [1:44] when the song becomes an epic fortissimo with the entrance of romantic piano, Bellamy's passionate high chest-voice vocals, and the addition of homophonic arpeggio string parts at [2:36], in a 4/8 rhythm, playing a polymeter as piano, drums and bass remain in 3/4. This is Muse's first use of a polymeter. At [3:00] it reverts back to the mezzo-piano original section featuring a soft sung Bellamy and the guitar.

Additional information

This song was originally entirely piano based, and was part of a set of very classical-sounding songs but Bellamy felt that the original piano-based piano intro and outro were too posh sounding, and so it was later adapted for Black Holes and Revelations. The track was recorded in two sections, one consisting of guitar and vocals, and the second consisting of piano, bass and drums, together with strings arrangement. The production was done in two stages. The majority of the song was produced in Avatar studio, while the intro, outro and strings were produced in Italy.[2]
The lyrics were voted "Lyric of the Decade" in 2009 by readers of Q Magazine.

Live

The beginning of the 2006 European tour marked the first performance of Hoodoo in in its piano form, played with Bellamy on the piano, Nicholls on bass and Wolstenholme on guitar.[3][4][5]

On some occasions, the second chord of the verses are replaced by an inverted D flat major chord, instead of F minor. This was a good indicator of Apocalypse Please being played later in the set, possibly after a break.

More here

Lyrics

Come into my life

Regress into a dream We will hide And build a new reality

Draw another picture Of the life you could've had Follow your instincts And choose the other path

You should never be afraid You're protected From trouble and pain Why, why Is this a crisis In your eyes again?

Come to be How did it come to be? Tied to a railroad No love to set us free Watch our souls fade away And our bodies crumbling Don't be afraid I will take the blow for you

And I've had recurring nightmares That I was loved for who I am And missed the opportunity

To be a better man

References

  1. Black Holes & Revelations Sleeve Notes
  2. Jeff Touzeau. (2007-03). An Evening with Rich Costey. EQ. [verify]
  3. susurr0. (2006-10-25). [Muse forum post]. Official Muse forum. Retrieved from board.muse.mu.
  4. colin88. (2006-10-25). [Muselive thread]. Muselive. Retrieved from muselive.com.
  5. Performance Footage--2006-10-25--dammitjanetILY -- (Youtube)


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