My John The Conqueror Root

No one's actually raised it with me, but I hubristically imagine that some of my readership might've been perplexed by the reference to "[white man's definition!] mojo."

This comes from conversation with another of my distinguished readers, Mr. ELH, wherein we observed that the mainstream use of the word mojo, and its use by white people in particular, has mojo meaning, roughly, "groove". So if you're not listening closely to the lyrics when Muddy Waters sings "Got My Mojo Working," you might think he's saying "I've got a lot of sex appeal and it is going on tonight."

But actually, in its initial use in blues music and African American culture, "mojo" isn't your groove, it's a supernatural charm that bestows groove - or its supernatural facsimile - upon you. It's not a force, it's a thing, not "I have mojo" but "I have a mojo," like you have a four leaf clover or a rabbit's paw. And actually in "Got My Mojo Working" the narrator's got his mojo working but it's not working on the girl he wants it to, so he's planning to go down to Louisiana to get a stronger one. In his version of "(I'm You) Hoochie Coochie Man" Muddy Waters memorably sings that:

I got a black cat hand, I got a mojo too
I got a John the Conqueror root, I'm gonna mess with you

Just so's you know.